About my small works

When my girls were little, I was always torn between things I had to do. Time to paint was short, even when they were both napping, and I always had in mind that I could be disrupted at any time, since nap time varied from day to day.

My solution was to paint small and quick—zoom! Pastels were my medium of choice then with their pre-mixed direct color. I’d wear gloves and paint and listen, enjoying creative time until they woke.

Working whilst they slept was such a shot in the arm for me during their early years. I’d made a contest of how many smalls I could complete and still be proud of my work. I learned to make all the painting decisions quickly: what will I paint? What are the colors? What mark will I make next? And what more does the work need?

Now my girls are 16 (tomorrow is my youngest’s birthday!!) and 18 (headed to college in less than a month *sigh*) and I’m wistfully remembering all the times from “before.” So many changes. Constant thought the years though is that I love to paint small and quick.

In this photo of my standing desk are two small gouache (opaque watercolor) paintings at center and two pastels to the right. The small paintings sometimes get worked up into larger works. I wonder if any of these may…