I am always pushing the boundaries of my own art practice, and I like to do the same with my stable of artists. I encourage them to submit works for exhibitions for which I come up with the concept.

By challenging the practice of my artists, I hope they will discover new approaches, techniques and produce fantastic new works. Equally, it is exciting for me to give an artist a task and to see how it will manifest in their work. I feel incredibly fortunate to be in a position to facilitate art. To witness a seed of an idea, grow and bear fruit is magical. And this happens every time we hold an exhibition.

If the artist employs mainly large, broad strokes in their paintings, having to hone down and produce smaller works, can make them reflect on the details and quality of their mark-making. This can help them to clarify their intentions in their art and influence the nature of future works. Changing the scale of their artworks can have a profound and significant effect.

Witnessing the discoveries the artist make with the transition from large to small is fascinating. Jo Wonder says this project allowed her to zoom in.

She goes on to say:

‘I had already been looking at videos of tiny insects slowed down. This made me realise that the process of looking at something small could capture my attention in new and subtle ways.'

Whereas Steve Fricker's and David Hayward's challenges have been with translating their messages onto smaller surfaces, almost like a novelist having to write a short story or poem. It focuses the artist on what they really want to say, and every mark, detail and concept is considered. As a landscaped inspired painter, David’s joy is capturing physicality and transience in his paintings, which he is always striving to do on any scale.

For some of the artists, like Helen Phoenix and Davide di Taranto, the exhibition theme proved to be an opportunity to develop further the smaller works they produce. Albeit Helen's garden birds (she believes birds are mediators between heaven and earth), or David's fascination with beards, which he defines as beauty, nature and wisdom. Angela Edwards and Clare Maria Wood both work at various scales. Although they prefer to work in a larger format, this exhibition allowed them to focus their ideas on a smaller scale.

I have found in my own practice that, when you give yourself a few constraints, you can be far more creative. Creativity can be infinite, which can sometimes be overwhelming. Having a starting point, however small or arbitrary, is valuable.

Julie Allan was able to transform the way that she works. She mostly works with mixed media on canvas and shares with us her experiences of producing these works:

“ I have really enjoyed the challenge of working on a smaller scale. My subject matter is often related to the human body and its vulnerabilities. By covering the paper with gesso, I noticed how it came to resemble skin, with its fragility and imperfections."

I worked on the pieces slowly, over several weeks, letting each one develops its own mood, energy and atmosphere. The most important thing was to tune in to the feeling of the painting and allowing that feeling develop over time."

We appreciate jewellery as being small and precious. Yet, in other art forms, large is valued and small seen as less. However, often small paintings can take more time and consideration from the artists than larger pieces. This exhibition demonstrates that small is never less and can be beautiful.

Works can be seen by Steve Fricker- Surrealist, Fantasy Paintings, Clare Maria Wood- Abstract Landscapes, Julie Allan- Abstract paintings-David Hayward- Abstract Landscapes, Angela Edwards- Urban Inspired paintings, Helen Phoenix-Bird Paintings and Davide di Taranto- Miniaturist Portraits and, new artist to the gallery, Jo wonder- Fantasy Paintings.

Pondering Small Wonders

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