I am often asked: “How long did that take you to paint?” With a smile I like to say that it took me “a lifetime”. This Galiano piece for instance took many small plain air paintings to become familiar with the place and ways to paint it. The larger work could not have been accomplished without the previous ones. It also took a number of abstract expressions as practice of my brushwork and working with compliments of colour in preparation for the large canvas I was to paint. I believe a good painting doesn’t necessarily take long to paint but requires the expertise and experience gained up to that point and the openings to creativity. My experiences influence my paintings more than time and my emotions more than reality. Sometimes a quickly painted work can hold as much interest and be pleasing in some way than one laboured over for hours and hours. That’s because art is not so much about the time taken to finish as what the artist brings to it, using every part of who they are. This is also how style forms. In the end a painting can have a powerful influence….and in a way becomes timeless and often priceless. May we cherish our time and keep in mind that we too are priceless no matter how long we take to become who we are meant to be. Jane