into the gap

The work goes on.  How fortunate I am to be able to work at something which I love and feel passionate about.  

idea sketch:

 stitched:

The plan is to gesso the top & bottom areas and paint those areas with sheer layers, similar to the middle parts of this work - but this time leaving the middle part as raw canvas with maybe some additional drawing.

detail with some initial pencil drawing:

I usually don't draw before stretching the canvas, but there it was on my table and I was thinking about how it would be, and I began some drawing.  It will be interesting to see if the pencil lines smear at all while I stretch it.

and here we have this lovely work:

I began this painting while listening to a friend's composition.  I was not necessarily trying to make a painting that mirrored his work, only to see what might happen with the influence of his specific music.

Then two evenings ago I decided to work on it some more - and I didn't put on the music while doing so.  Here is what happened:

Yesterday I continued to muck about with it, since once a thing is changed you cannot go back, only forward.  Rather than being a response to someone else's creative work, this is now becoming one of my usual canvases.  

Is it better to adhere to a concept, or to be fluid and allow the concept to change a little as the thing takes form?

It's a subjective interpretation I suppose, but I wish I hadn't changed this one.  Well then, I will have to try again to make a canvas with a specific piece of music and not switch trains in the midst.