Another Way

Style. Supposedly it’s what separates professional artists from amateurs. All the big famous names in art have their own style, and when you look at one of their pieces, you can tell it’s “their style.” By that standard, I probably don’t count as a “professional”, because I use such a variety of styles in my art. But there’s a hidden problem with having a style of your own - because it can start to define your expression, it can also start to define the limits of your expression.

There is one consistency in nearly all of my work. I use painting as a medium for a visual journey of the painful path I’ve walked down and the process of redeeming it to become more. And just like there may be patterns that emerge in this, I have discovered that to be open to becoming more depends on an openness in my approach to life. We all have different styles in how we live our lives. We have styles to how we work, how we play, how we treat other people, how we see the world, and on and on. But when these styles get ingrained in us we end up with a tendency to get into a fixed mindset about these things. We stop being open to seeing the world in different ways, and we lose our curiosity for how things could be more.

I want my mind to be one that’s open and curious. If I’m going to maintain that type of mindset, I need to do so in all areas of my life. This includes my art, as well. That’s why I so often experiment and try out different ways of creating art. One day I’m using traditional paintbrushes; the next day, I’m using knives. Another day I experiment with adding different textures into the foundational layers of a piece or using something unique to apply the paint like syringes. Sometimes these “other ways” of painting work out, and sometimes they don’t. Either way, that’s ok. The point is not to succeed. The point is to explore. The point is to keep my mind open to new perspectives, experiences, and ideas.

The point, in other words, is to never forget that there’s always Another Way.