Alternatively titled “BIG Part III”

I’ve been chatting with you about these extra-large triptychs since February, and now that it’s May and the paintings are done, delivered, and hung - I have some post-production thoughts to share.

The most profound of which is - I didn’t like it.

Don’t get me wrong - I LOVED making the paintings and stretching myself to do something different and challenging.

I enjoyed the process of planning, projecting, and scaling the small practice pieces into three larger pieces. I really enjoyed ordering big blocks of wax paint and having that on hand!!

I didn’t like the physicality of working with such large panels that didn’t fit onto my workbench or really in my studio space at all.
I wore myself out lifting, moving, and heaving the heavy panels around. Panels that continued to get heavier and heavier as I added more paint.

To be fair, I did get a lot of steps in while working on these. I’d drag them out into the driveway and then walk across the street to get a better perspective on what they were doing as a whole unit.

Most of all, I did not enjoy the amount of pressure I put on myself to make them “perfect,” all while knowing such a thing does not exist.

With smaller pieces, I can make ten paintings in a few days. Some will be better than others, but there are so many that it's not a significant loss if one is a flop. It’s not a loss because nine more are succeeding.
With only three giant paintings and months of my time invested, I had this pressure that each of them had to be stunning, and that, for me, at least, is not how art actually works.

My takeaway and the lessons I have learned from this experience regarding doing a special exhibition are:
1. Choose a canvas/pannel size that fits into the available space, not the space I wish I had.

2. Make a painting, and when I love it and am ready to let it go, THEN I will choose a show for it to go into.
**This will be hard to pull off because I will be tempted to make new work for a new exciting show, but at least I know it’s not how I’d prefer to operate.

3. If time allows, make ten paintings (or at least five) and then choose my favorites versus trying to make a few fit into the favorite category.

I Didn’t Like It

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I Didn’t Like It

Trial Vlog

Scaling Down to go BIG

I’d love to stay in touch!If you’d like a fun, possibly overly wordy newsletter that is extra heavy on the exclamation points delivered to your inbox every other week, then drop your email in the Subscribe Box.

I’d love to stay in touch!
If you’d like a fun, possibly overly wordy newsletter that is extra heavy on the exclamation points delivered to your inbox every other week, then drop your email in the Subscribe Box.