Inspiration Fridays! Does Your Art Have Permission To Grow?
Does your art have permission to grow?
One of the things that astonishes me most about the process of creating is its eternal newness.
“Art is not a thing; it is a way.” – Elbert Hubbard
The Reflection – 48″x72″ – oil on panel – Gabriel Mark Lipper
I was recently re-introduced to one of my first large scale commissions. Reflecting on my focus at the time. I remembered the attention to detail and design.
I needed it to be historically accurate and infused with a sense of calm. I remember combining multiple references, working from life, a photo shoot, sketches, and color studies. I poured everything I had at the time into the creation of that piece.
Seeing it again was almost like seeing it for the first time, but as an observer. It has no hold on me. The work is made by a completely different artist. The issues of light, composition, form, and most of all, the handling of paint, don’t trouble me in the same way. But there I am. A thread of me at least.
Infinity – 36″x72″ – oil on panel – Gabriel Mark Lipper
Our style isn’t something that we get to define or even predict. It comes from the work we make and the paths we choose.
For some, those edges will be clearly defined. Each painting, a variation on the one before. This subtle evolution is steady and refined.
Others explore and risk. Here, the misses are more pronounced and the failures more obvious. So are the breakthroughs.
Giving our work, room to evolve, change, and breathe is what makes the process rich. Each painting has a moment of birth and eventually for the Artist, a death. There are paintings that will live eternally, but we need to allow ourselves the freedom to move on.