Sometimes...it just doesn't work

This is another in the series of finding those things we don't normally see - the things that are right in front of us. After I painted the water pipes in Barbara's furnace room (see post 11/9/16 - "Making the Invisible, Visible"), I continued to look around her house. She has an interesting old fashioned door lock.

I went over to the door to take some photos of the lock. I noticed that the door was really warm. As I ran my hand over the wood of the door I discovered two screw heads that were very hot.

When I opened her front door I found that the screws were holding a very unusual door knocker. The morning sun was shining very brightly on the door and knocker. The metal knocker was really HOT.

I opened to door a little wider to take some pictures of the knocker and then really saw 'the painting!' A strong shadow fell across the door and the knocker. That would be fun to try to capture.

The holidays came then and I didn't have a lot of time to get back to the idea. In early January, I got out my photos and drew a sketch of what I had imagined. I used the matchstick and ink method to 'draw' it.

It still seemed like a good idea and I was enthusiastic about it until...I painted it the first time. For some reason, it just didn't work. I think there was something about the shadow... The knocker wasn't as interesting as I thought...it just didn't feel right.

So, I put the painting in sink and washed it off. My experience of second chances had been pretty good...in the past. The paint never comes off entirely, but I now had an underpainting and my ink drawing to work with.

Bottom line here - I painted it again, and washed it off again... I painted it once more and am calling it quits on this one.  Sometimes, it just doesn't work!

I'll tuck this away...even though it's not a 'winner' I always learn something. When I look back a few weeks/months from now, I may see something I can't see today!