Art vs Products

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 their eyes the world of their inner soul??  Maybe to answer this we need to dig deep into our purpose as artists. Are you creating simply to produce a product for a market? Or are you creating because it’s a deep need to express how you experience your world?

Can we do both? I can answer that one. No, we can’t do both. When I look at artists whose work is not a product but instead an expression I see their work in public galleries and artist exhibitions. Most of these artists receive funding by applying for grants and other public funding. Prices of their work are far beyond the means of the average buyer. And none of the work will match my couch.

On the other side are products that meet the demand of the general public on style, subject matter, colour and price. Like buying a new sofa or car these works meet the demands of markets. Landscapes are “hot” right now because of the trend of people rediscovering nature due to the pandemic. I could absolutely produce a series of landscapes that meet the expectation of realistic representational in bright colours and happy settings sized to work in any home space and priced accordingly.  I’ve been doing landscapes for years. Always will. The subject especially trees, are very close to my heart. Trees are everything to me and really to all of us. I’ve depicted them in so many ways and continue to do so, exploring new ideas and ways to express the emotion of the tree. When the trend is over, I will still be painting trees.

Right or wrong, I can only follow where my brush takes me on my creative journey. The moment I try to please the masses is when my art is no longer my own, it no longer has meaning to me and its quality and authenticity become lost.

I have to be me. It’s all I’m capable of managing in this lifetime.