Small Works

Working small is one of my big pleasures. A few 5”x5” oils on canvas, part of my Square Parts Series, were first featured in a gallery in Troy, N.Y, in 2008. I continue to add to the series each year. The subjects range from abstracts to florals to landscapes. I’ve gone a little smaller, with 3x3s, many of which have been included in the annual Arlene’s Artist Materials fundraiser. In 2020, when the world shut down, I happily took part in an online Quaranteeny show, and most recently, in 2024, I felt honored to have my own show, Wee Work in Wood, in The Tiny AF Gallery at Union College. That show, in a hugely cool art space, featured my artist’s blocks (better than writer’s blocks), color-suffused little abstractions on upcycled plywood.

I also enjoy working on 6”x6” and 8”x8” canvases, and some of my small squares are not square at all but painted on odd sizes of whatever scraps of wood I’ve managed to find. There’s no skimping on paint on these pocket-sizes pieces. Perhaps counterintuitively, I feel the freedom to go big with color and experiment. Scratching, scraping, swirling, dragging, dabbing, erasing, smushing, smudging and smearing are all in the mix for me when working on a diminutive scale.