I love a final reveal —the varnished canvas, the perfect captured image, the framed success. If you’ve been following my journey for a while however, you know that my pieces don’t always evolve to a place of immediate clarity. In fact, it is an immensely valuable part of my current journey into abstract expressionism. Most days my studio is a place of beautiful, frustrating chaos.

"Art has a funny way of mirroring life like that. The messy phases are often the most meaningful parts of the story."

Meeting My "Ugly Duckling"

The Messy Middle

I wanted to share a piece that has been a little "ugly duckling" lately called Inner Constellations:Live in your Moment. What you see on the easel isn't the polished final artwork. It’s the messy middle (and there is pretty much always one). It’s that uncertain stage where the layers and the vision don’t quite make sense, and I find myself stepping back, tilting my head, and thinking... “Where on earth am I going with this and should I just paint over it and start again?”

The Evolution of Mixed Media

Embracing the Chaos

Mixed media is rarely a straight line from A to B. It doesn’t arrive beautifully from the beginning. Instead, it evolves through activating the canvas (just starting), adding layers of colours and marks, bold decisions, overpainting, and a lot of problem-solving. It requires a deep sense of trust an intuition—trust that the “ugly duckling” phase is actually just the foundations for something deeper.

When the Artwork Takes the Lead

Sometimes the original plan disappears completely. Sometimes the artwork starts to tell you what it wants to become. Each mark and colour decision leads to the next decision. Some of my favorite pieces are the ones that came from the moments I nearly gave up on them. Those layers of "messy, failure and just ugly" are what give the final piece its history and soul.

A Reminder for Your Own Creative Journey

Whether you’re standing in front of a canvas or navigating a complicated chapter in your life, remember that the "messy middle" or “ugly duckling” phase isn't a sign that you're failing. It’s a sign that you’re in the thick of the process. It’s where the growth happens. Be Brave. Keep going. Trust in the process.

 

The truth is, even though this piece feels "done" to a certain point, I’m probably about to rework the entire thing. And that’s okay.

Stay messy, stay bold and keep creating.

With love,
from one feminine spirit to another

Jo

 

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