Small but Mighty

Collector's Focus: Small Works & Miniatures

Introduction by John O’Hern

Scott Duce’s paintings of VW beetles in Chiapas, Mexico, range in size from 8 by 8 inch to 20 by 20 inch, honoring the diminutive vehicle and its relationship to the architecture of the region. The reflective solid paint colors of the bugs are contrasted to the softly textured earth tones of the buildings. In the case of Vocho Viejo #47, the cool blue of the car complements the warm earth tones of the building.

Arden Gallery, Vocho Viejo #47, oil on panel, 12 x 12”, by Scott Duce; Gallery Victor, Sunset, oil on panel, 8 x 10”, by Jeff Aeling.

Duce says, “I have spent my life painting and drawing in order to understand what I see and seeing to understand what I make. My work is based on observation combined with a desire to visually interpret nature, landscape and culture…My hope is that the work allows the viewer to engage with the observations I have noted and the interpretation I have strived to express. I desire to create unique images that transcend representation and move toward a deeper insight into not only my own aesthetic but the universal meanings of imagery.”

He quotes Thoreau who wrote, “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” Degas differed, in a way, when he wrote, “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” Artists allow us to see what they saw and to see anew on our own. Nevertheless, the science of seeing is objective and art of seeing is subjective. The color theorist Josef Albers wrote, “If one says ‘red’—the name of color—and there are fifty people listening, it can be expected that there will be fifty reds in their minds. And one can be sure that all these reds will be very different.”

Garvey|Simon, Lake 3 (kayak), colored pencil on velour paper, 11 x 8½”, by Sandy Litchfield.

Sandy Litchfield takes essentially the same palette Duce used in his oil on panel painting and subtly softens it using colored pencil on velour paper in Lake 3 (kayak). She also explores the concept of place, but one less tangible. Citing the writing of women like Ursula K. LeGuin and Robin Wall Kimmerer, she writes, “These writers have cleared new paths for exploring and understanding our relationship with place; a relationship that is reciprocal, entwined and synonymous. I make paintings that express the feeling of a place as we may experience it while traveling or in memory; when the impression or gesture of the place is vague but poignant, familiar but faint, tangled but also patterned and arranged. The colors, shapes or textures may evoke something fleshy or prickly or smooth in a way that connects our internal and external experience. The landscapes I like most are the ones that embrace and engage our emotional and spiritual yearnings. They offer a way out—and a way in—simultaneously.”

Blue Rain Gallery, Hen in the Fox House, oil on gesso panel with mixed media, 5½ x 9”, by Jim Vogel.

Jeff Aeling echoes the burnt orange walls of Duce’s Chiapas building in the dramatic clouds of sunset. The sky is both vast and intimate, enveloping the viewer in a moment that will pass quickly but will remain in memory and in his recollection in this 8-by-10-inch oil on panel. He once told me he is “attracted to extremes, more interested in the light quality at times of maximum transition, when it’s moving and changing rapidly as in the last hour of light.”

The myriad of photos of sunsets on social media often display a distance from the experience of the moment, a rush to capture it digitally rather than experiencing it viscerally and absorbing it—making it part of oneself. The intimacy of these small works encourages us to look and to see in our own unique way, yet experience something universal.

Continue reading to hear more from artists and galleries on the many nuances of small and miniature works of art. Also find insights onto establishing or adding to a collection.

Top: Blue Rain Gallery, Ounce of Shade, oil on wood panel, 8 x 8”, by GL Richardson; Blue Rain Gallery, Taos Pueblo Elder, oil on panel, 11½ x 11½”, by Roseta Santiago. Bottom: Donald Yatomi, Something for Everyone, oil, 10 x 8” ; Barbara Schilling, Mountain Meadow, oil on linen, 16 x 16” ; Claudia Seymour, Butterfly Orchids, oil on panel, 18 x 14”

Blue Rain Gallery, located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is known for showcasing work of all mediums and sizes, but most of the represented artists work in large format. “When we receive a small work, it seems to be a little more special and unique in comparison,” says gallery executive director Denise Phetteplace. “The artists we have chosen are local to New Mexico and highlight the way of life in the Southwest. Jim Vogel is a storyteller that brings the stories and old ways of living in Northern New Mexico to life. Riding the line between figurative expressionism and Western Pop, GL Richardson’s work finds footing in unique ground of conceptualism and pure emotion. A cowboy himself, Richardson’s work focuses on ranching culture. Roseta Santiago is constantly inspired with the beauty of the simplest of lines, the humblest of creations and the beauty of faces with character created from within. Her paintings arise from a vivid dream world. Her art is a gateway into the hearts of her subjects and a conduit for expressing the artist’s emotional contemplation of the world around her.”

Donald Yatomi, Amber & Lager, oil, 10 x 8”

Margaret DeDecker, co-owner of Claggett/Rey Gallery notes that the term “miniatures” is very misleading when it comes to the considerable impact these smaller-scale works can have upon our souls. “I feel, the most exciting acquisitions are those little gems that come along once in a lifetime,” she says. “Pieces that leave an image seared into your memory and a lasting impression on your heart. To me, they are an artist’s raw, direct response to a scene—a perfect message or quote on canvas conveyed through strokes of color and composition. I can remember my husband Bill and my first trip to the Salmagundi Club in New York and the enviable ‘small works’ in their permanent collection. It inspired us to assemble a personal trove of little treasures from artists we respected through our travels and special acquisition opportunities. If this opportunity arises at any time in your artful journey, you must ‘carpe diem’ and enjoy the rewards these small but mighty pieces will add to your visual art chronicle.”

