[Mike McCarty]

I like that quote also Linda, I also like to say that my painting is finished only when it is out of my sight.

I also think that the longer you paint the more comfortable you become in recognizing when your painting is finished. Maybe you learn to establish a clearer vision at the beginning, and thus it's easier to match up that completed vision at the end. Who knows?

I seem to go through a ritual on the front end and on the back end. I stare at an image for days and sometimes weeks, allowing myself to become seduced by it. After bringing it to what I would call an almost complete state I go through a sort of separation process. I will take the painting with me from room to room and stare at it in different lights and surroundings. Many times taking it back to the easel until my relationship with the image is complete.