{"id":2181,"date":"2021-03-08T08:00:53","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T13:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maryahernartist.com\/art-blog\/?p=2181"},"modified":"2025-02-25T19:32:14","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T00:32:14","slug":"changing-my-mind-about-genre-and-purpose-in-my-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maryahernartist.com\/art-blog\/changing-my-mind-about-genre-and-purpose-in-my-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Changing My Mind About Genre and Purpose in my Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the last few years, my art has shifted away from painting what I think will be popular. Selling lots of prints, in lots of sizes both online and offline, I knew I could make piles of money in my sleep. What fun!<\/p>\n

That thinking is no longer my goal for making my art. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I love selling, it\u2019s in my blood. It was my career for many years. But times have changed for me. Circumstances have changed too. I\u2019ve stepped out of the rat race. Out of the business world strictly speaking.<\/p>\n

I stopped painting for cash. Stopped picking the most popular flowers, in the most popular colors, in the sizes that sell the most.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve turned inward. I\u2019ve begun writing about what matters in my life, in my world. I care more now about my work being a form of meditation. An opportunity to ponder our place in the universe.  My flowers are to me a symbol. A microcosm of the universe.<\/p>\n

\"Mary<\/a>

“Subtle Elegance – Tree Peony” 36×36″ Gallery Wrapped Oil on Canvas<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Since my art starts in the garden, I\u2019m now seeking to translate lessons I\u2019m learning there that inspire my work. I\u2019m learning to write the stories, the messages, the ideas that motivate me to dedicate a painting to them. I care about what the painting will symbolize for me and perhaps for others.<\/p>\n

Writing is helping me to find the language to express my thoughts. These thoughts are embedded into the artwork I create. Each painting is a manifestation of these ideas. I am now working towards a deeper interpretation of my work beyond just the visual.<\/p>\n

In thinking about my art I had always labeled myself a floral or a landscape painter. My work was very realistic, the more realistic the better. I loved creating the details.<\/p>\n

However, the work I\u2019ve begun doing over the last few years has changed. My mediums, my style, and my thinking. For the past 30 years I\u2019ve been a digital painter, (yes, before Apple, before Photoshop). Now I\u2019ve returned to my roots and I\u2019m painting again in oils. There\u2019s no $20,000 digital system between my work and my body. I am again, up close and personal.<\/p>\n

This change in medium, this physical closeness to my work, this reawakening has given me an opportunity to re-evaluate what it is that I\u2019m trying to do. To say.<\/p>\n

As my forms become more simplified, more minimal, more stylized, my thinking has gone deeper. Richer. More meaningful. So this is why I now relate less to floral painters but more to meditative, more minimalistic painters, more abstract painters. It\u2019s not really just about the flower. The colors. The form. It\u2019s about what I\u2019m thinking, what I\u2019m feeling, what I\u2019m learning. The garden is my tutor. These are lessons we can all learn if we pay attention quietly to what\u2019s around us. The lessons carried to us on the wind.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the last few years, my art has shifted away from painting what I think will be popular. Selling lots of prints, in lots of sizes both online and offline, I knew I could make piles of money in my …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,145],"tags":[173,183,30,43,265,266],"class_list":["post-2181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-being-an-artist","category-musings","tag-being-an-artist","tag-career-changing","tag-creativity","tag-influences","tag-inspiration","tag-musings"],"yoast_head":"\nChanging My Mind About Genre and Purpose in my Art - Art Naturally<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I stopped painting for cash. Stopped picking the most popular flowers, in the most popular colors, in the sizes that sell the most. 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