12 x 16" Acrylic on canvas
 
An homage to Monet. This was done mostly with knife as a test to see what how the surface would render in comparison to brush strokes. Some areas were nearly impossible to mimick with a knife, while others lent themselves to an easy interpretation. It was a good lesson, and made me appreciate his work even more. I am curious what went through his mind as he worked and reworked so much of his work. (Did you notice the word, "work?" There's a reason it's called "artwork" ~ it's hard. Perhaps not physically so much, but mentally and especially emotionally. Even when you're experienced, it rarely flows naturally. You have to keep pressing into it, like that elusive math problem when you're convinced that you're never going to learn the concept. Just when you think you've nailed it, you start another painting and nine times out of ten, a moment comes that you aren't sure you'll get past. 

Was Monet thinking like this when he painted, or did he purposefully scumble and scrape and layer and scrape and layer some more?