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.