A Little Watercolor Lesson in Letting Things Rest

Making a piece is always a dance, weaving in and out of the flow state, taking a breath to see it, and then diving back in. And then in one of those breaths you realize there’s nothing more that it needs.

For me, if at that point I’m in love with it, then it is finished. If not then I put it aside to give us both a little time apart. It’s the work asking you to come back as someone different.

Watercolor is funny that way. Dry paint holds its ground. It remembers every decision you made, every wash, every mark. But it’s also patient. It will wait for you to catch up to it.

We are never who we were yesterday. Life has moved around us, cells have died off and new ones have formed, the air in our lungs and food in our belly is all new. So when you come back a day later, or weeks later, you’re not the same person who made those first marks. And like magic you sit with the piece and know exactly what it needs. If you don’t, it’s probably just another future you that will have the answer.

I made a little video this week showing exactly what this looks like in practice, working back in to dry paint, adding layers, letting the piece surprise you. Watch it above.

Working back into dry paint isn’t about fixing. It’s not about finishing. It’s about layering meaning over time, the same way we layer experience over memory, the same way we become who we are slowly, in passes.

Pick up that piece you abandoned. Sit with it. You might be exactly who it was waiting for.

Stay amazed,

Jo