How lovely that you had a nice time at your reunion. I think you have to have variety in order to be an artist. It's all part of the fun. We get caught up looking at social media feeds that keep churning out the same stuff - because it works and gets 'likes'. But we really need variety in order to evolve. I'm seeing a lot of artist craving variety now. It seems to be a time of movement for a lot of us. It's exciting!
Thx Gillian! Yes, definitely agree - there is a danger that you become hooked on social media fodder and gaining 'likes'...but I find that way lies boredom, which then shows in the work! I certainly need input and inspiration from a variety of sources to keep things fresh, and as you say, it seems to be the case for a lot of people...onwards and upwards!!
I have lived with that same worry all my adult life— design, illustration, art— and then many experiments within each of those. What am I?! I’ve always been envious of the folks who found their ‘thing’ and then made it their whole career / ouvre. But my brain just doesn’t seem to work that way. I try to be at peace with it, and will just keep making what compels me and interests me- but it does eat away at ne sometimes!
I love that it was your school reunion that inspired this, and glad you’ve been able to put away that worry.
Gosh, can you imagine how un-fun a lack of variety would be?! I made up the word "un-fun". There's another word that I didn't make up and that is homegination. It refers to the process of making everything similar, uniform. I see that a lot in the art world, heck in our world in general. Seems the idea that sameness = safety has infiltrated the minds of so many people. I am reminded of a saying... "If both of us have the same opinion, one of us is unnecessary." All of this to say, I'm glad you are embracing your true nature as I think it is more inline with the true nature of all of us. And isn't that interesting? That's a sameness I can get behind. Love the new work your doing from your class inspirations!
Thank you Ellen! Exactly - I think if I was churning out the same stuff on repeat, how bored would I become, and that boredom would inevitably show; would be like 'paint by numbers' and there's no soul in that. I hear what you're saying about our world, sameness and safety - it seems people are very reluctant to stick their heads above the parapet for fear of what reaction they will receive. I'm now at the stage where I think that if I like it, if I've said what I want to say, then that's fine by me!! Thanks about the new work - looking forward to experimenting further with it! Have a great weekend!!
j'aime vos fleurs Carolyn ,il y a de l'ouverture et de la profondeur , je suis d'accord avec vous, moi même je fais de l'aquarelle et trouver mon style est difficile ,mais quand je lâche prise mon style change .*et je pense que pour trouver son style il faut se diversifier ,sans trop ,mais expérimenter d'autre approchent nous permet de mieux voir ce qui nous correspond ,par contre ,je reste dans l'aquarelle , A bientôt Michèle
Ah oui Michèle, je trouve que s'inspirer d'ailleurs apporte une fraîcheur à mon travail. Je pense que tant que je suis satisfait de mon travail, cela n'a pas d'importance si je change un peu de direction. Merci, bon week-end !
Three cheers to variety! This has niggled at me a great deal over the years. But I would hate to be repeating the same thing and simply couldn't do it. We all change and are stimulated by different things and that is so much more interesting. I am so pleased that your reunion went so well.
Thx Deborah…. Yes, I used to worry so much about this, but I came to acknowledge how bored I would get churning out the same old stuff… and that boredom would inevitably show in my work! Definitely need that variety 😊😊
How lovely that you had a nice time at your reunion. I think you have to have variety in order to be an artist. It's all part of the fun. We get caught up looking at social media feeds that keep churning out the same stuff - because it works and gets 'likes'. But we really need variety in order to evolve. I'm seeing a lot of artist craving variety now. It seems to be a time of movement for a lot of us. It's exciting!
Thx Gillian! Yes, definitely agree - there is a danger that you become hooked on social media fodder and gaining 'likes'...but I find that way lies boredom, which then shows in the work! I certainly need input and inspiration from a variety of sources to keep things fresh, and as you say, it seems to be the case for a lot of people...onwards and upwards!!
I have lived with that same worry all my adult life— design, illustration, art— and then many experiments within each of those. What am I?! I’ve always been envious of the folks who found their ‘thing’ and then made it their whole career / ouvre. But my brain just doesn’t seem to work that way. I try to be at peace with it, and will just keep making what compels me and interests me- but it does eat away at ne sometimes!
I love that it was your school reunion that inspired this, and glad you’ve been able to put away that worry.
Gosh, can you imagine how un-fun a lack of variety would be?! I made up the word "un-fun". There's another word that I didn't make up and that is homegination. It refers to the process of making everything similar, uniform. I see that a lot in the art world, heck in our world in general. Seems the idea that sameness = safety has infiltrated the minds of so many people. I am reminded of a saying... "If both of us have the same opinion, one of us is unnecessary." All of this to say, I'm glad you are embracing your true nature as I think it is more inline with the true nature of all of us. And isn't that interesting? That's a sameness I can get behind. Love the new work your doing from your class inspirations!
Thank you Ellen! Exactly - I think if I was churning out the same stuff on repeat, how bored would I become, and that boredom would inevitably show; would be like 'paint by numbers' and there's no soul in that. I hear what you're saying about our world, sameness and safety - it seems people are very reluctant to stick their heads above the parapet for fear of what reaction they will receive. I'm now at the stage where I think that if I like it, if I've said what I want to say, then that's fine by me!! Thanks about the new work - looking forward to experimenting further with it! Have a great weekend!!
j'aime vos fleurs Carolyn ,il y a de l'ouverture et de la profondeur , je suis d'accord avec vous, moi même je fais de l'aquarelle et trouver mon style est difficile ,mais quand je lâche prise mon style change .*et je pense que pour trouver son style il faut se diversifier ,sans trop ,mais expérimenter d'autre approchent nous permet de mieux voir ce qui nous correspond ,par contre ,je reste dans l'aquarelle , A bientôt Michèle
Ah oui Michèle, je trouve que s'inspirer d'ailleurs apporte une fraîcheur à mon travail. Je pense que tant que je suis satisfait de mon travail, cela n'a pas d'importance si je change un peu de direction. Merci, bon week-end !
Three cheers to variety! This has niggled at me a great deal over the years. But I would hate to be repeating the same thing and simply couldn't do it. We all change and are stimulated by different things and that is so much more interesting. I am so pleased that your reunion went so well.
Thx Deborah…. Yes, I used to worry so much about this, but I came to acknowledge how bored I would get churning out the same old stuff… and that boredom would inevitably show in my work! Definitely need that variety 😊😊
Love it!!!!🙌👏🫶
Thank you!! xx