Art Swatches

When I feel lost in the studio, I find footing usually one of two ways – cleaning/rearranging or by making shapes on small 3" square pieces of paper. It is very low stakes and a great way to maintain a bit of a creative rhythm. I learned about them through Birdie Fitzgerald who is a fellow color and collage loving artist.

Over the past few years I've been building a library of these cards. They are an alphabet of sorts – the building blocks of my visual language. Just like letters they can be placed into a multitude of arrangements, or appreciated on their own.

These shapes have found their way onto a tissue paper design for packing up orders in my shop, my playing cards and tea towels, and are finding their latest iteration in a new series of work. I find over and over again that it’s the small things that add up to make the big things – case and point, art swatches!

Give it a try if you are ever feeling stuck. Even if it doesn’t become a launching point, I imagine it will be a step along the way to get you closer! What are your favorite things to do if you are stuck and unable to make art? I’d love to hear…