Usually I’m not much for working sitting down, especially when I have some big paintings on the go. But for the past few days, it has been necessary. It’s that springtime energy blast that has put me in a chair. Besides gardening and making art, I decided to paint one room upstairs a brighter, lighter, yellow-green (it had been a subdued, darker green). I like it so much I decided to paint the entryway a more interesting color, a warm gray. From that, one wall in the kitchen (dark blue), then the main floor bath (dark, purple/gray), then the stairwell up (split pea green with robin’s egg blue on the opposite wall), then the stairwell to my studio (deep tomato red). You get the picture. It’s all very exciting. But tiring. So I need to sit down for a while when I paint. And sitting down, I need to work small. Small, as in 5“ x 3” and 6“ x 6”.
Working small is, in many ways, harder than the large paintings. I can’t make the broad strokes I enjoy so much. But it does make me think, or rather be more observant, of what makes a small painting work. And I try not to use the same solution every time. Just to put meaning and significance into 3“ x 5”, not easy.
The above painting is all of 6″ x 6″. Small is good.
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