A painting can transform in the blink of an eye. I am capable of destroying what you see here that quickly. A few broad brush strokes and weeks of labor will be erased within seconds.
This creation of mine was painted in 2008 for the Las Vegas ArtExpo. It’s called “Moraine,” and it is large, 36″x48.” It is sitting here in my house and I am debating if I should paint over it or not. I’m kind of not feeling into this energy for inside my home anymore, but at the same time, I feel it is representative of some of my struggles in life. A moraine is what’s left after a glacier recedes. It’s a sloping pile of boulders that have been slowly grinding together for eons under the ice and snow. As I sat on the actual moraine ten years ago (the one that this painting was inspired by), I could hear the water running beneath it. An invisible river continuing to slowly transform the landscape. Some transformations are like this, long and slow and hardly noticeable. Others come quickly, in the blink of an eye. Who is to say which one is more valuable?
What would you do? Would you let it go and paint over it? Would you regret not keeping it around as a reminder of obstacles that you’ve overcome or still have yet to face? What would Georgia O’Keeffe do?
Seeking some wisdom,
Bonnie Kelso is a Creativity Coach who uses Creating as a healing modality. She is the author of Vitalize Your Creative Life, a workbook for engaging with your inner creative child. She also facilitates creativity workshops and classes locally in Las Vegas, NV. She is the creator of the ABCs of Conscious Creating, a guided self-study program that delves deeper into the spiritual realm of your unique creative potential. Are you ready to start right now? Do you have 5 Minutes?
Bonnie Kelso 
Sell it, especially if the piece includes an ‘artist’s statement’ — someone will want and treasure it.
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Well since you asked…I have no idea what Georgia would do. She had such a body of work I imagine she lost track of work and it probably never occurred to her to paint over anything. Because of what that painting represents to you I would say paint over it with something that is pleasant to you and represents where you are now. That was a decade ago. Take a picture of it and the new one and put them in an album side by side and enjoy the progress and changes you have made by letting time roll over your life like the ice on the rocks. Don’t get bogged down by moroseness which kind of sounds like a moraine.
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