I have been painting with my good friend Diane Calkins on Friday afternoons for years now. Diane and I have always liked the concept of creating a challenge to make our work more interesting, and to see what our different interpretations of the same subject would be. We have set up still life arrangements to paint. We experimented with Diane’s clever splatter techniques. We resolved our composition problems together and we always found that our work was better than if we had worked alone.
Diane and I decided to work in a smaller format as a challenge. After a couple of sessions of making smaller versions of what I ordinarily painted, I was dissatisfied with the results. They all just looked like little watercolor paintings. I looked at what Diane was making and decided there and then that she was ahead of my thinking in how we should be approaching the project. She had fluid acrylics, brayers, stamps, hard plastic elements, bubble wrap, and all sorts of found things on the table. Wow we were going to have fun! Have I said I love making art with Diane? We quickly established parameters of how we would work and the Small Art Project was launched.
- · Everything would be 5 x 7 inches. It would easily fit in a standard frame and it could be used as a greeting card for gift giving.
- · Everything needed a taped border to protect white space around the painting. We wanted the paintings to look nice in a display rack, a greeting card spinner, or a frame when purchased.
- · We would work on multiples to ensure that we were not becoming committed to one single piece. 4 to 6 pieces is about what we could think of and be successful with at the same time.
- · All the work would be completed in the session.
- · We would use materials left over from other projects; old papers, paints, crayons, and pastels that had been abandoned in our art materials stash. (I know you have a stash)
- · We would agree to experiment and always try new techniques we had not used in the past. This was about us taking risks and learning something new. A small piece of paper is a small risk.
- · No technique would be used at the table that you were not willing to share. If you didn’t want someone to see how you skillfully made something happen on paper then you would not use that technique at the table. The project had to be about sharing.
- · We would not paint the same thing over and over again, but change each week.
At the end of our painting session we would critique our works, discuss what we had learned and evaluate how we could have improved. We kept a big trash can on the floor and threw away the failed papers because having painted 5 or 6, we were not really committed to any one of them and it was easily done. Well, easier for me than Diane. The pieces we thought successful were backed with a 5 x 7 mat board, (scraps from Diane’s custom framing) and sealed in a clear bag. We put those in a display called Small Art and sold them for $10. We had invested not one penny to make them. If we thought they were exceptional then we decided they were not Small Art, they were ART. Those we would take home and hang in our studio or paste in our sketch book for inspiration when making our bigger paintings. Some of the absolutely fabulous ones we have framed, entered in juried competitions, and sold in galleries.
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| Small Art in a gallery display |
As a result, our painting styles changed, and our larger framed artworks are selling more often now that we have started to incorporate our new discoveries in our paintings. The Small Art Project is about learning to MAKE BETTER ART. Its setting defined parameters to work inside of and finding a way to resolve the problems that occur in a painting. It is the challenge we are interested in. We do not set out to make paintings, but some of our challenges end up as very good paintings. These little paintings are your learning tools.
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| Two of Diane's abstract landscapes |
We gradually invited some of our friends to participate in our Small Art Fridays. They have had a lot of fun with the challenge. Some have continued to work inside the challenge format, learning new techniques that become a starting point for the next series of work they want to make, and others have interpreted the challenge to mean something else. We are happy for all the successes and failures because we learn from all of it. I can’t speak for the other participants in the Small Art Project, only myself. My painting style has changed and l love the materials and techniques I have found. I have developed a style that is my own, although I have willing shared it with all at the table. I certainly make art when I am alone, but I am always ready to share my table when anyone calls and says they would like to come to the gallery and paint with me.
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| a series of 3 keepers from abstract experiment of circles and squares |
This project has brought about a real change in what my creativity is about. My focus is not really about making art as much as it is about sharing what I do. I really like to work with other people when I paint. Everyone learns more about themselves as artists when we come together to create. There are instantly suggestions available if I stop and say “should I fill this corner with yellow to make a better composition?” Everything from, “NO!” to, “I have a better yellow than yours. Use mine.” will come out. And suddenly there is community. If I painted alone, without ever sounding off an idea, asking for critique, or applying someone else' method to my work, I doubt that my paintings would be as successful as they have become for me. It is through the engagement of other people that I have found my own voice. And even though my painting has my signature on the bottom, I assure you I am not flying solo.
I invite you to follow along with Diane and I as we experiment and share the things we have learned. Ask questions, share with your painting and art journal friends, and most of all share with us. Welcome to The SMALL Art Project.
