I have recently decided to stops selling my “Animal” prints on my etsy shop. They are pretty popular so it may seem strange that I would just stop, but it gives me an opportunity to give you insight into my artistic mind. Let me try to explain.
I wonder if it’s this way with other artists too, but when I create, it sometimes starts with a vision and a concept. I can see in my mind’s eye this gorgeous piece of art. It’s aesthetically pleasing, has meaning and is technically well crafted. I am moved to create that work and it represents me at the time I created it. Now the thing is, no artist, not even Picasso or Monet or anyone for that matter, creates the perfect work they see in their mind because our imagination is lightyears beyond our abilities. It’s a hard concept to accept as a creative person who is used to taking control into our own hands, but it’s also what pushes us forward. If an artist were to create their absolute vision, I am convinced they would cease to feel that need to create and who wants that? Putting even a fraction of your creative soul out for view leaves you feeling vulnerable, imagine the whole, perfect truth… but I digress.
Like with me and my Animal prints, time passed, and I grew further apart from them. It makes them sound like people but remember, they are a representation of me at the time I created them. Since then I have changed as a person and now I look at these pieces as though someone other than myself made them. I am have grown, my tastes have changed, my style and technique have improved, and yet that lingering bit of the old still hangs on.
In David Bayles and Ted Orland’s Art & Fear, they observe,
“…the seed of your next art work lies embedded in the imperfections of your current piece.
Such imperfections (or mistakes, if you’re feeling particularly depressed about them today)
are your guides—valuable, reliable, objective, non-judgmental guides—
to matters you need to reconsider or develop further.”
What I take that to mean is, embrace the past, imperfections and all, and use it to propel forward, but also it means that when I have learned what I can from a piece, it is time to let go. I currently have so much work that I feel better represents who I am as a person and an artist, that I wouldn’t feel honest continuing to sell work that I don’t see as my best representation.
If you like my Animal prints, are moved by them or even have one in your home, know that this isn’t a judgment on the work itself. Whether or not we judge art as being beautiful or not is more of a reflection of self than the picture on the wall. I, personally, have moved on from this series, but it still brings me great joy to know that others still love it. That’s why I am giving everyone a last chance to make an “Animal” print their own before they are gone at the start of the new year (or really Dec. 20th when I go home for Christmas).
I hope this all made some sense as I tried to use words to convey such an abstract feeling.