One of the interesting things for me is how often an encounter with something can send me off down some rabbit trail that leads to significant events. Or things that I consider significant. A few years ago it was a video of a live performance of a duet that sent me back to playing music, then back to playing at the blues jams making new friends and learning so much, taking a trip to San Antonio for a concert, and finally making a trip to Australia. Oh, and making me aware of a singer that had fallen off my radar. That rabbit trail lead to several more cool things and adventures. And, that rabbit trail was a long one. Along the way I noticed something that stirred a curiosity around creating something I haven’t done in a long time. But I didn’t act on it. Even when it popped up again a couple of years ago.
Skip ahead to this last December when another rabbit trail popped up in the form of a movie. It was in the fertile field of the experience of the last few pieces of art that I did last year. They were all watercolors. I really enjoyed creating with the watercolors and was starting to think about spending more time creating in watercolor and maybe finding a more narrow range of things that I paint. Watching the movie brought an actress who had fallen off my radar, back into my awareness, much like watching that video years ago, brought that singer who had fallen off my radar, back into my awareness. It happened that the actress was starting to hit the press circuit and talking about that very thing that I had noticed, when following the singer rabbit trail. And it turns out there are more than a few people having the conversation and changing things up, along the lines of what I noticed. Which I find really cool and exciting. And that curiosity that had been sitting just below the surface was stirred again.
The thing is, that curiosity has never quite gone away, I’ve just been busy the last two years working on art for my store and the curiosity isn’t something that I felt I could really share if I did it. So I didn’t pursue it. Often, those things that we keep trying to shove down or put off have a way of making it impossible to continue to ignore them and we get to a point we finally have to do something about them. Such was the case of the curiosity. It finally got to the point that I had to give it a try and satisfy it. And in the process I rediscovered something that I love doing. Between satisfying the curiosity and the discussion around that thing I had noticed, I realized that I could maybe combine them and suddenly I had an idea for a project that could fall flat or be a big deal. Right now, it’s a personal project that needs a lot more work before I am ready to discuss any more about it. I will say that I am super excited about it. I’m also a little terrified. Which I guess means, I have got to do it. Stay tuned. There will be more to come when I’ve got a few more things in place.
The project wasn’t the only thing that came out of all of this. The other part is a greater desire to narrow the scope of subject matter for my art. Which is great. But also presents an interesting situation with regards the work that I have already posted on my art store.
My art for the last decade or so has been mostly about trying to find a way to do more with it in some way to hopefully create something that could maybe add some extra cash and even take over paying my bills, but without really defining a style or subject matter focus. I kept trying different mediums and subjects hoping to find the one that would spark interest (sell), in others as well as myself. So when I started the store I had a variety of artwork that I could choose from to post, just no cohesion to the collection other than it was art I created. I chose three pieces that I thought were my best and that’s what I started with. They were all in different mediums and while two were related the third didn’t match, it wasn’t even in color.
As I started making more art for my store I continued to try different things while trying to stick with stuff that I have enough comfort with to not suck in my eyes. I was really just throwing pasta at the wall and seeing what would stick. Now, I like what I’ve created. I even have a few of the originals hanging on my walls. In addition to liking them, it’s a good place to store them. After about a year of doing this, scatter shot approach, though, it became apparent to me that this is getting me nowhere. But, like a lot of people, when it comes to change I was resistant. I was also afraid. I was afraid of getting pigeonholed. Getting locked into one thing. It’s a concept that has always had such a negative feeling for me. I can admire people that are locked into something like a musical genre, or a literary genre, or even an art subject. I just couldn’t fathom doing that myself.
It was all well and good to be diverse and eclectic in my work, until, I started wanting to apply for some contest opportunities that require a good artist statement, a grouping of several pieces of art for evaluation, and a description of the art you do. For starters. So I started thinking about finding or choosing something that I like doing, that I do reasonably well, and that I feel good talking about as an overall body of work. That didn’t get much traction until I painted the last few paintings of last year. I completed a soft pastel painting and cleaned up the studio before starting a watercolor painting. The next four paintings were watercolor and I started thinking about how much I enjoy working with watercolor. This is much to my surprise. Probably something I’ve written about before, or maybe something for another, shorter post. Anyway. After those pieces I decided to try my next taekwondo piece in watercolor instead of soft pastel. I’ve discussed that one already. It was while I was working on that piece that I finally gave into the curiosity I was talking about earlier.
And from there the idea of a ‘specialization’ of sorts or at least a narrowing of focus started whispering to me. And interestingly, the only real reservations I was having about this was not the new direction of the art I will make, it was what to do about the art I have already made. It took me a bit to figure that out. Once I did, it made it so much easier to move forward with the pieces that I have completed but not posted, as well as new pieces I’ve started, and even with my project. And now I’m really excited about making art, and most importantly, being an artist and talking about it. (Yes, I know that seems weird to some but I’m pretty sure it’s a cousin of imposter syndrome).
This is the point where I could make a big announcement that I’m giving up working on this or that, or working with this or that medium. Or I’m going to only focus on this thing. Or some such declaration. Aside from admitting that I do not like working with acrylic paint, I’m not going to do that. It’s tempting. It really is. Instead, I’m just going to create the art. I am going to create works that let me do more of what I do well. I’m going to do more work that I get lost in even when I walk past and stop to fix just one thing. I’m going to do more work that prompts the spontaneous declaration to my self that ‘I love doing…’ and see where this goes.
Cheers!