My little pretties

I am not generally one of those artists who finds it hard to part with a painting once it's sold. I feel as though my experience with the painting happens while I'm in the process of making it. Once it's finished, the relationship is finished. I'm just as glad to part with it and move on to the next visual experience. (And I am certainly glad of the income because then I can buy more art supplies.)

That said, however, there are some paintings that I love so much that I would never part with them. Looking at them as a group, I'm not sure exactly why I want to keep these particular works, while the other perfectly nice paintings could go at any time as far as I'm concerned. Somehow, I said what I wanted to say with them, thoroughly, and I feel satisfied with them as finished products, as representative of what I am about as an artist and a person.

Do you have trouble parting with your paintings? Aside from the conventional wisdom that an artist should hold onto a certain number of her best works, are there some that you would keep just because you love them, no matter how much someone offered to pay for them? Do you know WHY you love those particular paintings over others, or is it some unidentifiable quality about them that you love?

Below: "Web," Acrylic and spray paint on fabric on canvas, 28" square, 2003.




Below: "Weave," Acrylic and spray paint on fabric on canvas, 20" square, 2003.




Below: "Seaweed," Acrylic on fabric on canvas, 20" H x 28" W, 2008.




Below: "Wet Web," Acrylic on canvas, 10" H x 8" W, 2008.




Below: "Niche," Acrylic on fabric on canvas, 60" H x 38" W, 1997.