Puzzling

Sometimes I wrestle with a painting quite a bit.  The delicate balance of meaning + color + atmosphere + technique becomes a puzzle. 

In this piece I'm asking questions about personal power in addition to showing a natural disaster.  The original photo was taken at a mountaintop lake in Colorado, but the power just wasn't there.  So it sat to the side for a few weeks.  One of the many things I enjoy about a large painting is that I can make the scale of the elements closer to life size.  This is NOT a large painting, which is irksome AND a good challenge.  So, I did what I could do and enlarged the subject.  Then I added a volcano.  Better.

This piece still isn't done.  The components are not in balance the way I'd like.  I'm not giving up on her, just reworking the components until I feel like I've solved it in a way that makes me love it.
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Does the balance pass me by sometimes?  You bet.  Sometimes I repaint just to realize I should have left it alone.  That's why it's good to take some time off between reworkings.  Give it a rest and wait.  But then continue unafraid and keep trying to solve that darn puzzle.