If you’re following some sort of pattern, or script, then it’s usually fairly obvious when the work is done. Take musicians. Performers will rehearse their part until it’s as good as they can make it sound. They might have tutors who will help them with technical points and interpretations. But eventually they will reach the end of the piece and short of improving their performance, that will be that.

However, if you are the person who composed the piece, knowing when it’s complete is a skill in itself, in fact different versions of the same piece often exist alongside each other (think Theme and Variations).

For visual art, it’s the same. When I’m making work, how the finished piece looks will depend on what it is I want the viewer to see, what I want their experience to be. Not always, though. Often I will make something purely because I want to, it’s a cathartic practice and its only function is at its face value - to please me, and only me. In these cases, it’s finished whenever I want it to be finished. I enjoy these moments, they are only to please me.

On the other hand, making a piece of art for the purpose of others’ enjoyment, or a gallery, my website, a commission or gift is very different. It’s difficult to know how others will see it. Will they see the same that I do? Will it need explaining? Will they find it attractive, and does it matter whether they do or not? Because of the nature of what I do, I’m constantly adding to the work in progress. And because it’s predominantly collage (both digital and anolog), I can usually take things away without too much disruption. But there have been times when my interventions have been so disruptive that there’s no coming back if I change my mind. If it’s work that I’m printing, then that is pretty final as well.

I’ve learnt to be strict with myself and allow my work to ‘breathe’ before I declare it finished. I leave it for a few days and look at it with fresh eyes. Also getting someone else to critique work is so helpful if that’s an option…and if you’re prepared to sometimes hear something you didn’t really want to! That happens, and it takes a certain amount of practice to accept it! But it really does help to hear what other people think before it’s complete.

So there is no easy answer. Often I don’t know when it’s finished, although I think that I’m getting better at that. As with a performer of music, practice makes perfect (maybe).

The photo below of my husband Tom Williams was taken recently in Coventry at the first performance of his 2022 composition “As Soon as Dawn Appears”.

The composer at the final rehearsal — Composer and performers at the final rehearsal

Blog

How to know when a piece of work is finished (the predicament is real).