Years ago i learned to listen to my audience. You have to pay attention to what people respond to. When you get a favorable response you try to take that into your next body of work - I never try to duplicate art over and over, but I try to gauge what elements made people respond positively and carry that into the next work. There have been many successful artist that found one thing that people love about their work and they replicate it into nausea. Which is GREAT for art consumers because they get what they love - but it would seem that the artist would feel a growth stunt if he or she is creating the same piece of art over and over - just different variations of color and small changes. Their bank account grows tremendously, but do they truly grow as artist?
Its perfectly fine to create a series or work. That series can be continuous throughout your life. Most series start as an artist trying to answer a question or complete a task - at some point there has to be new questions, new answers, new challenges. I'm constantly trying something new. In doing so, I'm positive I have created some bad art. If I don't create the bad art, I don't learn. I rarely get to that point where i create GREAT art. If i never take chances with my art, I never grow. My audience never changes. My life as an artist dies slowly. In order to live I must churn out work - i must take chances - i must express ever inner thought that means anything to me. All of this doesn't come without a price. There is scrutiny and harsh criticism. Its all a part of growth. As an artist, if you are afraid of a few bad opinions, then you will remain in the small corner of your world with only a mothers eyes to appreciate your work. If you do not fear rejection, the world awaits. Paint without fear. Create recklessly and act as if your life depends on it - because quite frankly, it does. My life is meaningless without art.
