“Being an artist means that you can have the ability to imagine yourself into all kinds of othernesses. Doing that, you can rearrange perspectives on things, which can provide a revelation”. Eric Fischl
Experimenting with new things whether you plan to continue with them, enhances the way you perceive your own art and how you approach it. If you constantly stay on the same path it leads to boring sameness. Taking the opportunity to try new things allows you to develop not only new skill sets but to view your work from a different perspective.
I would like to share one of the responses I received from a reader last week. “I understand what you are talking about when you mention having skill sets. Knowing what skill set feels right comes after experimenting with other mediums, etc. You expand to some new ones, but others you only touch upon, but the memory lasts and reappears eventually in your main skill set. All these experiences keep shaping you so that you are constantly changing. Passion is the driver.” Evy Okerstrom
Break Through Mixed Media
Trying new things also has the advantage of adding a new dimension to our work which helps us grow and develop as artists. This new knowledge allows us to discover abilities and untapped potential we did not know existed. They sharpen our perspective and helps us grow emotionally. These learning experiences tend to spark our creativity. We ask, “what if” … Or, “Look at that! Where can I go with that?”
I know what I enjoy and what I am passionate about, but I don’t want to stop learning about new things. Not because I want to change what I do, but because of how I can incorporate them into what I do: to make it more interesting, to give it a new look, to challenge myself to do better work. I don’t want my work to become boring.
Strengthen your “risk muscle”. Keep it in shape by trying new things. If you don’t it atrophies, and you become boring.
“A man’s errors are his portals of discovery” James Joyce