[Chris Saper]

I suspect that I am not alone in failing to purge failed paintings from my possession.

I try now, at least twice a year, to throw away at least ten pieces. (Still doesn't come close to eliminating my fire hazard.)

But there's good reason to keep a few failures around. Keep at least one in every medium, or one each in completely different ilks. Decide they are waste products, not yet disposed of.

Then try experiments. Gold leaf. Varnish. Glazes. Work in strips or squares, and use a SHARPIE to write note RIGHT on them to describe just what you're doing. Eventually they will resemble matboard scraps, and you have left any misplaced emotional investment far behind. If they are worth keeping (they no doubt have much better instructional value than any other imaginable value), so much the better. If not, they have to go to the dump. And don't even think about placing them gingerly upon the top of the garbage. (Too good to REALLY throw out?) Decimate them. Don't let anyone even think about salvaging them. (If you are a parent, you must do this when the kids are far away. But you can get rid of their old stuff at the same time.)