Like layers of rock - layers of paint

I'm making more of an effort to share my work in progress. I love the process almost as much as the finished pieces. 

The acrylic painting I'm currently working on was actually "finished" - for about a year. I kept staring at it. It stared back at me. We were polite to each other. And then while continuing to live with it, I realized what it needed. I grabbed the canvas board and brought it to the studio immediately.

Because I had already varnished it, it needed a lot of sanding to be able to continue to build layers on top of it. I LOVE the way an old painting can be the perfect base layer(s) for a painting. 

Some people might be horrified that I just started painting on top of an old work. I don't easily let go of my "babies" but sometimes, they do evolve and grow up into something else - something better. It only takes a bit of time and living with it and one day it will present itself. I'm layering acrylic glazes to build up the "rocks" and I'm absolutely loving where this is going. My work seems to be higher contrast with the lights and darks but it captures the moodiness of being in a dark cave where no light reaches the eons of rock. Cave diving is one of the few activities I have where I'm COMPLETELY present in body, mind and spirit. You could say it's my meditation. 

Stay tuned for the finished piece!

Grace