CherylAnnHillsArtist

Its Sunday morning and I’m scrolling thru my social media feed looking at work from fellow artists and a question pops up in my brain; “is my work art or a product and which one do I want to produce?” Its an interesting debate with many opinions on all fronts. I think what really sparked this debate in my brain right now is the rejection letter for a competition I entered. The jury comments were related to poor drawing and color use skills. Interesting considering my intension for my work is not to replicate the object before me in a realistic representational manner but instead to express a feeling and show the effect of light in nature. So, my work will not display the high realism drawing and life-like color but instead express abstract ideas of nature. So, here’s the thing: should an artist follow current trends and constantly be changing their approach to suit a buyer’s market? Or should an artist follow their heart and produce work that expresses in their terms and through thei...

Its spring and the weather is beginning to warm and we’re supposed to be all happy and inspired and ready for a new season with new life and hope and all that stuff. But its not always the case for everyone. I think I struggle most with the changeover to spring/summer exactly because of expectations. Expectation of great things to come, happy happy happy. And I never feel I’m able to meet those expectations. So, I withdraw. Become stoic and reinforce my invisible armour. Yesterday I went plein air painting for the first time this season. I was absolutely uninspired. The resulting working was meh. Some dude on the trail behind me shouted out “those are the wrong colours”….. I didn’t flinch. Wrong for who? Is what I thought. Then a tiny teeny voice reminded me I do this for me first. This is, my paints are, and what my brushes produce, become an extension of me. Its me. On the canvas. Why would it be anyone else?? I will spend a lifetime learning about who I am, what I like, what I can...