Out of your comfort zone.. It's a good thing!

Well, I've been dabbling with abstracts for a while. The problem I have with abstract is that they really say different things to different people. Unlike a work by one of the masters, identifiable, comfortable, immediately recognisable, abstracts by definition are supposed to challenge the mind.

The problem I have is that I have to feed a family. Therefore common sense Says that I should always stick with safe. A landscape, some dramatic sky, something that everyone recognises. The issue really is that I want to do far more abstract work than I currently do. But will people recognise it?

What I have learned is that it is exactly the reason I should be doing more abstract works. Different people will see different things, and that's ok as long as they are stimulated by it. Once they are stimulated they will buy it. It's a huge market, and by staying safe, it's a market artists really do miss out on. So my advice is to occasionally move way outside safe and comfortable. Do what you want to do, put in some passion, and that will be evident in the end result. Then you have a new safe, a new comfort zone, but unless you are willing to experiment, it's certainly a market you will miss.

Here's my latest abstract piece:

Allatro. That's Latin for bark, and that's where the inspiration for this work came from. Holding a piece of bark in the woods, looking at the way the light plays with it, and then frantically taking a photograph to remind me of what I saw when I got home.

Of course the photo didn't give me anywhere near the same effect, so I simply added what I think I saw, and that is apparently the beauty of abstract art.

How often have you been out of your comfort zone? Have you ever wanted to experiment but felt that it's best to stay with what you know will sell? If so, please leave a comment and let's see if we can get some discussion around broadening our artistic horizons!

 

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