How many times have you finished working on your art thinking that you have completed it and then come back to it later and completely change the piece? And, I don’t mean touching up or toning highlights or anything – just a complete restructuring (and sometimes destroying) of the original artwork.

palimpsest.jpg 

Palimpsest; Housepaint on MDF; 48″ X 48″ 

It happened to me recently – I finished a painting of someone important to me and then about a week later felt that I did not capture the essence behind the face – I decided to destroy the painting. The transformation was redemptive. It gave me peace as I did not have to see something that would scream ‘flawed’ to me every time I looked at it and I also got to enjoy throwing paint around (something that I seem to secretly enjoy for some reason)…

Would you rather rework and restore the piece to what it was originally supposed to convey than destroy the same?