Top: Beth Cole, Room to Grow, oil, 10 x 10” ; Claggett/Rey Gallery, Crucita and Son, oil, 16 x 12”, by Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953). Bottom: Claudia Seymour, Hearts and Flowers, oil on panel, 8 x 10”

For artist Barbara Schilling, her work is a reflection of her emotional connection to nature. “I wish to convey an energy rather than a strict representation of a subject,” says the artist. “My paintings often have underlying messages that are a direct result of my current frame of mind or influenced by current events. Common themes in my work are about overcoming adversity and finding hope.” Schilling uses color, energized brushwork and symbolic subjects to convey her story. Recurring symbolism in her work includes paths that lead to the unknown or sunlit passages that represent moving towards hopefulness. “I consciously compose my work in a way intended to lead the eye through the story while allowing the viewer to make that emotional connection themselves,” she explains. “Art can be so much more than just a ‘pretty picture.’ It can be an emotional connection that gives a voice to the viewer’s own life experiences.”

Self-taught motorsports artist Paul Chenard renders his unique small works and other larger pieces in a variety of mediums including pencil, pen and ink, colored pencil, watercolor and acrylic. He also utilizes different substrates such as canvas or birch panel, hand-cut aluminum sheet and laser-cut stainless steel. “I’m very inspired by the many amazing stories of motorsports past, both two- and four-wheeled machinery and the people involved, and strive to tell those stories through my art,” Chenard says. “I believe that art should always tell a story to the viewer, so that a connection is made—a heart is touched and inspired.”

Claggett/Rey Gallery, Portrait of Captain Stewart with Indians by Campfire, oil, 8 x 6”, by Alfred Jacob Miller (1810-1874).

Pictured within this section, we see Chenard’s piece Wrecking Crew of the famous Harley-Davidson racing team lined up at Ascot Park in Los Angeles in January 1920. The crew included Freddie Ludlow, Ralph Hepburn, Albert “Shrimp” Burns and Otto Walker.

Donald Yatomi’s personal origin was littered with the grit of poverty in a low-income part of Honolulu and it is for this reason that he’s drawn to uncelebrated spaces. “My earliest memories are nestled in the ugly, the poor, in the repetitive schemes, of nameless strangers and along the lonely alleys,” the artist describes. “The background landscape of my childhood developed me as a formal, classically trained and unconventional artist drawn to prosaic places. The compositional and golden rules remain within my work. These rules are discreet and blended to the unorthodox color palette, functioning as a familiar hook waiting for the observer. Much like my bigger works, my smaller pieces still retain the notion of noticing and appreciating the little things in life.”

Top: Claggett/Rey Gallery, Moki Girl Looking Over Canyon, oil, 10 x 13”, by William Robinson Leigh (1866-1955); Elizabeth Butler, Fresh Cut, oil and silver leaf on wood, 18 x 18” . Bottom: Beth Cole, Boxelder Road, oil, 10 x 12” ; Elizabeth Butler, Sweetness I, oil and white gold leaf on wood, 18” ; Donald Yatomi, Gin & Tonic, oil, 8 x 8”

Claudia Seymour works in the still-life genre and in the media of oil paint and soft pastels, with oils being her primary focus. “Working as a still life studio painter, I am able to control completely the composition, lighting and all other aspects of the artistic process,” she says. Her paintings feature fruit and flowers, antiques and vintage objects, textiles, books, and natural components like shells and wood. “I spend very important time establishing a set-up that will evoke serenity and joy for the viewer,” shares Seymour. “Collecting still-life paintings expands the depth of any collector’s holdings, and I take great joy in portraying the beauty of the world for owners to enjoy through color and the exhibition of beauty.” A sampling of Seymour’s small works are pictured here, including her florals Butterfly Orchids, and Hearts and Flowers.

For many artists who feel more at home before a large canvas, miniatures are labors of love from the artist to the collector. In Elizabeth Butler’s case, the challenge of a smaller painting is recreating her signature style of large maximalist florals—at a sixth of the scale. “This means an attempt to take the wide range of marks and variety of brushstrokes from massive to tiny, that are employed in a large piece and scale it down,” she explains. “It is a totally different experience and takes an enormous amount of intentionality and care, and it is truly a love letter to the collector. As a collector, I would look for a small work that feels like a smaller study for something that is a signature subject or style of the artist you love. You are getting a taste of what they do, and it should leave you hungry for a bit more, like a salty, savory appetizer.”

Elizabeth Butler, Backyard Oranges, oil and gold leaf on wood, 10 x 10”

When artist Beth Cole steps into the landscape as a painter, she sees the chaos of nature. “If I were to include everything in my painting, it would be overwhelming,” she explains. “My approach is to simplify what I see, transform chaos into order, if you will, and create a peaceful and calming piece of art. My recent work (smaller examples of which are featured here) comes from a limited palette which has given me unlimited possibilities. I especially like the subtle shifts in color I can use to help move the viewer through the painting. I hope you sense in my work the joy I have as an artist.” —