I'm at that point with a current piece. The elements are there, but the thing just doesn't jell. Deadlines are approaching, and even if I spent 24 hours a day on this, I still doubt it would coalesce. So I've decided to abandon that one for a while. No, I won't throw it away. I think it will eventually form up in my mind, maybe in a different shape or size. I've had that happen before with good results--cut it up, turn it around, dye it, print something on it, add or subtract parts. (Never throw away patchwork.)
This frees me up to concentrate on the other project I was working on, without feeling guilty. And I can finish that one by the deadline, even with church obligations and a trip to Mexico in the interim. And I have two more in the planning and design process for later this spring and summer. So looking forward to that.
On another topic: last Sunday I was one of three SAQA artists who subbmitted work for a live online critique by Arturo Sandoval. The results were recorded and will be available for SAQA members to watch after editing (there was a lot of stuff to cut where we had trouble connecting to the site and getting the technology to work properly). Arturo is an innovative fiber artist and an art professor; he had provided us with some questions he might ask so we could prepare. It was a revealing experience. He was interested in different things than I had expected. I tend to go right to the "story" and he didn't really care about that. The most useful observation was that my piece, Glacier, compressed too much into the space. He suggested I work much bigger and allow more empty space in the work. The critique was the same for other photos I had provided. So I will take that to heart and see what I can do about working larger. How to accommodate this in my studio is the question I will be considering while on vacation.