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Recently I picked up a few beautiful little 5 x 7 frames at a friend’s studio sale.  Their weathered green blue caught my eye.   

Enchanted, I headed to the basement for a treasure hunt. 

All artists have a holding area, that limbo where not-quite grown, overgrown, or outgrown paintings live. 

Mine is in the basement, and sometimes I find treasure there. 

Occasionally I’ll leave a painting down there and rediscover it a year or two—or more--later, suddenly knowing what it needs. 

(This is a sign of the artist’s growth, and a subject of a future blog.)

Yesterday, small new frames in hand, I headed to the basement with a special kind of treasure in mind.  I was looking for fresh work, or more accurately, fresh eyes. 

Looking through that 5 x 7 window, I went on a hunt to discover new, fresh, exciting compositions within those paintings stuck in the basement. 

High Voltage, 14 x 18 pastel

Riveted by the sky, I also enjoyed creating the perspective and mood of the telephone poles and the wiry trees along the horizon. 

I enjoyed them a little too much I think. 

In this case, the whole amounts to less than the sum of its parts: there’s just too much to look at, especially in that wild sky.

What I discovered with my magic window was two exciting scenes within this painting, two stories, each needing their own stage.

Cropped in close, the bushes glow against the low horizon light, claiming the drama they deserve.

The telephone wires reaching for the electric, summer stormy sky create their own narrative.  I was happier with this slightly larger 8 x 10 crop.

Sometimes all it takes to discover treasure lurking under your nose is a fresh perspective and a willingness to repurpose.

How’s that for spring cleaning?