I have been moving in a new direction. For the foreseeable future I have chosen to step back from the large canvas pieces and bring things down to a slower, more fluent and authentic pace. I have replaced that approach with developing my style through sketchbook paintings and smaller studies. This gives me a way to return to my roots and recover a sense of freedom in what the hell I’m doing. Over the past few months I could feel my enthusiasm draining; I was repeating the same styles and techniques, and everything was beginning to feel stale. I was losing my spark and turning into a machine. I found myself creating work influenced by what had sold well and by the opinions of the small audience who actually see my pieces. I was falling into the trap of caring what other people thought — dangerous territory. I stopped listening to my inner child. The paintings weren’t talking to me, and they weren’t conveying my emotions or communicating my thoughts. Working with watercolours, acrylics, charcoal, inks and a variety of colours and tools on A2 mixed-media is exactly what I need right now: a space for freedom, play and experimentation.
I have documented this shift carefully. As a way to keep track of the hundreds of hours and the many hundreds of dollars I have invested in this project, I created a site for ME to store these paintings for ME. You are more than welcome to view the site and see what I have been producing, but don’t go in there with huge expectations. artbysaville.com. This site is updated almost on a daily basis.