Finding your own voice as an artist

Today I took down the landscape paintings section of my online gallery. It was such a hard decision as I put my heart and soul into those pieces! But, the truth is, I don’t want to make landscapes as my focus and having them in my shop was confusing for everyone. I was still getting requests for landscape commissions when deep down I don’t really want to be doing them in the future. They just don’t feel true to what I want to express deep down. Truthfully, part of me was keeping them up to show what my capabilities are…totally feeding my own egoic needs. I used to worry people would see my abstract work and think I don’t have “real” painting skills (the technical realism skills I learned in college and after a lifetime of practice). I figured if they didn’t see what I was capable of, then they wouldn’t believe I was a “real” artist. That was my own fear-based mindset talking! It’s none of my business what other people think or believe about my art and how I make it. I can’t control that. My job, as a successful professional artist, is to create work that is fresh, unique, and straight from my own vision. I have had to come to the difficult but valuable understanding that I cannot and should not please everyone. When we try to please everyone, we dull our shine. We become bland. And then NOBODY likes what we do! We have to stand for something and go ALL IN on it. That attracts the people who love what we do! If someone says to me “I don’t like or understand abstracts” I know not to take it personally. It has nothing to do with me or my work. It’s their own personal preference and there’s nothing wrong with that. I simply say to them in response: “That’s ok, I make my work for the people who love it!” It’s very disarming and makes them feel more accepting of what I make. It has taken me so many years to find my own unique voice and the bravery to express it and shine a light on it. I won’t take that for granted and it’s my job to carve a unique path that’s never been done before. I need to take the “weird” way. The one less obvious. The challenge in that is very satisfying and full of lessons.