Making Art is Making Art
Creativity is its own reward
I have been making these tiny pieces of art on index cards, at least one each day, since the start of 2025. This is a wholly different way of making art, for me. I wonder why I chose to do it? I had just bought three 36” x 36” canvases plus three 24” x 30” and three 20” x 20” during a great sale at Michael’s, and I was so very excited to have them. Now I’m working on 3” x 5” index cards.
I am using a different medium (Inktense watercolor pencils), a different substrate, radically different size, different tools (tiny brushes!), wildly different styles and subjects, and I’m sitting down in my living room to do them rather than standing (my usual, my always).
I wonder why I chose to do this.
My big canvases sit, waiting.
Someone asked me what I’ve learned by doing this. Initially, I disliked the small size and the proportions of the cards. Too narrow. I really love a square substrate but index cards are easy and ready to go. So I carried on. I’d made a pact with myself to keep this daily practice; no going back, although I was tempted at first to give it up. I also felt, at first, that they did not lend themselves to abstract art, which is what I had found to be so joyful. Too small, I said, and lacking that freedom of movement that I love with painting, especially on a big canvas.
But I haven’t answered the question.
What have I learned?
Big no. 1—Making art is making art, no matter the size, the style, the place, the anything. We are uplifted by the doing, the creating, the colors and the shapes.
I’ve enjoyed drawing again, something I really hadn’t done very much for years and years.
I’ve discovered that it truly is possible to make a pleasing tiny abstract and some of those could be loosely translated to a canvas or panel one of these days.
I have appreciated the comfy chair and the restful nature of making art while sitting of an evening with my son, a tennis match on television; or in the afternoon, with my dog, listening to relaxing music. Making art does not always have to be a solitary endeavor.
It turns out that I really can manage tiny brushes on tiny pieces of cardstock with my shaky hands.
I’m discovering new things about composition and color at this scale that I can take to a larger scale.
I’m trying out all kinds of styles and ideas that would be much more daunting to experiment with on a larger scale.
I love these watercolor pencils and have learned what they can and cannot do, and I’ve had fun experimenting with various effects.
I understand that while some attempts may be rather poor, even ugly, it’s okay! It’s just an index card—almost nothing lost. It’s a daily practice. Failures and successes are the very nature of practicing. Getting better, too, is always the hope. There are days to come, when I will try again; and tomorrow’s might be quite pleasing.
Making art is making art. Creativity is its own reward. Creativity is what gives us the juice.
One downside is that I have not actually painted anything larger for months! There have definitely been mitigating factors. But I do miss especially the whole-body joy of painting on the wall on a big canvas. Nothing beats that. These little cards are like macarons—a small taste. But sometimes one wants a big fat chocolate cake. And one will have it, eventually.
If you’re thinking about trying any kind of daily practice, here are some tips from me.
Keep it simple enough that you’ll stick with it, whatever comes your way.
Pick something you already enjoy doing.
Avoid judgments of whatever you do. Remember that each day’s attempt is for just that day. You’ll have another try tomorrow. And the next day.
If you love what you’ve done on a given day, celebrate it!
Be a gold miner. If you don’t like what you’ve done, try to figure out why. Try to learn something from that less than wonderful day’s attempt. That’s where you find the gold.
If you do decide to take up some sort of daily practice, I’d love to hear about it. Thanks for reading.
“Do it again. Play it again. Sing it again. Read it again. Write it again. Sketch it again. Rehearse it again. Run it again. Try it again. Because again is practice, and practice is improvement . . .” - Richelle E. Goodrich
“I have always wanted my routine to spark joy for all people.” - Katelyn Ohashi
“I begin to understand as never before that holiness is made of dailiness, of living life as it comes to me, not as I insist it be.” - Joan D. Chittister
Check out Ampersand Cards for my cards and art. If you enjoy these letters, feel free to share. And if someone shared this one with you, click the button below to subscribe for free. You'll find all my poems here. Finally, if you’d like to keep up with my 365 Day Index Card art practice, click here.
Thanks for listening,
Kay
P.S. MerryThoughts is the name of my first book, out of print at the moment. The word is a British one, referring both to a wishbone and to the ritual of breaking the wishbone with the intention of either having a wish granted or being the one who marries first, thus the "merry thoughts."