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Showing posts from October, 2012

Never Settling Down to an Artistic Identity

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Why should an artist stick to one style or genre? Here's one of my recent abstracts, it's (as usual) about a journey, and heaven, and striving) . I love nothing more than painting this type of abstract, but do feel conflicted when I remember that an artist needs to "have a consistent body of work". I'm beginning to think that for me, that's not going to happen. This pile of abstracts in my corner stands next to piles of realism and, unbelievably, cartoon sketches. I can't make myself stay with one style or genre. They are all a particular voice or instrument, if you will, for what is on my mind on any given day. Yes, I can understand why galleries and collectors might care. They don't want a loose cannon artist in their stable which will go off half-cocked and decide to become a cartoonist. But honestly, I can't otherwise understand why I should choose. The more I mull it over, the more I become convinced that, for me, different styles ar