Tiny steps through tiny paintings
Plus: Ever wanted to learn painting from me? Come to our next CreativiTEA!
I have done a great deal of painting since I got out of the hospital a little over a year ago. I’ve done digital painting for the picture book project. I’ve done a few paint-by-numbers to keep my brush skills sharp. I even completed an oil painting, a medium I’d never worked with before last year.
The one thing I haven’t done, however, is complete an original acrylic painting. I’ve started a few, but for whatever reason, I haven’t been able to follow through.
Thankfully, in a weird sort of way, I’ve been in this type of “stuck” place before, so I recognize the signs. It’s not a creative block exactly, more like trying to turn over one of those old-style crank engines.
I’m hauling hard on the crankshaft; however, since I haven’t used those skills in quite a while, I’m encountering much more resistance than I was when I was finishing a painting every couple weeks for the exhibit.
Clearly, it’s time to break out some creativity coaching strategies…
Set a small goal that’s got some flexibility to it
In my case, I applied to a group art exhibit that I’ve been meaning to apply to for quite some time. I am not going to jinx it by naming the show here, but I will know by the end of March whether I’ve been accepted.
As the focus of this particular show is on small paintings, I plan to paint eight tiny 6x6” and 6x8” paintings.
The flexibility piece is that if I get accepted into the group exhibit, the paintings will go there. If I don’t, then they’ll simply go into my online store.
Work smaller, not harder
I realize that the saying is typically work smarter, but I’ve often found that when I’m feeling creatively stuck, working smaller can have big benefits.
Even with my typically highly detailed paintings, working even smaller than usual will allow me to wrap up paintings more quickly and hopefully build some creative momentum.
Find some heavy-hitting painting inspiration
For most of my paintings, I paint from my own photography, but that isn’t always possible when the weather gets especially cold. I find that when it dips below about -15C / 5F, my lungs genuinely start protesting, and my fingers are far too cold to take decent snapshots in any case.
When Calgary got hit with some beautiful, but very cold hoarfrost in early January, I spent the days inside admiring an explosion of glittering photos on social media. My favourites came from a popular blogger, cmcalgary, who took some gorgeous photos in and around Prince’s Island Park.
It isn’t often that I encounter other people’s photography that sparks my “now that’s a painting” reaction, but so many of these images did exactly that. Thankfully, when I reached out to cmcalgary, they permitted me to paint whatever I liked based on their photos.
I have a few in mind for this series of minis, plus I might paint a couple based on my September trip to Canmore as well.
Will these tactics be enough to get my acrylic painting engine turning over again?
We shall see…
With our inaugural CreativiTEA workshop a great success, I’ve already started preparation for our February workshop, Presence Through Painting, happening on Sunday, February 22nd, at Atelier Artista.
In this acrylic painting workshop, I emphasize using painting as a tool for mindfulness by focusing on working with the paint in the present moment. I’ve taught this workshop a few times before, and it’s still one of my favourites as I get to share my love of painting and its benefits with others.
Whether you're an experienced painter or just a beginner, this workshop is an opportunity to learn more about painting as a tool for reducing stress and emotional regulation.
Each two-hour CreativiTEA session includes:
🎨 A guided creative activity with all art supplies provided
☕ Socializing and discussion with tea and delicious goodies—also provided
Tickets are limited (and our January workshop sold out!), so be sure to grab yours today.