If you follow my Instagrammings, you’ll have seen some cryptic posts about my *secret project*. It’s time to let the cat out of the bag…
This year’s entry to the Brooklyn Art Library’s sketchbook project is a little different.
During the COVID lockdowns one thing I’ve really missed is visiting art exhibitions and galleries, soaking up the inspiration, being surrounded by likeminded people.
So to mark this very strange part of history I’ve used painted papers and screen prints from my studio to create a tiny gallery of tiny paintings in the pages of this book.
I began by cutting small pieces from the papers I chose and developing the shapes and colours I had as a starting point to make each individual tiny painting.
They range in size between less than an inch to maybe 3 inches at the largest.
100 tiny paintings in progress
Naturally, the journey from start to finish took a few diversions on the way.
I considered stitching them into patchworked pages.
I like the effect of doing this, but went back to the ‘gallery’ idea. I’ll circle around to this idea another time.
Then my thoughts wandered to mandalas.
Could I make 100 tiny mandalas? …yes I could, but the deadline was looming so this is another idea on hold for another time. Meanwhile the ones I made are finding a home in my sketchbook for now.
Eventually I settled back on the original idea, and I just got it all done in time to mail it off to Brooklyn.
It will be part of the permanent collection after it’s arrived and been scanned, so you’ll be able to view it in real life or in their digitized library soon.
Meanwhile, if you’d like to watch a flip through with close ups of these weeny little pictures, be sure to catch my newsletter later this week.
Hi – I’m Mixy!
This is Mixy 🙂
I’m a mixed media & textile artist from London, UK.
I love to share what I’m making, and I hope it brings some inspiration to your creative time.
You can see what I’m making on this blog, and in these places too
I love to look for connections, to explore ideas that bring more substance to the understanding I have of this brief blip of a life we have here in this world…
I love to look for connections, to explore ideas that bring more substance to the understanding I have of this brief blip of a life we have here in this world.
I’ve a project that I’ve been dipping in and out of for a while now, which I plan to explore in a variety of ways. The first part relates to scale.
Inner Space : Outer Space
Popular science tells us, that taking all we’ve managed to measure – from the whole known universe at the top end down to the very tiniest measurable amount – that size-wise we are in the middle.
(I also like to believe it doesn’t stop there, it keeps going in both directions beyond our abilities to measure. It keeps on going forever – turtles all the way down – as the saying goes. But that’s not for now.)
Before I fall down another rabbit hole of ponderings, I have art to make:
It begins here with this series of miniature abstract paintings, which resulted from time spent playing with these ideas.
We talk about looking at the overview, the ‘bigger picture’. One purpose of art is to flip reality. So this time go smaller. To tiny things.Â
Each little painting offers an interpretation to the viewer, it can be any scale, a world zoomed in or out?
A landscape or a microscopic view. Or both.
Perhaps this is a fractal universe where we live, perhaps not. I like to explore these ideas without attaching to any. These thoughts fuel the desire to build patterns out of patterns.Â
This first Series is titled Inner Space and consists of 15 small watercolor & collage paintings mounted as art cards, and will be up in my Etsy shop in October. Hop on my mailing list to be first to know more!Â
Mixy's Art Blog 