I am beginning this blog in order to explore the deeper aspects of creating art.
As a lifelong artist I have struggled with various issues. At the beginning I was trying hard to find my voice, and my style. The best advice I can give to a new artist struggling with this is to just keep making art, all the time, day after day, and eventually one day you will look up and realize that your work has its own discernible style that is uniquely yours. I kept at it for twenty years, and found that my photography studio work was so successful that I became a victim of my own success in a way. What I mean is that when you hit on something that is commercially viable, and when you are influenced by the desire to earn a living as an artist, you tend to make art that sells well.... even if you don't necessarily feel like you are stretching artistically. If it works, and you are making money, what more can you ask? I wondered. I ended up making a career change, and became a teacher, a public school art teacher in a high school. This brought many new challenges as well as delights. Now, I am pushing myself in a new direction- allowing myself to lighten up, to add more freedom and play into my life and into my work. Since I am in the middle of graduate school I am noticing that I am letting the fear of the grade outcome affect the artwork I do, and I am once again frustrated. I know other artists struggle with the issue too. What do you think? Should we as artists simply work to please ourselves, or should we be influenced by the client, the professor, or the gallery or museum one wishes to be recognized and or paid by?