We seek each others advice and critique each others work regularly. There have been times it was all I could do to stop myself from taking my painting over and plopping it down on her easel and saying, "You make it sound easy enough, YOU DO IT!" There have been other times I have had to resist the urge to take the brush out of my mom's hand, wipe it off, get the right color on it, and put the line where it belongs. Of course, one simply can not do such things.
Or can one?
One obstacle I have battled seemingly forever, is a certain attachment to the idea of an outcome. Lately I have been much more focused on the actual process of painting, and I have been enjoying it fantastically. Control issues still lurk around every corner however, and I have to work to avoid making eye contact with them. One little glance up and some rakish control issue will be offering me a swig from his flask and whispering emboldening flattery into my ear.
Ah, but what if I look Control square in the eye and kick that flask right out of his hand? What if I start a painting knowing that whatever I do might be undone, or redone, or turned upside down by someone else (namely my mother)?
So that was what we decided to do. We'd each start a painting, paint until either we feel we reach a stopping point, or until the other feels an overwhelming urge to take the brush, and then we'd trade. We'd paint, and then we'd trade again, back and forth, until we both feel the piece is finished. It's an exercise in letting go. It's an exercise in co-operation.
To start, we each chose a photo of the other, we talked over a sort of style goal, if you can call it that; simple, colors and shapes, not portraits. Then we started sketching. Below are photos of just about where we left off before trading.
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