When a piece goes belly-up

Each time I start a new piece there is a keen sense of anticipation as to how it will turn out. Will it be my best piece ever, a so-so piece or, heavens forbid, a disaster only fit for the reject bin? All three happen of course, even to the most experienced people.
Making that decision to abandon a piece is never easy, and stressed with considerable frustration. The piece I showed you the beginnings of a few weeks back, based on a Celtic seat in northern Spain, is no longer. It got so far then I decided I didn't like the direction it was going. I tried a few remedies, until finally I did something that I knew would probably 'kill it'. It did, but that was okay.
I then started all over again with a quite different approach. This piece is now finished and I am pleased I decided to have a second attempt. It is still too early to grade its level of success but I am relatively happy with the outcome.
While working through this piece I had two unexpected new outcomes. One was purely by accident, and the other was rather more deliberate. I plan to develop these further and incorporate them into future pieces. So definitely a gain in starting again, if you know what I mean!
Anyway, I am not going to show the whole of the final piece yet as it needs to be professional photographed, but below are four details.









Next Blog: last one before Christmas