Giving your art time

When I first looked at this photo on the computer I was unsure.  So I printed out a ten inch square print and blue taced it to the wall above my computer where it continued to live right up until I moved.

Sometimes when I do this I take the photo down in a fit of dispair and ceremiously rip it up and dispose of it.  At that moment when I can’t stand it any more.  

This photograph grew on me, almost daily.  It kept getting stronger each day I stared at it.  Something about it keeps sucking me in.  It quickly takes me back to a favourite place.  Thick in mist.  Full of mystery and romance. 

Anne and Kay were with me that early morning. It was the day after another serious session of abstract photography.  Perhaps that set me up with a bit of practice in preparation for this one?

Last year this photograph popped up in one of my presentations at a camera club and someone in the audience tells me exactly where it is.  Yesterday Sue did that as well.  Photographic artists who have been there recognise the shapes of the hills and the river.  

When this happens I am quietly reminded that this is a special photograph for me.  Yet at first I really doubted that.  Time gave me the confirmation that I was looking for and now it quietly continues to remind me of its beauty. 

I encourage you to give your art time to mature.  Time to grow on you.  Time to remind you of its own beauty. 

I am hoping to go back there this year.  You could join me if you like. The tour around the Tarkine follows a week long photography workshop at Cradle Mountain.   

The Pieman River looking downstream from Corina, The Tarkine, North Western Tasmania, Australia.   Photograph and Text copyright © Len Metcalf 2018