This and That

Hi there!

I'm starting to get in my groove over here on the new blog/website.  The Squarespace format is new to me, however, so this transition has not been entirely smooth.  In an effort to make a password-protected area for clients the other day, I accidentally made the entire site password-protected for several hours.  My apologies to those I locked out and my thanks to those of you who have alerted me to potential problems.  Your feedback is extremely helpful, especially in these initial stages of building this site!

I've written quite a bit about the practical reasons that led me to put all of my work on one website, but the decision was also very personal and it gets into an area that I think many of us might struggle with as artists.  In the beginning of my art career I felt like I was leading something of a double life.  I've always loved to draw, paint, design––you name it, if it is art-related, I love to do it.  For years I tried to separate and categorize my art, however, because I had some very typical artist insecurities about sharing the different types of work with different audiences.  I feared that the fine art world wouldn't take me seriously if they saw my happy flowery surface designs and I feared that the design world wouldn't accept the paintings and drawings I do (which are quite different from my designs).  I probably wasn't giving people enough credit, but I'd been encouraged to keep these art styles separate.  I had even been told that I shouldn't link to my painting website from my surface design website because my paintings might "scare off" potential licensees. 

Then I started blogging.  In the beginning the plan was to solely focus on my design work.  But in an effort to have more to blog about I began sharing my paintings and drawings.  A funny thing happened.  No one was the least bit "scared".  Or if they were, they didn't type "yikes" in the comment box and run away.  Everyone was very supportive.  Some of the nicest comments about my paintings would come from friends who originally found me through my fabric.  You guys were big contributors in helping me shed my old way of thinking and in encouraging me to share all of the different things I was working on.

One of the biggest pushes toward getting this new site up and running came from something I read on the Lilla Rogers Studio blog. Regarding the signing of Lisa Congdon (Love!), Lilla wrote, "What a variety of work she has.  Here's how it works:  really good artists have lots of styles and media because they have so much talent and a delicious greed to try everything.  Then, over time, the styles often morph together to become one's own distinctive style." That perspective was one I had not heard before and one I wish I'd heard much earlier in my career.  It really struck a chord with me.  It is such a different way of thinking than what I had previously been told.  And hearing it phrased so beautifully from a talented, respected art source was awesome!  It was a great reminder that as artists we should feel free to try as many different things as we want and have faith that it will all come together in the end!

When I think about it, trying to separate the artwork was kind of silly in the first place––anyone who searched for me on the internet was bound to see the various works.  And I think the different art worlds are more accepting of each other than perhaps they once were.  So, what about you, the other artists and creatives who read this blog?  Have any of you felt the need to separate your different styles and media?  Do you feel comfortable sharing all of the work that you do?  I always hear talk about finding your own unique style but what is often left out of that conversation is that in order to find your own style you have to play around, experiment and try lots of different things!  I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!

Alright, back to work for me now.  I have some fun design projects to work on this week (and I'll probably squeeze in a little painting, too)!  I hope your week is off to a great start!

Comments

[Rosie/The Fabric Shopper]

I love ALL your designs. I have happily put you on my list of reads and will be anxious to see everything :-) rosie

[Jenean Morrison]

Thank you SO much, Rosie! What a nice thing to say!!

[Josephine]

Jenean!! YAY!!! I'm so happy to read this post of yours, and to see you come to the wonderful conclusion of putting all of your work on one site. I really enjoy your new website and how it showcases you as a whole. I LOVE how you quoted Lilla Rogers regarding Lisa Congdon because I read that same thing a bit back, and it struck a chord with me as well. I've heard what you've heard in the past - how we should separate our artwork out...but I think times are changing. We as artists need to be as well rounded as possible in order to show why we're different and why companies would want to pick us for particular projects. Great post, and great work with your new site, friend!!

[Rebecca]

thanks so much for this post. I just found your website via true up and I really identified with what you are talking about here. In school my instructors kept reiterating the need to have a definitive "style" and it stressed me out because I was so interested in so many different things, I loved oil painting and making animations with Flash and watercolor. I wanted to design stationery, and fabric and paint portraits and draw children's illustrations and I felt like it would be orphaning all my other desires to pick just one. This somewhat ADD approach probably isn't the most effective, but I'm happy now, working on whatever is currently my obsession and I don't worry so much about having a "style". I worry about making whatever I'm working on the best that I can. I think Lilla is right, the recognizable "style" comes with time. And that's okay. Maybe art directors prefer to see a "style" but for one of the most influential designers, Milton Glaser, his style is brilliant concepts illustrated in a number of different ways. There's lots to be said on the topic, but thanks for further encouraging me to not play multiple personalities with my different lines of artistic endeavors. (which i have also done as well in the past, even so far as using a pseudonym--that was way more work than it was worth) Keep up the good work!