When I was in college, I remember reading a popular book titled “Small is Beautiful”. Since I was studying Economics and Environmental Issues, it was natural to consider the book’s premise that big is not necessarily better. As I did a little research on this book to refresh my memory, it seems that this idea might still hold true today that a smaller approach to many things as well as solutions to such problems is a valid pursuit.

Lately I’ve been thinking about smallness in regard to my art practice…maybe a smaller approach is what I need. In following my word for the year, Navigate, I’ve come to realize that I need to navigate a different path to not only downsize my physical accumulations of art supplies and sundries, (thanks to all who came to my purge sale!) but also rethink what I am actually creating. I no longer have an avenue to share and promote large art compositions since I can’t physically handle the demands of larger art festivals, especially if a canopy is required or I have to haul heavy tubs of inventory.

As I was preparing for my purge sale, I combed every inch of my studio to weed out anything that was no longer needed since I was looking to create on a smaller scale…there was quite a bit of rusty metal stuff that went away! But I also came across a couple of solid wood blocks…and remembering a few posts I saw on Instagram about collage cubes from artists Janet Reid and Jane Chip, the wheels began to turn…or rather, the blocks began to tumble!

I’ve always been intrigued by small things…thimbles for one…but also small pearl buttons, tiny leaves, pen nibs, old postage stamps to name a few. What if I concentrated on such small things…and used the six sides of a wooden cube to weave together a combination of papers, old photos, vintage ephemera and tiny objects…I gathered together materials…

It was a bit of a challenge to work within a two inch space…but glueing an image over the edge, into the next facet of the block helped to expand the narrative and tied one facet with another. As was the case when I was working on larger compositions, I had several blocks in process at once, waiting for one side to dry before I smoothed the edges and continued with the next side.

Attaching the tiny found objects was the last step…after everything was dry and I had waxed each of the six sides, the final embellishment was added…and with the block being solid wood, it was easy to nail or screw on the object to ensure it would stay on tight.

I have these collage blocks listed in my Etsy shop…they are priced individually but I really like them in groups of three…you can play with them, arranging them differently with changing whatever sides you want to show…an endless story to be told.

And although I am not doing large art shows, I am a vendor at Makers Market being held at Craven Farm, June 24-25, 9am to 2pm each day. I will be featuring my Artist Tote Bags and Artist Pouches, along with my cards and prints. Their annual Flea Market Sale held in their outdoor field will also be happening on June 24 so its two events at one location…I hope you will stop by.

What I’ve discovered with shifting gears is that there are many facets of creating to be explored…none no less than any other…it’s just important to create, however small.