When it comes to fine art, ya’ never know…

It was just a year or so ago that I decided I needed a change, or maybe the change needed me. I’d made my choice and that was that. So, having decided to change things, things did, actually change – note the plural. They say be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. Well, they should also tell you if you make a change, many more will follow.

Its with that that I can say I had no idea what I was getting into (even though I thought I knew). I had no idea what was to follow (again, even though I thought I knew), and I now know that I have no idea what I’m doing or where I’m going (even though I continue to pretend I know). Know or no know, I’m goin’ – I’m movin’ on up.

Let me explain – up until last year or so, I was a specialist artist. I was like a monster with a singular passion. I was like the artist who loves horses so much that the only subject they ever paint is what they love, and that’s horses. At the time prior to my somewhat disturbing and altogether enjoyable changes, that was me, only my subject was surfing, not horses – of course there’s nothing wrong with horses, its just that it was surfing I loved, and there could be nothing else. I had to get analytical with this, digging into myself and examining all my work to understand what it was I had been doing. With this I realized there actually was something else there, and that was the figurative aspect of painting people riding waves, and so the change began. I would do figurative paintings. Unfortunately, the only collectors and buyers I knew wanted surf paintings, and that was that.

The fine art world, the contemporary art world, is an arena that allows anything – it is all-inclusive. So what does this mean? It means a fine artist, in my case a painter, can do anything he or she wants to do. I chose to be specialized for nearly a decade. In this decade, I had built a loyal and devoted following. I had connected with a few collectors, some who bought multiple paintings from me in one go multiple times per year, others who would buy less, but they, each of them, would always return. They would always come back to me for more. I was in a pretty good place with those who loved my work – those who I loved in return.

However, this wasn’t really about money, even if it did feed me. Somehow, I needed more than this, and to find more, I had to move myself into another arena, a bigger arena – this is where that change comes in. Obviously, a surf-artist will only attract those who can relate to surfing. The market is small as compared to the Contemporary art arena. But this isn’t what its about either. Really, this was about me and my own growth, my evolution as an artist and painter. Sadly, it seemed at the time that what I experienced was a divorce, but really, it was an just an expansion, a swelling – I was giving up nothing (yeah, yeah, I know I kid myself here); I was only gaining, only growing. I was a balloon and had been blown up – I was being filled, or refilled. I was a sponge just doing what sponges do, soaking up my surroundings – becoming my surroundings. I was pushed, pulled and stretched, and so were my abilities.

To get to the point of this whole thing – I really cannot say where I’m going now. I really don’t know what I’m doing. Each time I make a painting, I’m with that painting, immersed in it. Just about the time I’m finishing it, the next one is already showing itself to me and beginning to manifest to the point that I’m working on two paintings at a time – feeding one and weaning off the other. It should be three, four, five at a time, feeding and weaning, weaning and feeding – ad infinitum, as is said -but for the moment, my space doesn’t allow it, and so a studio expansion is planned and another change will occur.

So at that point, I was moving into the figurative realm, other changes began happening – mediums changed, attitudes changed, executions changed, techniques changed, style changed. Shit, it all changed, and seemed to change all at once! It still changes to this day! I know it doesn’t sound like much in the way of words, but all these things are actually big things, and, I would think, if one knew what they were getting into when they thought they needed change, they would probably avoid it, which may be why many artists never change what they do. I’m still flapping around like a fish out of water with a paintbrush in hand (or mouth, as is appropriate).

I once said that moving from comic to fine art is like taking a very long journey over a very short bridge. I’m now finding out how short that bridge is, and how long the journey is.

A year ago, a large painting was one that was smaller that one-half a cubic meter, or a just over half of a cubic yard (yeah, a couple of 12 inches or so) in the non-metric world. Now, today, a large painting permits me to paint figures life-sized or larger if I please- a meter and a half, two meters (yup, six feet or so on any side). So yeah, my canvasses have moved up in size, and I can already see that size will be growing by end of this coming summer (once I, hopefully, finish my current series of a dozen canvasses – more on that in another post). Of course anyone can tell you that size doesn’t matter, its just that, for me, by fattening-up that old sail-cloth, certain things have been availed me, and my work – things that, for me, just couldn’t happen at those smaller sizes. When its all been said and done, what I will be painting as those canvasses get bigger I can only guess, but cannot say. This is why I say I don’t know what I’m doing.

So, all this is to say that we’ve got to always keep an open mind to change. Be willing to release what you have (admittedly, it is tough to release sales and income); be willing to sacrifice it for the greater good. Make a change and see opportunities present themselves to you. You might think something lost in those changes, but when your shift is complete, you’ll realize nothing has been lost except a skin you’ve shed like a snake.

Its a beautiful place to be – its fresh!

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