The note she has on her easel

The note she has on her easel reads:

Is this the best you can do?

If it isn’t, then it’s not done.

Artist Barrett Edwards lives this credo. Her studio is across the state of Florida from our gallery. A few days ago we drove to meet in the middle for an art exchange. Imagine how anticlimactic it was to discover we were only getting two paintings.

I’d driven for days! Well, an hour plus.

I’d be forced to dine at a tony restaurant nearby! On the gallery expense account.

The indignities were piling up. I might even be forced to take a nap to get over the ennui setting in.

Turns out Barrett had been working till late the night before on canvases she simply couldn’t release to me. When she asked herself if it was the best she could do, she knew it wasn’t.  So those will come another day.

My disappointment flipped into admiration in a nano moment. If only we all held back our lesser work!

(Those are her shoes by the way. Holding yourself to a higher standard doesn’t mean you can’t be impishly spirited too.)