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Not enough time. How often have you said that to yourself about creating your art?

How many of you work in an area other than creating your artwork? I bet a lot of you do. I did until a few years ago. You would think with full-time studio time I would feel like I have plenty of time to paint. However, I still feel the pressure of not having enough time to work on all that I want to paint.

Our recent photography reference trip to the Grand Tetons prompted an epiphany for me. Paint small! In the last couple of days, I have created four pieces.

I have painted trompe l’oeil paintings for several years. I have created “photos” of paintings as well as “small paintings” from 3”x5” to 4”x6” and larger for these pieces. However, I also create large paintings for the various juried exhibitions that I submit artwork to each year as well as paintings for advertising for my husband’s company and for the periodicals in which I advertise my artwork. In addition, I create paintings for the children’s books that my husband and I make together.

How can I find enough time to paint all the pieces that I want to do? In one word, miniatures. That is my latest discovery.

Painting small may be the answer for you if you don’t have a lot of studio time. The logistics of applying paint to my three foot by four foot painting, “Moving On”, required months to finish. Obviously, it takes a long time to cover a canvas of that size with paint. In contrast, I can finish a miniature in the very short time of a few hours.

Another advantage of painting small it that I can try out several ideas for a painting and it doesn’t take a lot of time. If I really like one, I can always paint a larger piece.

In addition, if you want to ‘loosen up’ and paint more impressionistically, painting miniatures might work for you. You cannot get a lot of detail in a tiny painting, unless you are really trying to. And you would probably need a magnifying glass and tiny brushes to do so.

If you feel the pressure of not having enough time to paint, and that keeps you from even starting, please consider creating ‘little jewels’. It just might meet the need for you to get creating.