"Reviving a Vision: The Journey of 'On the Willamette'"
The revival of “On the Willamette” by Graham Salisbury. Revised original now for sale as an 18x24” oil, likely to sell fast with the lively clouds and reflection he embellished it with.
Every time I begin a new painting I am always excited and inspired. I have a clean canvas that reaches out and asks me to make it come alive with color and light. And oh, how I want to do just that. But I know that what I see in my mind will very likely not be what I end up bringing to life on the canvas. It pretty much never works out the way I envision it. Still, however a painting turns out, it will be something I have created. It will be a piece of me. It will hold a place in my life history.
However, as with every creative vision I’ve ever had, bringing something that doesn’t yet exist to life is not always easy. Things happen. It’s very likely the same for every artist. People make demands on your time. Some may even try to kill your dream out of jealousy, or whatever other issues they are dealing with. Even your own tender self worth can step in and cause havoc.
But you keep going. You work through it, or around it. You get creative. You take chances. You move your dream ahead, step by step. Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. But you keep going.
This is a painting I tossed in my junk box over a year ago, the boring version of it. This week I happened upon it for no particular reason except to say that maybe it was whispering to me, saying, “Hey, come on now! I’m not so broken I can’t be fixed. Give me another shot.”
So I did … and with no expectation of success. I just “kept on going.” I took a chance on crazy-wild clouds, and made the river look like it was actually moving. And the whole process made me smile. Surprisingly, I like the dang thing now. It’s no Edgar Payne, but it’s fun to look at. And the scene resonates with me, reminds me of warm summer days down along the river just down the street from where I live.
Amazing.
Things happen when you keep on going. You might even turn a few lemons into lemonade. Even my tender self worth agrees.
Just. Keep. Going.
Dang me!
~Graham Salisbury
