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This miniature painting captures the natural curiosity that horses exhibit. On a warm spring morning, the sun was reflecting off of the shiny coats of these well cared for horses. These mares seemed to be showing the newest member of their herd the marvelous sights beyond their reach.

I chose to create this vignette on a really small surface to test my skills at painting in miniature, once again. Years ago, when I was painting with watercolor during the earliest part of my art career, most of my creative endeavors were made in the miniature format. Partly because I didn’t have much money, and partly because I didn’t know how to fill up the great white spaces of the paper, I chose a small format for my watercolor paintings. I knew that I needed a lot of practice, so I cut up my expensive, high-quality watercolor paper into little pieces. This paper was so durable that I could paint on both sides before throwing it away. My family didn’t want me to throw away my work, but I considered my attempts at creating art very feeble when I was first learning and I was embarrassed to keep them.

Thirty years later, I still feel like many of my attempts at creating art are feeble. However, in order to get better at anything, one must practice incessantly. Artists must recognize that not all of their works will be their best work. I don’t upload paintings to my website unless I feel like they have passed the critique test that my husband [my best critic] and I have.

For many years, I had to squeeze in time around working, to paint. I gave up leisure activities that others did in order to find the time to practice. Progress was very slow, and I could have given up, thinking that I wouldn’t get any better. Since I didn’t give up, though, I have gone on to create artwork in many styles using many mediums and supports. That’s who I am… the eclectic artist. The thing is, if your give up, you never will know of what you are capable of creating. And I love learning, so I push myself to always do something new in each painting that I create. That way, I will always feel like a beginner, which will make me keep pushing myself to create my best.