Oh yes! It has to. I put it to bed this afternoon, cleaning my palette and washing the brushes. Just as it is not possible to live without bodily sleep, I believe it is necessary to award myself “art sleep”. A part-finished canvas is sitting on the easel, but it will still be there when I “wake up” again. It is sufficiently well-developed for me to have a good idea where it is going. It will not disappear.
The truth is that this particular painting is the fruit of a pretty intense period of reflection on my personal past, and although artistic creativity is driven by emotion the expenditure of this kind of energy can be just as tiring as the expenditure of energy in physical activities (such as climbing.) I’m ready for sleep now.
So: I shall spend the next three days dreaming of Christmas, and I’ll wake up again refreshed, and ready to begin again the hard work of making art.