Struggling

I have been experimenting with collage and abstraction, using layers of papers and fabric, stitching and textures.  My goal was to be looser and completely non objective.  I guess this is that, but it looks heavy handed and really not very free.  

I lost a lot of the subtleties of the stained papers I was using.  In the past I wrote about those kinds of things as being the soul of the work.  But the difference here, at least for me, is that I don't find the end product very pleasing and therefore this piece totally lost the "soul" that gives itself over for the good of the artwork.

That being said, I then worked on the piece to the right.  I did not give myself the same challenge of being non-objective, so I included an image which is my comfort zone.  Or my voice when working with collage.  I like this piece better, but it is what I usually do, so I haven't grown in the way I was hoping to....new collages that are authentic to me and the way I work but with a fresh quality.

So it is back to  the studio to try again.  

I would be interested in your comments, pro and con.

This is when art making is a struggle.