After painting more than 30 miniature doors, I thought I had this whole “door thing” down – wrong!

My latest series of doors have knocked me around quite a bit. I’ve had to throw one of them away and start all over. A second one almost met the same fate. And I hit a wall trying to paint some very tricky shadows on the third, which put it in danger of being turfed. Yes, I know… I picked these to paint so why isn’t it going as swimmingly as usual?

My analysis? I got cocky and messed up all over the place. I started to speed and messed up all over the place. I then got scared and messed up all over the place. I had not approached these pieces with humility and respect for my process or the materials… and these pieces punished me for it.

It’s that adage that one’s skills or gifts will only materialize if your head is right. So I stepped away from the work for a day. When I came back, I cleaned my work area to start fresh. I assessed clear-eyed what needed to be fixed, and I put no time constraints on myself. They are now coming along, and I am back on track.

Despite their beauty, these doors taught me some tough timely lessons that will help take me through another busy autumn painting season.

Here’s the first lovely one, “Toronto Door 1”:

#139 – Toronto Door 1

2.5″ x 3.5″; ink and watercolour

(Available now at local art events or at my Etsy shop, ArtWeWonderful)