Another Cat

I have family coming to visit this weekend. The more typical / normal housecleaning that this would inspire turned into a frenzy to to really, really get the house clean, driving me to the craziness of doing things such as mopping every single floor in the house and vacuuming the fronts and backs of all of the area rugs. Why is this relevant to this blog? I've been scheduling short painting breaks here and there as a way to recharge and keep my sanity.

I finished this painting this morning.

I thought that it was finished last night. When I looked at it right before I was going to take a picture, I saw two things that bothered me, so I made several minor tweaks. It was interesting. I wonder if anyone else would even notice the things that bothered me and I wonder if anyone else would think that the changes improved the final outcome.

It might be a good practice to get a painting 99% done, put it aside, and come back to it a day later to finish it. For some reason, my eyes need the rest in order to really see. I should not be surprised by this. For two years, I worked in the national office of a large CPA firm and 90% of my job was writing and editing. I quickly learned that I needed to take a 2-hour or longer break between the time that I wrote something and the time I could effectively proofread it. If I had to proofread my own work sooner than that, I found that I was reading what I wanted to see, not what was on the actual page. Why should it be any different for looking and evaluating something visual, but not based in words?  Also since I try to proofread these blog posts right after I write them, I shudder to think of the many, many errors that I miss.  Ah, the perils of a semi-perfectionist.

The owner of this cat is a good friend.  This cat is very elderly and is having some significant health issues. I felt compelled to a paint a picture of this cat from a picture taken a year ago when she was healthy.