Think big, work small

Oh boy, what a freezing cold February we had this year. The cat cried and refused to leave the house. My brain was going in circles, so I forced myself to endure the short walk to the local library once a week to pick up a stack of interesting books before crawling back under the blanket together with my poor cat. 

(c) art by rekkebo

Lack of motivation

I had numerous cups of tea and felt like decomposing every time I looked out the window. No motivational quotes would ever get me through this horrible winter. I realised I had to DO SOMETHING to get myself back on track. I had to step up!

Nurturing myself

Still not feeling fit for fight after being sick on and off since last spring when the pandemic hit, I decided to go back to my old friend yoga. Sadly I found that even very small doses of yoga would knock me out for 2-3 days, so I had to plan well to avoid the fatigue reaction and think of new ways to nurture my creative self. 

In case you wondered, severe headaches, neck pain and brain fog does not exactly boost your cognitive resources. I could barely focus nor think, and the same thoughts repeated themselves over and over again. Luckily they were happy thoughts!

Dreaming of summer

For days and weeks I could think of nothing but spring flowers and lazy summer days, so I obeyed and started painting what my mind was full of.

With so little energy to spend each day, I realised I had to sit down at my desk and work small. My initial plans of going big this spring was out of the question. 

Looking for motifs

A year ago I was working on my third year graduate art project and looking through my sketchbooks I found my mother’s vases and my grandma’s urns. I had a new project!

Abstract painting is where I feel most at home. But working small is a challenge. I also wanted to add more layers and introduce some new techniques in my paintings. Maybe try out new colour combinations as well. 

Think big, work small

There are many advantages when working small: You can sit down at your desk while working. You can finish a small painting in a relatively small amount of time. You can make several variations of the same motif and try out different things. You might take a picture of your painting and put it through one of those interior apps to see what it would look like on a big scale. Some of them turn out pretty cool – and one day I just might PAINT BIG again!

(c) art by rekkebo