Expanding Your Artistic Vision

Who couldn’t do with a little bit of fresh, new artistic vision to invigorate their creative side? Sometimes its risky. Going out into an unfamiliar area and not feeling in control is not always the most beckoning of ideas.  But that is exactly what I need to do to bring out more of my own artistic self which might lie dormant unless I  ‘shook it up a bit!’

Whether its painting, writing, photography, music, sculpture, etc., expanding our artistic vision will lead us to greater inner contentment and fulfilment.

Staying in my own comfort zone, painting what I’ve always painted, using the same colours, painting the same places, with the same attitude – it leads to the same old thing. Dissatisfaction. Playing it safe will not lead to progress, nor creative breakthroughs. I will not grow.

Playing it safe, repeating what I’ve  done 100 times before dulls my senses, blocks new growth, puts blinkers on my creative vision. It is wearing on the creative soul and spirit as well.  Playing it safe never created any new inventions.

The world needs artists, inventors, scientists, creative people to be courageous, to take their new vision and to explore.

What you have to give to the world is to be valued, not belittled.  I enthusiastically encourage all beginners to paint (create)  what inspires them, to paint and create for the sheer joy of the process of doing so and to be themselves!

The world does not need another Fred Williams, Georgia O’Keefe, Matisse, …nor mini versions of the local art teacher.   The world needs….. your unique voice.

 

For me, I believe fresh new Vision really means to seek out and find  “different.”

 

Different ways of seeing, not just art subjects but other things in life as well.

If I can find and see the wonder in the common,  see the elegance in simplicity,  see the loveliness in the timeworn & aged  then I can impart a sense of that essence into what I create.  This will give my art work depth vs shallowness.  Layerings and textures of content that can stand the test of time vs  surface pretty.

Whereas Tone trumps colour in art basics;    Depth, richness of content and meaning – trumps the shallowness of the merely ‘pretty’  in a painting’s longevity.

 

I need to train myself to LOOK:  to hunt and to find.  Basically, to recondition myself to stop overlooking things.

I need to develop the mindset of going on a Treasure Hunt!

 

Pause and studiously Observe them in detail. I need to retrain myself to stop looking at things so shallowly and to look more deeply, so that I can see the beauty within. Not just see the shallow, surface ‘prettiness.’

 

In “Man Turned Up”  the actual physical image was upside down; the white ‘pants’  were pointing up, the  ‘torso’   down.   But I altered the image and turned it upside down in order for it to look more like a person.

 

In “Tilted Sky”  this was taken normally, but to experiment with bands of light and darks in verticals, I chose to turn it sideways to give it a Left to Right orientation.  Its different. Different is good. I aim for Different, new, fresh. Original.  And then see where it takes me.

 

In these photos I’ve selected, I wanted  to illustrate some of the Different ways I go about hunting for new ideas, new perspective, fresh Vision.

The windswept sky background in Geraldton Vision provides a bold statement of looking into the future.   Tilted Sky has a wonderful wacky sense yet the bold tones make it work, additionally the combination of blue with orange/brown is just lovely.  Wabi Sabi Textures  with the weather aged wood and faded scarlet metal overlaid was a delightful composition.

Elements of Wabi Sabi come into my mind. In brief, its the philosophy that there is beauty in imperfection, in the impermanent and in the unfinished.

This is a Vision that leads me to see in fresh ways.   Its a Creative Vision that allows me to dig deeply into myself and my surroundings to create art images that are More. not less.

We don’t need “the perfect” scene or subject.  We don’t have to create “the perfect” creation.  If we hunt, look and  find the unique in the ordinary and see its loveliness…. this loveliness will emerge in our art works.

The world needs your unique voice.  We’re waiting. We are listening.