#5 - FINISHED PAINTING

January 2023

Aaaahh, it’s finished.

Finished: ended, completed, concluded, done, wrapped up, satisfied

Satisfied: a very subjective experience of completeness, wholeness, perfection, doubt dispelled.

Abstract #18 was finished but not complete; there was doubt. However, I was unable to figure out what to do. The painting hung in my studio for two years before I took it down and began to change it.

Abstract #18 became #38 (coming soon). It is again finished and now I am satisfied.

Abstract #4 tells a different story. The black line was the last to be added to the canvas. It ‘separates and brings the painting together’; most satisfying and complete. This line is referred to in the paintings of Barnett Newman as “zips.”