Even If It’s Tiny, Make Art
Sally Swain
play-in-progress

Or Should I Say Palette-able?

How to approach art-making when you’re daunted?

Chunk it down.

The vast blank canvas smirks at you. It might look innocent enough, all pure and fresh, but when nobody else is in the room, it snarls,

‘What makes you think you can paint on me? You’re not good enough. You’re not an artist and never will be.’

What to do?

Snarl back? Dare yourself to make Bad Art? Good strategies, both of them, and here’s another. You could turn your back on Snarky Canvas for now and Chunk it Down.

Give yourself teeny tasks in the micro studio.

Lure yourself to making art by committing to ten minutes per day, or even per week. Make it manageable by creating something very small. You could make an Inchie, as the inspiring Amy Maricle calls it.

I just thought to Google ‘Inchie’ and it turns out the one-inch-square art form has been around a few years, along with the Rinchie, Twinchie and Moo. These sound like cutesy names for fluffy toys, but you could end up creating some seriously sombre meaningful art by playing small.
(Here are some scrumptious Inchies.)

Amy’s current Inchie Challenge is open till the end of July. That’s a few days to dip a pinkie in the paint, or doodle with a glitter pen on a miniature morsel of paper.

Let me know if you do it.

My Inchies? I cheated.

I leafed through already painted unfinished don’t-know-where-to-go pictures. I found an image I didn’t know how to develop and wasn’t attached to.

Face amidst the swirls
Sally Swain
play-in-progress

I took the radical step of trimming away excess. If in doubt, rip it up, with the intention of creating something from the destruction.

Even If It’s Tiny, Make Art
Sally Swain
play-in-progress

Then, with the leftover bits, I made six instant Inchies. Actually, Twinchies.

Even If It’s Tiny, Make Art
Sally Swain
play-in-progress

Voila!

Even If It’s Tiny, Make Art
Sally Swain
play-in-progress

Added benefits:

• No pieces of painting were wasted.
• I had a bit of playful fun.
• I was able to add to my Even if…Make Art series.
• And…the original picture became the Wise Woman in the Alp.

Do you see her?

Wise Woman in the Alp
Sally Swain
play-in-progress

By the way, I haven’t finished either the Inchies or Ms Wise Alp. They are plays-in-process.