Cartharsis and old projects.

    As I mentioned, I tend to move around a lot. It's not always by intent, but it happens, and I've gotten used to the constant change and associated chaos. Some of my friends would say that I seem to thrive on change. (While I won't admit it, they are likely to be correct.) I prefer to think of it in this manner: "He had noticed that events were cowards: they didn't occur singly, but instead they would run in packs and leap out at him all at once." - Neil Gaiman, I believe from his book Anansi Boys.
    Moving around tends to create casualties when it comes to the artistic process and progress. Not just in the sense of frames breaking or glass shattering (though it does happen) but more in the sense of projects that were half-finished when the move arrived on my doorstep, and were packed away. Same goes for art supplies. I have a *ton* of different art supplies, that were purchased or gifts that I fully intended to use before a wave of cowardly events and a move got in the way. 3 moves ago I had several fashion & sewing projects underway. They're currently in a box, waiting for the end of this last move so I can re-open them like cold cases, and finish them. 2 moves ago I purchased a blank metroishka doll set with the intent of painting them in time for Christmas of last year. They too are hidden away, forgotten temporarily. 1 move ago I had begun another sewing project, along with a couple of illuminated scrolls to be gifts for this Christmas, and a birthday or two. Tucked away in my portfolio, they are unlikely to be brought out until the last minute, at which point I will spend several all-nighters painting and doing the calligraphy so I can finish it in time for the Christmas/Birthday parties.
     It's really not the intent of any artist to leave something unfinished. The problem is, paying projects or jobs always have to come first in order to survive (Unless you enjoy starving. I don't.) and things like sewing a new shirt or creating that masterpiece tend to get set aside. If you're lucky, you eventually find yourself able to find the time to get back to it and finish it. More often something else comes up in form of a flash of inspiration, and suddenly the new project takes on an urgency that leaves the old, half finished project on the dusty shelf.
    My goal for December 2009 is to find the myriad of boxes containing unfinished projects, and complete them by the end of the year, since my Christmas gifting projects are mostly finished for the year. Call it my end of the year resolution, before making a few New Year ones.
     It's not that artists have a hard time finishing projects (though I'm sure some do) it's more than events and things keep cropping up like obstacles in the path of a masterpiece.