Size Matters

Sometimes it takes me awhile to figure things out. It can be the most obvious thing, but I won't see it. It's not that I am completely oblivious. Most of the time I notice things that most people don't. But sometimes, especially when it comes to something like art, I just don't realize things as quickly.

Take for example, sanding. I have been painting on panels since mid 2006 but it has only occurred to me recently (we are talking less than two weeks here) that if I sand the panels BEFORE I paint on them, they are smoother and easier to paint on. You'd think that would be obvious, especially since I have recently been feeling like the roughness of the panels were interfering with my painting,  but it only occurred to me to do that AFTER seeing someone else do. What can I say? Sometimes I'm a bit slow.

Another thing that I am just realizing is that it takes me the same amount of time to paint a 12"x12" painting as it does to paint a 16"x16" one, yet the price difference is pretty significant. So why am I doing the same amount of work for less pay? In a world where galleries want larger work, why am I working so small? In the past, I would paint on small panels because the larger space of bigger ones intimidated me. It's easy to "hide" in a smaller, less noticeable piece.  But I'm not intimidated anymore. I realize adding four inches per side isn't exactly large but it is bigger and I actually do like the size. It's a great size to fit in small spaces still and if you take a couple put together, the installation can look pretty impressive. So I've made the decision to not paint smaller than 16"x16". It doesn't make sense economically and I think that as my skills grow, I should increase the size of my work. Having this be my "new" smallest sized painting makes sense to me. Like I said, galleries love larger work and with more and more galleries showing my work, I should realize that size matters.

My latest painting, which is 24"x24"