[The road to creative satisfaction can be a winding one! Ed.]
The Damn Painting by Susan Irving
26Aug2020 I just finished this one. This painting expresses my feelings about summer and about the beautiful skies in SD&G. How sad I shall be to see it pass, especially this year.
[Received request from the artist to remove original painting replacing it with updated version, below. Ed]
29Aug20 Because I just cannot leave things alone, I changed “A Fine Summer’s Day”. After it hung on the wall for a couple of days I determined it needed more light at the bottom of the canvas, and then one thing led to another and a few more changes were made.
I shall turn it to the wall now and not look at it for weeks, in order to meddle no more.
7Sep20 So after hearing my husband’s constant complaints about how the farmer could not drive his wretched tractor into the barn due to the configuration of the road, I had to change the angle. And because I changed the angle of the road a whole lot of other things required changes too and it just went on and on. So here it is now.
I have renamed it “Summer Morning” because if it is overlooking the St. Laurence from the Canadian side, that is what time of day it would have to be.
I am done! It does not annoy me, so I can live with it.
Collectif members, send an image (or a few) of very recent work to cagac.ca@gmail.com with up to 100 words describing what you did, materials used, inspiration, etc. Maybe share how you’re feeling & how creativity helps. We’d like an informative, inspiring show & tell. Writers, send us poetry, lyrics, a short piece or excerpt.
CAGAC 
Awesome! Thanks, Yvonne!
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Hi Susan, I guess if you’re gonna be a realist painter, you gotta play by the rules! Like getting roads and barn doors to line up. Probably the reason I don’t go there (on canvas) Liked your presentation of process showing stages and not just final product. Brenda
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Hey Brenda, had I gone with working from an actual photo rather than making it up in my head as I went along I think it would have gone better. But I began with an idea I had about the sky and it just sort of developed in my imagination from there. I shall not be doing that again! Too much work!
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Amusing story. Change of farm track gave way to beautiful flowers. A farm track on a previous farm we owned had many amusing stories attached to it.
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Fascinating evolution of a painting, Susan…lovely final version.
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Neat story of the evolution of a painting. I didn’t realize that such changes could be made to what had looked like a finished product. The final version is lovely. I think the softness of the flowers at the bottom adds a dramatic element to the sky.
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Totally with you on that one, Susan. I usually work from my head without reference and it leads to a lot of tweaking. And it is amazing how one small change over there means something bigger has to be changed over here. Before I know it, it’s often an entirely different painting. You did well with your adjustments.
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