Being True To Your Art

One thing is for certain. Not everyone will like, or understand your work.

This will always be so. I am at peace with this fact. The good news is there will always be a number of people who absolutely love what you do, and may well purchase one of your masterpieces. Thank God for these people, but also thank God for your incredible gift, your vision and passion for the work you believe in. As an artist, you are never, ever going to please everyone, but does that make your art any less groundbreaking and original? No. I just means you aren't prepared to spend your life painting the obvious, i.e, peoples pets, country scenes, or sunsets. Of course there's a place for all that too, the majority of art will be just that. 

I think the most important thing as an artist is being true to your art, and not waste your time trying to please a large commercial audience, unless of course it's what you enjoy, and are skilled at.

Art, just like music, fits in to a wide genre. This is why I'm not disconcerted when I share a finished piece of work and don't receive thousands of likes back in return, even if the painting in question has taken hundreds of hours of disciplined work. Many famous artists of the past faced just the same issues before they became recognised, and accepted. I believe that if you truly enjoy the work you're producing, it will reflect on the lives of others. That to me, is real work.

Quoting American modernist painter, Georgia O Keeffe, 'To create one's own world takes courage.'

Be True To Your Art! 

new work in progress in the studio 3/6/2016