Yesterday afternoon artist Sri Soekarmoen McCarthy and I visited Vito Art to chat about exquisite corpse and opportunities for creative collaboration. Then we visited The Mortals Cafe at Little Space Studio and bumped into the inimitable Reb Roberts.
We had an excellent talk about the foolishness of reinventing yourself. Have you ever thought about it?
The idea that we always have to be innovating and creating something new in our art, or elsewhere, is more likely doing a disservice than actually creating something worthwhile. The premise is flawed and it's based on scarcity and fear, rather than abundance.
Instead, you should be leaning into your talents that you've established. Yes, you want to think outside of the box and create new ideas and concepts, but you don't really have to reinvent.
Doing so can be deviant. It can drive you away from what's most important, it might separate you from your tribe. You could end up constantly searching for some inscrutable idea that you might never find, when the reality and talent you need to embrace is right in front of your face.
Check out the art of Sri, Reb and Vito. Each artist has a unique style and approach that they have cultivated in their craft.
They didn't 'reinvent' anything to get there.
They simply embraced the creative process.
I've recently rediscovered the joy of practicing medicine as I work on a contract basis. It's what I learned to do expertly for 30 years, and the joy I get is more than from my frustrated attempts at fine art photography. Though it's fine to explore and expand new areas of creativity, why throw away what I am expert at and is so appreciated?