Twins on Their Morning Walk by Bodril Gardner, Lystrup, Denmark
I think I have become addicted to covering things in primer (we haven’t even gotten to the color yet, people!). All of this painting has given me lots of time to think (and to listen to classic rock, don’t you just love Pat Benatar?). It also has reminded me of one of my favorite activities when I was a kid. On a hot summer’s day, my mom would outfit me with a bucket of water and a paintbrush, and I would proceed to paint the sidewalk. And when one end of the sidewalk was dry, I would go back and start painting it again. Endless. Fun.
So, I think there is a latent painting tendency that is resurfacing here. Obviously, there was no finished product or even an end to painting the sidewalk. It could go on forever (as I’m sure my mom hoped).
Which got me to thinking about why for some sick reason, I am not so much enjoying the painting as much as I just need to keep painting. I believe it is for the same reason that I am compelled to cover the surface of my quilts with all-over stitching. It’s just not done until every inch is covered in stitches. I don’t like much open surface area. But I wonder if it is more related to the process of covering the surface with stitching than it is the aesthetic of the finished product. I admire and adore other people’s quilts with much less quilting. I just can’t do it myself.
I don’t know if this compulsion makes me more process-oriented or more product-oriented. While I greatly enjoy a finished quilt (or a finished wall), just as often I am eager to move on to the next project so I can just keep stitching and cover another surface. Hmm. I’m sure I’ll get more opportunities to consider this in the coming days since the painting isn’t done.
By the way, no, I won’t come to your house and paint anything. Once this eye-opening project is done, I’m retiring from painting or seeing a shrink. One of the two.
Oh, and the above photo, it’s something pretty to look at that isn’t related to anything other than the fact I’ve been painting and not quilting.
Rock on.
Mrs. Schmenkman Quilts 
pam said
Love is a battlefield.
Candy Schultz said
I feel the same way about hand quilting and I know it is definitely the process for me. I love the mindless activity of stitch after stitch. In the vain hope of ever finishing the quilts on my list, however, I do some on the machine.
I used to love Pat Benatar. Whatever happened to her?
The Other Mrs. Schmenkman said
Maybe it’s okay to be *both* process and product oriented. Being in the middle of a ginormous painting job myself, I know exactly what you are talking about. I wouldn’t trade the hours of work I’ve put in even if I could afford to pay someone to do it for me. I like knowing that even if there are errors, they are mine and I don’t have to be angry with some contractor about them (except for the drips from the quickie crap paint job they had some bozo do just prior to us purchasing the place.)
I think it’s the same reason I hesitate to pay a stranger to quilt my tops. I like doing it myself and completely owning both the process *and* the product.