Happy accidents

Sometimes, when I'm struggling to get back into painting after a long hiatus, I jumpstart the process by copying other people's paintings. It's a great way to learn new techniques, but the results tend to be mixed: sometimes the copy is accurate but lifeless; sometimes I just can't seem to master whatever it took to create the other's work; and sometimes it takes on a life of its own and becomes uniquely mine with only traces of the other's original work.

This one, sadly, fell into the first category, and after living with it a day or two and working on some other pieces I decided to use up some leftover paint to re-cover the canvas as a base for something different.

But after I'd covered about 2/3rds of the painting with random color I had something I loved -- a surprisingly happy accident!  So I guess the secret is staying in the moment, watching, listening, and knowing when to stop -- kind of like life...