There’s something quietly radical about working small. No grand gestures, no room to wander – just you, a tiny canvas, and every mark counting double.

This little rose bouquet started with a grey ground mixed from leftover paint. I keep a jar in my studio where all the paint that doesn’t make it onto a canvas ends up. Scrape enough colours together and you always get grey – never the same grey twice, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. This batch had a warmth to it, a hint of old ochre or a forgotten pink, and it turned out to be the perfect base for florals.

The roses were loose, layered, a little wobbly. I’m not interested in painting every petal. I want the feeling of roses: soft, open, just slightly undone. On a 10×10 cm canvas, one confident stroke can be an entire flower. That’s the magic of working small.

The turquoise vase wasn’t planned. It arrived and it was right. The little yellow butterfly appeared next, and then – almost as an afterthought – a bowl. Sometimes the painting knows before you do.

If you’ve never tried miniature painting, I want to encourage you to give it a go. It’s fast, it’s humbling, and it teaches you something that larger formats can let you avoid: commitment. You can’t overwork a 10×10. You can only trust your hand and let it be.

The full process video is on YouTube here