I kept looking, hoping to decide
Wanting to understand how you changed
So different in the shifting light
Around you (and me)

Your soft edges, pastel tones
Transformed. Foreboding, gloomy
Then airy, overly subtle. Again.
Neither quite right, not fully you

Still, you had much to teach me
About preferences and contrast
Seeing and letting go
Both of us in transformation

©️ Amanda Reilly Sayer (December, 2018)

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Sometimes a painting changes. A lot. Although I never quite liked this painting in the early stages, I kept looking. As the surrounding light shifted, the painting did too. The images (directly above) represent my first draft and appear different only because they were photographed at different times of day.

Ultimately, I painted over most of the original. The final image is the result (pictured at the top), a very different painting for sure.

The poem is an ode to the making of the painting. But has broader applications too, I think. I’d love to hear what you think!

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