Beating a Dead Horse

There is a large body of work that never leaves the studio. These are the paintings that refuse to resolve themselves. If I were a smarter person, I would just throw them out and start new ones, but instead, I continue to work on them. Unfortunately, the reworking often just makes matters worse and I enter into a downward spiral. Working in this way, pushing these bad paintings, is like beating a dead horse. It is difficult and demoralizing. It feels like hitting your head with a hammer repeatedly, knowing each time is going to hurt, dreading it, but nevertheless hoping maybe the next time will be different.

2004