Profiles of Contemporary Art and - ARTisSpectrum
Profiles of Contemporary Art and - ARTisSpectrum
Profiles of Contemporary Art and - ARTisSpectrum
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When is it time for your next big thing?<br />
(One man’s journey with a signature style)<br />
By John Nieman<br />
Flip Flops<br />
have now completed my hundredth painting in a series I call “<strong>Art</strong> <strong>of</strong> Lists,” <strong>and</strong> am itching to move on to my next big thing. No,<br />
I let me correct that. I have been feeling that itch for the last dozen or so paintings. So what holds me back? Laziness? Complacency?<br />
Fear? All <strong>of</strong> this raises a wrenching question for the working artist: when is it a good time to walk away from the familiar<br />
<strong>and</strong> embark on a completely new artistic path?<br />
There is no easy answer to this riddle. However, in the space I have been permitted, allow me to share some thoughts on this<br />
creative fork in the road.<br />
First <strong>of</strong> all, an admission: it’s hell to find a genre that is uniquely your own. Many artists will w<strong>and</strong>er in that desert for years before<br />
l<strong>and</strong>ing on something that cohesively hangs together as a collection. Part <strong>of</strong> the difficulty is the innate, adventurous creative<br />
spirit <strong>of</strong> the artist. We all tend to want to try something we have never tried. We love to explore virgin territories. The trouble is,<br />
a completely unbridled exploration only leads to a scattergun approach that is confusing to your customers <strong>and</strong> may rob you <strong>of</strong><br />
necessary artistic growth.<br />
98 <strong>ARTisSpectrum</strong>
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