A few years ago my cousin asked me if I could draw a portrait of her and her dad, from a photo she had. She had lost her dad when she was very, very young. Being able to work on a piece that would have such sentimental value to her, to myself, and to other members of our family had a deep impact on me. I started working on the piece, but stopped, worrying that I wouldn’t be able to do a good enough job. Time went by, life got busy. About 10 months later, I messaged my cousin to say I hadn’t forgotten about her request, but that I hadn’t been able to finish the piece.

More time went by, I moved, I married, started a new job. Then finally, for a moment at least, I had more time for my art.

This past winter I was able to complete the piece, and then recently mailed it to my unsuspecting cousin.

I think in the end, it was better to not complete the piece until I was ready to. I think that decision probably caused me to create the piece more slowly, but affected the final outcome for the better.
Sometimes it is great to create a piece of art in 20 minutes, and sometimes it is even greater to take several years.