The Courage to Finish a Piece

Some of my friends have trouble starting a piece of artwork. . . the blank page or canvas gives them trouble. That's not my problem. My problem is finishing a piece. When it's about half done (if things are going well), it has such potential for greatness, and I worry about screwing it up. This assemblage piece I started in Michael DeMeng's Demented Toys Class is a case in point. I disassembled a variety of toys and happily pieced them together. Added a variety of embellishments until I had a very cool creation. The vibe was somewhere between King of the Forest and Where the Wild Things are. Everyone in class loved it. But when it came time to begin painting it, that stage where you're supposed to pull everything together and unify it into its final form, I froze up. I kept looking & thinking, thinking & looking. Finally, yesterday I dove into it. I like the result pretty well, but mainly I'm happy to have found the courage to finish the piece!