Completely erased!

A couple of studio sessions ago I had created an encaustic painting that left me feeling quite unsettled. I had too many ideas crammed into this 4" x 6" canvas that it more resembled a smorgasbord than a composition.

And then I had an idea.... why should I continue to have this in my studio when I didn't love it completely? I know there are some pieces you don't love and you hang onto them and someone will love them and they eventually find a home. But this piece, I know, was not to be one of those.

And so I turned this unloved smorgasbord upside down on my hot plate and melted the layers of wax and images right off! It was so freeing!! I've never done anything like this before with my art - making this choice to not live with something that just doesn't fit, or trying to make it fit would be like jamming a square peg into a round whole - wasting energy all for not. It was just not meant to be and now, through this drastic action of scrapping a completed piece, I now have piece of mind and a canvas ready for a new composition that I know I'll just love.....