Your Style: Will it Play in Peoria?

Paintings are the visual record of how an artist thinks, and sees. One of my favorite artist/teachers is Richard Schmid. He encourages artists to alway paint exactly what they see. I believe I do just that. But Schmid's work is unique and certainly does not look anything like my work. If we painted the same subject we would produce distinctly different pieces of art. Both completely valid.

"What you see" is filtered through a lifetime of experience and our art training. We all have unique backgrounds and experiences, therefore, our perception of the world is uniquely our own. If we are true to our own vision we cannot help but paint in a unique style. The variety of unique artist visions is the core gift they bring to the world. They invite us to see the world in new ways and sometimes challenge our long held beliefs.

Back to business - Whether or not our vision will sell in Peoria is a marketing issue. Some communities have certain common standards of taste - that is called fashion. Who knows, painting of kittens with big glossy eyes might be very fashionable there. If your work matches that fashion sense, then your work might sell there. If not, you need to find a different market. Don't change your work to simply be fashionable in a specific market. Find your market.