The Importance Of Evolving As An Artist- Nancy Hillis MD
The Importance Of Evolving As An Artist
Recently I was thinking about how we never stand still as artists. In my own work, I’ve traveled the territory of working in bold, chromatic colors for years to now predominantly neutral palettes. And yet, even as I begin to identify this pattern, I notice a slight stirring in my heart to revisit my old love of bright hues.
I’ve been observing evolution in the artists in my online courses, The Artist’s Journey, as well as in Studio Journey as we’ve been exploring and experimenting with constraint, limited palettes, working large scale and working in a series.
Evolution, Human Development & Art
It brought to mind the notion of evolution as analogous to human development and how essential this is to being an artist.
As artists and creators, we’re continually evolving our work. Not satisfied to remain static, we explore and experiment.
I believe we move through developmental cycles much like the stages of human development.
In the beginning, there’s mirroring. We soak up the works of the masters and of artists we admire and reflect it back in our art much like a baby and mother.
We learn techniques and how to use various tools. At first it feels awkward but eventually we begin to create marks and paint passages with facility.
We study the vocabulary of composition and color theory. We begin to speak a new language.
We explore value patterns much as children discover their shadows.
We become increasingly facile with rendering and replicating what we see before us, whether it’s a figure, landscape, still life or the work of a masterful painter.
But one day, this isn’t enough. One day, it’s no longer gratifying. One day, like a teenagerl, we grow bored.
One day, we decide that we want to paint the ineffable
We want to explore the mystery of who we are in our art.
We want to express our aliveness.
We want to compose our own individuality.
And so we plunge into unknown territory and begin our journey of experimentation.
And we learn that:
Painting is a mirror…it mirrors our lives
There’s no final phase. You don’t reach some evolved state and stay there
It’s continuous evolution.
Even as you develop mastery, there’s no endpoint.
Indeed, I believe we often come full circle and revisit earlier phases but now with new understandings.
We circle back to our foundations and see it with new eyes.
T.S. Eliot wrote in Little Gidding :
We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
From my studio to yours,
Nancy
Evolution & Experimentation
To learn more about evolving your art, nap a copy of best-selling book: The Adjacent Possible.
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NOW is the perfect time to create.
This is the existential moment- this is the time where we see what our life is about. We notice what is meaningful and alive for us.
You might be thinking…I’m just too blocked, too down, too scared or frozen….or even just shy….
You may be feeling that you can’t create now….
But I say to you that you’re a creator…you’re an artist and artists create.
And there are many ways to create and be creative….
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Your content is good, I like it. I’ll visit it again sometime. thank you
You are so necessary! I searched for hours before I stumbled upon your offerings.
I am born a new! Keep on inspiring and creating.
Ah… thank you so much, dear Debbie! You totally brightened my day! Warmly, Nancy
Aw, this is an exceptionally good post. In notion I must put in writing in this way additionally – spending time and actual effort to make a really good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and also by no means often go done.
Very nice article, exactly what I was looking for.
Thank you!
I have been fortunate to have experienced that amazing passage from The Little Gidding several times in my life.
I am intrigued with your paintings – more like deeply moved and inspired.
Attempting an abstract one day It seemed like something akin to free falling. I felt compelled to grab for the safety of anything representational. But I think I am ready for the free fall.
I love the title. Thanks nancy.
Thank you Alula!
Nancy, I started painting in 1982 when I moved to Chicago because of my husband’s job. I was so bored I started to go to art shows and thinking, can I paint? Then I enrolled in a watercolor art class for beginners. I loved it and couldn’t wait to get home from work to start painting. It took me three years to feel confident and start showing in local art shows in the suburbs. From w/c I ventured into pastels, then tried colored pencils, a no for me. Then tried oils, no. Then tried acrylics. Aha! Went from flowers, to landscapes, to forests, to buildings, to seascapes, to collages, mixed media, and then…discovered abstracts..voila!! Even where I clean my brushes on a piece of canvas or paper end up being a work of art. Finally, I can say that I have evolved as an artist. I am also an art teacher and I teach everything. You can find me any day working on abstracts. I can still do all the other stuff but I Include a little bit of abstract to everything. Love your work Nancy and have learned a lot from you. Thank you.
What a wonderful journey Maritza! I love hearing about your movement through various mediums and subject matter. I feel the same way about discovering abstracts. Thank you for your kind words.
Thank you so much Maritza. I appreciate your kind words.
