LETTING GO OF YOUR FAVOURITES

Waymouth Street Showers, 50x50cm oil on board. This painting is one of my favourites and I could easily have kept it - but it had work to do and it needed to be loved. Firstly it won a prize in the UK and an International online prize, then it sold to a collector in Adelaide. It lives on just like a painting should.

Letting go of your favourites (A Blog by Mike Barr)

“From the minute we delve into art, we understand that each piece we produce has its own little character.  They are like our offspring, and we have a special attachment to them - we love them. If and when we start to sell our work, it dawns on us that they are not just ours - they belong to the world and to one person in particular, and that doesn't include us.

Some of us never get passed the possessive stage, and our work becomes jealously guarded and treasured - sometimes to a fault. Just like our children, our creations need to be loved and not just by us. 

Letting go of our art and allowing it to be loved by another person or family, completes it. The process in itself should be enjoyed and it's a special satisfaction that artists understand. 

There is the largely hidden process of the birth and nurturing of a piece of art. Conceived in the mind and created on a canvas, all away from the public gaze. There may have been troubles along the way, which we overcame with patience and perseverance, and the finished product is unique. There is nothing exactly the same in the whole world, and it's time to introduce it to a new life.

We dress it up in a frame to make it look the best it can - after all, it may be about to meet someone who is going to fall in love with it. Isn't that what we want!

Sometimes, it's love at first sight, or there might be quite a courtship as the prospective buyer visits several times, getting to know the painting before making a commitment.  Either way, your work is about to enter the life of someone else and will become part of another family.  It will be looked at, pondered, discussed, as well as being witness to the joys and sad times that come upon every family - it will become a rock as it lives through several generations.

So, next time you are tempted to just keep that special piece, maybe it's time to let go. As I always say - a painting is not complete until it is in the possession of someone who loves it, and mostly that means it has sold!”

Happy painting!

Mike Barr