Blog

Scale

La Toussaint. It is finished. Actually, Truly, Finally. It is the largest canvas I have painted (3 ft x 5ft). It took longer than I expected and brought up some unanticipated problems.

My goal is to do work that is slower, more thoughtful and larger scale. Usually we think of scale as size, but scale can also address the degree of complexity. Obviously larger scale work demands a lot more from the artist. I thought knew that, but not really. I found that I need to be really ruthless about studio time to do this kind of work. It comes with a cost. Working on this scale means there is not much time for anything else. It is sobering.

Why Large Scale Then?

Scale is the most obvious aspect of a painting, but it is often taken for granted. When I begin a painting a lot of thought goes into choosing a canvas size. The scale or size of a canvas carries the concept of a painting. For example, I wanted my bird nest paintings to be intimate and inviting so I used a very small format - 6x6. The Rose Arc paintings are large format intended to be spatial and a bit overwhelming. It is important for these canvases to be larger than life. I have been working my way up in size with each one; it's a challenge to maintain control of the paint on such a large surface, I have been solving technical issues as they increase in size.