Hi Nancy,
You have such a clear way of relating very basic yet profound ideas. Thank you for your contributions to the art tribe!
I am artist who has been teaching experimental art in all media for over 30 years. What I find most fascinating is that over time I have evolved as an artist and concomitantly my teaching style and material have also evolved to reflect what I feel is most important in art – a supreme belief in the creative capability of everyone, artist or non-artist. My lifelong studies in Zen and oriental art/philosophy have progressively made my life and art more meaningful. Consequently my current teaching style is based less on technique (which is of course always important) but more on the gratifying process of making art and the dismantling of preconceived ideas of what art should be.
In Wabi Sabi painting, which I teach, the heart and mind of the artist become content with the very fact that he or she has found a beautiful moment in time to create “art”, whatever that might be. Certain basic ideas are visited, basic techniques explored. More importantly, artists learn that the state of “artlessness” counter-intuitively gives rise to unfettered artistic potential.
My point is I would not have taught these ideas many years ago and I’m sure I will keep evolving towards something new and beautiful in my own (art) life as I approach old age!
Hi Suzanne,
Thank you so much for your lovely note here. I resonate with the idea of deep experimentation and exploration in art and life. I believe that we’re all artists and creators. It’s wonderful to receive your heartfelt words and wise counsel. I love this connection in our art tribe. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Hi Nancy,
I am your problem child and we never resolved that fact that I couldn’t seem to be included in the fb group so outside of sending you a jpeg, I never posted. I am okay with the past and hoping to be able to move forward as next journey begins…Thanks so much, Ginny
Hi Ginny,
Email me with your fb “name” again please and we’ll get you in there. In the meantime, we’re going to be moving the community over to our own site soon (and moving off of fb). I think this will make it much easier to access the community. Warmly, Nancy
Nancy! You are so inspiring! I remember when I was a child, painting so freely like children do. I remember how uncritical I was..I just painted. Then as an adult I became critical and judgmental about my work and thus less creative. So I gave up my expectations and just started playing again. It was simply someone telling me that it’s just colours that we push around with a stick on paper! It was a kind of Zen moment for me.
My task now is to combine that messy freedom with some discipline! And I look forward with much excitement to working with you on your course. Thank you for your wisdom Nancy, it resonates so much. xx
I love your story Sue! What a wondrous Zen moment! You’ve got the most important thing: the freedom and the trusting yourself…the discipline come and it will combine beautifully! Thank you for writing! xx
I was watching CBS Sunday Morning yesterday and they were interviewing Anselm Kiefer, an abstract painter, who paints huge canvases. Yesterday he was pouring molten lead on his canvases. I just wondered how and when he decided that, “I should pour liquid lead on my canvases after I have painted on them”. Now that is an exploration. I thought if he could do that why couldn’t I explore my painting and just do it. Not pour lead, but really open up and see where painting could take me. I’ve always been a believer in, if you don’t like it, and it doesn’t touch your soul, you can always get rid of it and start again. No fear that way. Painting is a journey.
What a wonderful story Terry! Indeed! We only have to give ourselves permission to explore deeply.
Your article rings so true for me and my artist’s journey. It helps me understand that it’s okay not to love everything I paint. Being dissatisfied is a catalyst for new exploration!
Thank you for sharing this!
Exactly! I think the paintings we don’t love are oftentimes raw and nascent forms of emerging work that’s trying to be birthed. We may not love the way it looks because it’s unfamiliar. In any case, I love what you wrote about it being a catalyst for further exploration.
Thank you for writing Lola!
I enjoyed the above article and agree. I have drawn and painted all my life off and on until I retired 15 years ago then it was full time. It was during that time that I eventually started to play and push my expression of me through my art. Thank you for your blog. Interesting, I’m not back to where I began but can see that as a possibility but with more confidence and freedom of my own expression. I have worked in Oils, Acrylics, mixed media, acrylic inks, resins and everything from realism to abstract ..but even my abstracts have a feel of nature to them as I’m very connected to the outdoors.
I’m pleased to have you part of my journey, all the best, Dar
Thank you Dar. I love how you wrote about playing and pushing the expression of you through your art. It’s a wonderful journey full of twists and turns.
It’s like you took the words right out of my mouth. I was just looking back at old work of mine in photos and missing them when I read your email. Thank you for the inspiring email!
Thank you Janet.
Thank you Nancy, this resonates so much with me, like you encapsulated my own progression in a fluid state. You’ve expressed it so simply. It hit home.
Thank you Carole.