This Post is by Keith Bond, Regular contributing writer for FineArtViews.  Find out how you can be a guest author

I would like to share a few of my thoughts on the topic that Lori Woodward Simons wrote about a week or two ago.  In her newsletter "Choose Your Rut Carefully", she cautions us to paint what we love, because our chosen style or subject matter may become a rut as clients come to expect that from us.  While I agree with most of what she said, I also believe that evolution of an artist is necessary.   Her points are valid and true, but there is a little more that could be expounded upon.

She used Richard Schmid as an example.  He paints a variety of subjects but there is a common thread to the style in which he paints. This is true.  However, if you compare his earliest works (say from the 60's or 70's) with those he does today, there is a marked difference in style.  His earlier works had bolder impressionistic brushstrokes with thick impasto paint at the sacrifice of drawing.  He is an artist who would never paint for the market.  He followed his own heart and over time, his style and methods evolved.  It was so gradual, that the collectors didn't readily notice.   If he were to have made a sudden drastic change, as Lori points out, things may have been less enthusiastically received.  But his evolution is exciting to see.

Picasso is another artist who changed.  His was more drastic than Richard Schmid's, but he was able to do it successfully.  While I admit that I don't know how long it took for collectors to embrace the direction his art took, he nonetheless was very successful at it.

Peter Adams is a recent artist who changed direction.  I read an article about him in a magazine a couple years ago.  I don't recall all the details, but I will relay what I do remember.  Someone visited his studio and saw some paintings that were more romantic and dreamlike than his plein air work.  He said that these paintings were done solely for himself.  He felt the collectors wouldn't like them.  However, he was encouraged to exhibit these works.  To his surprise he found that they were well received.  Yes, a change in direction is possible. 

Another example of an artist who changed directions is the great western and landscape artist James Reynolds.  For decades he has been known as one of the greatest western artists.  He is very well collected and commands a high price for his work.  A few years ago, he had a one man show, but instead of his usual western paintings he had only landscapes.  In keeping with Lori's point, he didn't sell well at all.  His collectors wanted cowboys on horses.  However, over time he found a new set of collectors who wanted his landscapes.  He was able to make the change, but it took time.  Additionally, his earlier work was more impasto than his current work, but just as with Richard Schmid, that was a gradual evolution.

I guess the point I am getting at is that an artist can change, but realize that it is usually a slow and gradual process.  Just as it takes effort, time, and tires with good traction to get out of a rut (4x4 is helpful, too), so it is with art.

Some practical ideas if you find yourself in a rut that you are unhappy with:

1. Constantly strive to improve your skills as an artist.  As you push yourself to learn more, your work will improve.  Even if your subject matter or style remains basically the same, improving your artwork, by definition, gets you out of a rut.  It is one of the best ways, but it takes time. 
2. Introduce new subject matter slowly.  I am primarily a landscape painter, but over the past couple of years I have included animals and the figure on occasion. I also occasionally I do a still life.  Once I did a 'portrait' of an old farm tractor (one of my favorite paintings to this day). In a given body of work, only 1 or 2 paintings may deviate from my pure landscapes.  I do this to try to avoid those ruts that I am unhappy with.  It introduces my work to a broader collector base as well as introducing my current collectors to a broader range of subjects.
3. If you are unsure of what direction you would like to take your art, experiment.  Try new things.  Keep those that work for you, discard those that don't.  Lori suggests that you find out what you are passionate about.  Make this your focus. 
4. If you find that you are very unhappy with were you are, and you know what you would like to be doing, then I would recommend making the change sooner rather than later.  Just like James Reynolds, it may take time to find a new collector base, but it will happen.  With many artists experiencing a slump in sales, now is the perfect time to make the change.  When the economy picks up you will have a strong body of new and exciting work to exhibit.   

Sincerely,