My art goals for the next while are to work smaller and try all sorts of new things. These are my first two pieces since my recent big show.

Here I’ve scrambled some variables, and experimented with mixed media in a few new ways, working in about five layers. Working in layers allows for complexity and subtlety in the end result, but it also allows me to quickly take something just one step further before it needs to dry, while I’m constrained for time in a busy work and family season. Working like this in multiple layers feels like playing a chess game, while focusing five moves ahead; it is a process I enjoy.  It feels like problem solving, however it doesn’t always work out.

Painting small like this is a great low commitment way to test out fresh ideas and expand my technique repertoire, with a low investment on time and materials. It is a great way to expand the methods of mark-making that I use when expressing my authentic, creative voice.

I’m not terribly invested in these 9″x12″ pieces, which were done in my artist journal, but I learned some things doing them. I love the process of exploration, whatever the results.