What are Tiny Escapes?

A sunny day at the beach . . . 🙂

I started painting them as tiny escapes for myself during a hectic time in my life. A moment of repose in the beauty of nature, a little reconnection with my creative spirit.

Then, they became a way for me to plan and experiment with ideas for larger paintings.  

People fell in love with them, but there was no way to sell them for a reasonable price, given the time that goes into them. (And the fact that most of them are duds—not good for anything except helping me plan.)

But, why not share the ones that DO turn out? I’m painting them anyway, as part of the process of creating my larger works . . . so ta-da! . . . now you can buy them! (Not all the time, though. They sell out fast, so if you’re interested, sign up for the newsletter to find out when a new batch is released.)

Adorable tiny original watercolor sketches, 2.5 x 3.5″ (on a 3×4″ backing). Each one comes complete with a magnet-back for displaying on fridge or magnet board, plus its own tiny easel for display on bookshelf, desk, mantel . . . anywhere you need a Tiny Escape from your busy life to the beauty of nature.

A padded mailer and gift enclosure card are included, too, so they’re all ready to pop in the mail to share your travel memories, celebrate a special occasion or cheer a sick friend. Affordable, giftable, collectible!

Shop Tiny Escapes now

Larger versions by request

Want it bigger? Different weather? Different colors?

I am happy to create a custom painting for you based on any Tiny Escape.  I love working together to design a painting with your choice of scene, size, landmarks, weather/sky, mood and color scheme, based on any of my Tiny Escapes (whether you own the original or not–just give me the serial number on the back and I can work from my photo archive).

Custom artwork? How does that work?

If you’ve never done it before, it might seem a bit intimidating to request a commissioned painting. Sounds like something a big foundation would do, but it’s really just a fancy way of saying we work together to create a custom piece of artwork, in the same style as work from one of my existing series, to suit your space and tastes. We’ll work out all the details in writing ahead of time, and I only take on projects where I’m confident I can create something to suit your needs.

What sort of customization can we do?

That doesn’t mean I can paint just anything, though. Every watercolor has a bit of a mind of its own, so I can’t reproduce these tiny paintings EXACTLY in a larger version . . . but you wouldn’t really want that, anyway . . . there is so much more we can do with a larger painting! 🙂 

I also can’t do paintings based on other people’s photos, places I’ve never been, in someone else’s style, etc. It just doesn’t work for me, sorry.

But I can change around the colors, the size, the weather or mood of the painting. I can do a larger version of an existing Tiny Escape, more or less as-is, or I can change the colors to suit your decor, change the weather, add or subtract small figures, and of course, change the size or even create a work with several panels to span a large wall or fit in an unusual space.

But . . . what if I’m not happy with the finished piece?

I know it’s also a little scary to purchase an artwork that you can’t actually see ahead of time, but there’s no need to worry. It does take me a bit of extra time to coordinate with you on a project, so there is a small non-refundable planning fee (agreed by us before I begin work) but you do not have to accept the finished artwork. If you do not completely love your custom piece, you only pay the planning fee (and possibly some shipping costs, for larger works–again, all agreed by us in writing before I begin work).

I want a custom painting! . . . how do I start?

Send me a message and let me know what you have in mind! We’ll go from there. (I am traveling and working full time from my little RV right now and sometimes I am away from wifi or cell signal for up to a week at a time. Please bear with me; I will respond as quickly as I can!)