Finishing Touches...

...are often easier and less than we think.  Here's the finished piece, the development of which I showed you here.  I said it needed stitch...

...and now it has it.  Much less of it than I'd thought.  I originally set out to stitch all the way round the piece.  I found a variegated hand dyed perle which had all the colours in the piece in it, including the tannin stains in the background.  The lovely curving line was complete chance, but when I looked at it, I decided there really wasn't any need for any more.  I did contemplate adding three more at the bottom, but thought it would be gilding the lily.

Knowing when to stop is essential, and often very difficult, particularly when you have more ideas.   That usually means that there's a need to explore more within a series format, rather than that you need to add more to the particular piece you're working on.  Ultimately, it's all about intention, as I've already said elsewhere, in a conversation about a piece of work made by someone else.  Part of my intention when I work is to keep things as simple as possible, while expressing whatever it is that I'm trying to say. 

I'm happy with this, now.  Yes, I could melt the lutradur a bit more, but it's a risk: if I melt too much, it'll just look silly, and as it's not distracting from anything, it's a risk I'm not prepared to take.  Perfection, as I've said before, is the best you can do on the day, and that is constantly changing as you learn more, and become more confident.  Sometimes discretion truly is the better part of valour.

Knowing Where To Stop.

Sometimes, it's tempting to gild the lily.  Have a look at this...

I went into my software, intending to edit this  image.  And then I realised that there really wasn't anything I wanted to do to it.  It's got the right look and feel to it.  I really like it.  So... I thought, don't do anything.  And so, dear reader, I didn't.  I feel some stitch coming on, when it gets printed out onto Evolon.

And then I thought... oh my, that's a short blog post.  So I thought I'd use one of my favourite techniques.  I cropped it.  And here it is...

This has a completely different feel to it, somehow.  I don't like it as much.  The contrast of light and shade and colour, is much less, and I feel that the delicate feeling of the first image is lost in the second.  So...I'll not be keeping this one.  Nor will I be keeping the next one, where the colour has been intensified.

Yuck.  I think what I'm trying to say is, when in doubt, don't.