Relentless Achiever II Artist Statement

Relentless Achiever II

Have you ever found yourself “stopping” in order to reassess what you’re doing in life? This little acrylic painting, called Relentless Achiever II, illustrates this type of “stopping” for me – to stop relentlessly achieving, to stop continually reaching for the brass ring in the corporate world before redirecting my career in fine art. Relentless Achiever II is based on my larger acrylic painting, Relentless Achiever, done in 1999 (see attached photo), during major changes in my life. 

Both paintings use a multi-layered process called glazing. Beginning with sketches on drawing paper of many ideas, I use graphite paper to transfer the final drawing to canvas, make final adjustments on the canvas, and then begin laying in color. Darker colors are painted first, and then slowly built up with medium colors, and lastly lighter colors.

This little painting is a part of the Hardy Gallery (Ephraim, WI) and the Artist’s Guild (Sturgeon Bay, WI) Community Mosaic Project-now in its 16th year.  The concept is twofold:  to raise awareness of the visual arts by reaching out to the local community and encouraging participation from individuals of all ages and abilities and to provide the Hardy with funds through the sale of miniature artworks. The Project is displayed during the months of July and August annually and consists of 300 6” X 6” works of art that collectively create a large-scale mosaic.

My message is to step back, reflect and recalibrate your journey. It is not healthy to chase the brass ring at the expense of doing what you really love to do.