I started this year feeling incredibly discouraged as an artist. When I first began exploring felted wool as a medium I was drawn to the feel of the fibers and the tactile immersion of the whole process. Yes, it was time consuming, but also unique and remarkable and I told myself that I would become more efficient with practice and experience. However, several years into my journey I hadn’t found a way to keep up my inventory and the time I invested in each of my pieces was making pricing difficult. Finding a price point the market could bear but would also value my time and expenses seemed impossible and starting new projects seemed daunting instead of exciting. I was letting my perfectionism slow me down and allowing the business aspect of my art career to diminish my creative passion. Something had to give. I ended up walking away from my co-op art gallery membership, halting my attempts to come up with new online tutorials and deciding to sign up for fewer shows. However, nothing seemed to really change for me until I started scaling down my art. Here are 7 ways working small reignited my creativity, loosened up my art and helped my business.
Pictured below are a sampling of the pieces I’ve been creating over the last couple of months. They are 6 to 7 inch square pieces in 9 inch by 9 inch frames.
I let go of fear. When working on a large piece of art it’s easy to get bogged down by the fear of ruining the whole scene by making a mistake. Working on a smaller scale allowed me to let go of my perfectionism and tackle my scenes from a place of confidence.
I unlocked my creativity. Having set aside fear, I was able to explore my medium more creatively and be led by inspiration. While working on small pieces, trying something new didn’t feel risky and it allowed me to experiment with different techniques and colors. For instance, in the waterfall scene above I used more silks and bamboos than I normally would and love the squiggles of interest they added to the rocks in the foreground.
I felt productive and accomplished. Creating smaller scenes from a bold, inspired space allowed me to produce at a much quicker rate than usual. The feeling of completing 10-15 projects in just a few short weeks was exhilarating. Having a fast and effective framing method to keep things rolling was key. (If you’d like to learn more about the process I used to frame these pieces, check out my previous blog entry.)
I increased show sales. Having an increased volume of work in my booth at a wider variety of price points seemed to resonate with buyers. It also decreased the chances someone who fell in love with my art would walk away empty-handed or disappointed due to feeling my prices weren’t accessible to them. Sales at my last show of the year were up 31% compared to my first show of the year despite it being a smaller art fair. My audience was notably more engaged and excited throughout the day and the quality of my work shone through allowing me to walk away with the award for Second Place and The People’s Choice Award.
I grew my Instagram account. Having a higher output of quality work meant more content for social media. Since these pieces could be completed over the course of a couple of days it was easier to be consistent with filming small clips of each project to share. In the last thirty days my Instagram account has grown by over 500 followers which is a fairly large increase of 22% for my fairly small account. (You can follow me here if you don’t already.)
My next tutorial found me. I didn’t have to sit down to create a scene with teaching in mind only to find out halfway through the project that it may not lend itself well to an online class after all. Instead, I was able to compose a beautiful piece that absolutely screamed, “Teach me!” once it was complete. This allows me start my course planning from a stress-free space and I can’t wait to begin filming in February of 2024. (If you’re interested in seeing the online tutorials I already have available click here.)
I learned a lot. (Like a lot a lot!) Somehow I feel I’ve learned more in the last couple of months than I did in the entire year prior. Most lessons have been pleasant and a few have been frustrating but they’ve all worked together to get me back into my journey as an artist and feeling like I’m headed in the right direction. Overall, I’m excited, energized and hopeful about my artwork and my business and I’m certain I’ll be able to bring the same bold creativity I’ve applied to these smaller works to my larger pieces.
There you have it! Seven wonderful ways working small helped me get my artistic groove back. For anyone that may find themselves struggling in a negative creative space I would definitely recommend embracing the opportunity to scale down your art. These petite creations may be lacking in size, but they more than compensate for it with their immense capacity for nurturing creative learning.