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 In art as in life it’s important to cherish and savor each progress made, every tiny step toward growth taken, every blessing, opportunity, and sign of beauty that is plopped in our path, all of the small treasures that we so often overlook in our busy-ness, our race to the next big goal.

I have been practicing gratitude in my life for a number of years now and it has made all the difference. As a natural skeptic and cynic it was always easier for me to see the things that were going wrong, to doubt, to worry, to feel not good enough. It has taken a lot of conscious work to switch my thinking to recognize all of the good in life and in people (including myself) and even more work to start believing that things can and do work out just fine, to believe in the impossible, the formerly unimaginable. Once I let go and started having faith, to enjoy the little things more, and be truly appreciative, life became much richer and I felt much less pressure.

Since my time in the studio was so limited while raising kids and working a day job, I felt enormous pressure to produce a successful painting when I did have time at the easel. Either that commission had to turn out well quickly or the painting had to be good enough for the next big show to enter. I am mostly self-taught, other than taking workshops, and was building my resume by winning awards and gaining signature or master level memberships in prestigious art organizations. There was very little time for just having fun in the studio, experimenting, trying something new and different.

Now, that I have achieved some of those earlier goals, have a resume I am proud of, and have more time to paint, I am taking time in between the commissions and other portrait and figure work to create a new series of very small pastels. One added bonus is that I am able to offer them to a broader audience because of their very low prices (I am selling them unframed to keep the cost down).

 I love seeing abstract design in nature or man made structures and have been photographing bridges, textured walls, rocks, etc., while at the beach watching Rich’s attempts at surfing (he’s actually doing really well for a novice!). The complementary color scheme in the first batch of these paintings, plus the shapes and patterns the structures created were just so beautiful to me. You can view the first six pieces in my new category of “Small Treasures” on my website here. I titled them “Under the Boardwalk” and yes, there will be an accompanying series titled “Down by the Sea”, featuring the beautiful compositions that rocks and waves can produce (that song has been stuck in my head ever since I started working on this series!). I will also throw in a more typical landscape every now and then, especially the ones done en plein air, and whatever else tickles my fancy. The main idea is to create these tiny morsels for fun!

But besides that fun, and being able to offer my paintings to those people who have wanted to add one to their home but could not afford to do so before, I had one more motive for the series: to create more work in general. Going into the studio in the morning with several of these small pieces all laid out, the surfaces prepped and ready to take on that first wild wash of watercolor, is motivating and energizing. It’s a nice break between the more pressure filled work of commissions and helps me feel like I’m getting stuff done! I had been aware of the Daily Painters phenomenon for quite a while and envied the artists who could be so prolific and disciplined to complete one small painting a day and still work on larger things. This is my way of joining their ranks, maybe not on a daily basis yet, but who knows, I may get there one day. In the meantime, I am going to enjoy creating each one of these small treasures, just for the pure joy of noticing something beautiful in the ordinary, putting it down on paper quickly and sharing it with others.

Here is an example of two paintings with just the watercolor underpainting done and the resulting finished pieces.

Click here to see all six. I’d love to hear what you think of these new paintings in the comments below.

If you'd like to purchase one, you can do so securely through paypal by clicking the "Buy Now" button on each image or by contacting me directly.

Thank you for reading my blog and remember to savor the small things in life!