Art Blog: DATE of Artwork?

As I packed up my car to the brim today moving out all the stuff from my second studio and moving it back to studio one, I just had to laugh. I filled up the back of my SUV with tons of furniture, paintings, and general art stuff. I used the front, passenger seat to hold a box of small, finished paintings. Right there next to me was the face of “Healthy, Wealthy, Wise?” I started this painting years ago. I have had it hanging in my downtown studio. As I sat driving with it looking at me, it felt like a reunion. At each stop light, I would primp and prod the surface of the painting. I wanted to rework one area. How can I do this? It is supposed to be a finished painting! Some paintings are never finished. I repaint paintings all the time. Get over it.

A work is done when we say it is done. However, times change and perceptions change. After looking at a work for a few years, it is OK to rework this area or that. It is part of the creative process. When I stopped to look at “Healthy”, there was something inside me urging me to do more work on this canvas. I wanted to update it a bit. This reminded me of another one of my pet peeves.

When you fill out art exhibition entry forms, there is usually a place which asks “DATE OF WORK”. I always put the year we are in right now. I figure if I put one, new brushstroke on the surface, it means I finished it today. I always wonder why they ask that question. I mean, how would that information be verified? Is the juror going to run a time check on your work? HUH? In other words, that question is stupid and makes no sense.

I have been an exhibition coordinator. I have worked in galleries. I have created exhibition prospectuses. I have this odd daydream. It takes place a long, long time ago. Some person organizing an art exhibition created a prospectus. That same prospectus has been copied over and over and over and over again for decades. The same questions are asked. The same information is gleaned. The only problem with it is nobody has bothered to ask:
WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME THIS QUESTION?
In other words, I finished this painting this very moment.
YEP, it is done for now!





“Healthy, Wealthy, Wise?”
Acrylic / Mixed Media on Canvas
20” x 16”
Sheree Rensel
Click pic for detail view