The trick to forget the bigger picture

There are many rules in art, and most of them can be seen as an invitation to break them. But there’s one rule I stand by: step away from the canvas.

When you spend hours at an easel, trying to make the paint tell a story, you get short sighted. It is crucial to step away from the piece. Trying to see it through new eyes is the only way to find out if a painting works. Stepping back for a few meters, letting it rest for days, weeks or months, taking a photograph and looking at the work on your tiny phone screen. It’s a simple guideline, but so easy to forget.

Now that I think of it, this same rule is quite important in life too. Oh, and I’m definitely guilty of forgetting about it…

In his song Born in the eighties Flemish artist Milow sings:

The trick to forget the bigger picture is when
you look at everything in close-up
as often as you can.

I’ve been worrying for months now. Losing sleep over things I can’t change. Of course my logical mind tells me that ruminating won’t solve anything, but the human tendency to focus on the negative is stronger. Every day I wake up with clenched jaws and a headache. It is definitely time to take a step back. A little step. Or a big one:

Years ago I saw an exhibition that compared the universe to a cubic meter of sand. Planet Earth was represented by one (1!) single grain of sand. I remember standing in front of that huge glass container of sand, trying to wrap my head around the idea of eight billion people living on one tiny grain of sand. It made me smile, realizing how futile I am, and how insignificant my silly worries.

Maybe I should put a cubic meter of sand in my living room, as a reminder. Or, even better, maybe I should make a painting about it…