2005, CINNABAR48 x 36, mixed media
Sometimes you really need a day like today, a break from life as it's usually lived. My artist friend of some thirty years always seems to pluck me from the ordinary at just the right times and today was one of them. We dined in fine fashion (appetizer plus dessert made the indulgence affordable) in a fairly new downtown cafe, then hopped around to whatever stores and galleries beckoned.
One of our conversations had to do with how to deal with the creative side of our artistic natures as we enter the next stage of our long careers (didn't say 'last stage' mind you!) We've worked long and hard to create images that are identified as ours, and now we're tired of plowing the same row and ready to move on... but how to deal with it? Can't just turn your back on all those years of struggle to get to this point, but redundancy has taken over the studio and creativity is suffering.
We stopped by NorDys Gallery (my local rep) to see the current show and maybe a peek at the resident 5 mo old (and she was holding court!) Turns out the featured artist included work from different stages of her career and one could easily see how it flowed from one stage to another, combining several very effectively. I talked with the director and mentioned our personal concerns about new directions at this point in time. Long story short... lots of support for the artist doing her own thing, go ahead and explore whatever... the freedom and enjoyment will show in the work and the collectors will appreciate. Well! Okay! I needed to hear that right now. That old saw about galleries not wanting their artists to change anything about their style is not something to be concerned about. That said, I'll probably show up with more of the same for a while yet... but the idea of new venues creeping into my work is not something I need to be wary of. I knew that! But it sure was good to hear the encouragement.
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