How much is an artist allowed to change?
One important value in my art practice is that I am allowed to change my style, my medium, anything about my art is open to change anytime I feel like it.
It's easy to think that change should be carefully measured.
People might not like your art any more if you change too much.
You might find out you don't like your new direction after spending time there - wouldn't that be a waste?!
Why abandon styles, mediums and approaches that I have invested years in developing? Don't I owe it to myself to hold on to everything I've learned?
It's these kind of limitations that are exactly why I think change should be welcomed rather than avoided.
First of all, I believe that any change - even a drastic change to medium or style - probably won't be as dramatic as you think. The essence of your style is YOU, and that cannot be abandoned, not even if you try!
But change might feel chaotic:
If there is chaos in your art practice right now (and changing things up can feel a lot like chaos), imagine that you might be in a stage similar to that of organizing a room in your home. There is always a point at which the mess seems irredeemable, but that chaos is an unavoidable part of the process. Pull everything out. Use it. You are sorting, categorizing and ordering and your art will be the richer for it.
Change can ONLY serve your artistic practice for the better. It teaches you to let go of what is extraneous to where you are now and invite new ideas and habits, and looking back you will see a method to the mess that you can't see at eye level.
As I anticipate changes I'm planning for the months ahead, I feel a lot like I'm sorting, categorizing and ordering and it's a little scary. I don't know how much to keep, and how well it will be received. And that has to be okay. In order to be willing to invite change, I have to operate with courage and trust, open my heart to the unknown and rely on the values that have always informed my art and my life. I'm thankful I have this beautiful history of growth and change to remind me that I'm not doing this out of some kind of wishful daydream and lean into the new beginnings ahead.