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Sonja had tried all the usual approaches. Bunkering down in her studio, limiting her engagement with the world around her, and turning off all possible distractions. These were tried and tested ways to finish a piece that she had started, enhancing her ability to get lost in that deep state of flow that helped to create her best pieces.

When that didn’t work, when she found herself still on the final stretch but lacking the vision to finish the piece, she tried the opposite. If limiting outside influence was blocking her flow, then surely letting the outside world wash all around her would free up whatever was blocking her creativity. But after a few weeks of this approach, she felt even more removed from the work. Some mornings, when she walked into the studio, the canvas seemed to mock her. There were days when it was almost unrecognisable, as if someone else had created the work. Other days, when she glanced at it whilst working on something smaller, something less important, she could see the potential in the work. In those moments, she knew that it had the potential to be the best thing she had created so far.

When asked how the work was going by her friends and fellow artists who worked in the warehouse, Sonja would smile and say it was coming along. A few of her closest friends had seen the work as it had come together in stages, and when even they stopped asking about the work, she knew that something had to change. Although she had never left a major work midway through, she decided that, like a relationship that was wearing you down, she needed some time out.

A friend’s cousin had a beach shack on the mid north coast, and though the autumn leaves were turning, and the days were beginning to shorten, Sonja packed a bag and headed north. She had her usual swag of notebook and pencils and paints for sketching, and she’d taken several photos of her unfinished masterpiece before locking up the studio.

A couple of rainy days in a row put an end to her daily rambling nature walks. Instead, Sonja explored some local galleries. Some were in the bustling beachside towns, others were nestled off the beaten track, often in small sheds at the back of bush blocks. These galleries offered a mixture of styles and skill levels, and reminded her of the joy she had felt when she was starting out on her artistic path. The compulsion to create something from nothing, and the wide-eyed fascination with the possibilities that existed all around her — it had been so long since Sonja had felt that optimism. She enjoyed talking to the artists, people that shared a passion for creation, carving out time in-between taking care of families or farms or jobs.

On her last night, Sonja dreamed, at last, of how she could complete the piece.

This piece was written to a prompt on the Writer’s Digest website. Masterpiece: an artist cannot finish their masterpiece no matter what they do.

Photo: The Company of Trees by Ro Murray and Mandy Burgess spotted at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Katoomba