QUESTION 21

What tips are there to help keep your art feeling fresh and new?

We posted this question on our Instagram on 1st October 2021, here are the answers offered by our followers:

I think this is a hard question to answer! I’m not sure it needs to be fresh and new. I suppose it depends on the art work you are making. I stick with a theme and tend not to move too far away from it although I use a plethora of techniques and media. I think finding a comfortable theme (that I also love) has helped me to develop my work.
Having an over active , strong imagination. Fantasy of alien world’s. strong surrealistic concept’s. Thinking about my Art often keeps me awake at night and I end up painting in the middle of the night. Often I’m Exhausted by day. But nobody said the life of an Artist is an easy one; live to paint & paint to live.
Experiment with new techniques and technologies (even if you aren’t making work you’d show, just making tests). Read more around themes you are interested in for extra inspiration. Then bring these new ideas back to your core interests and themes to build on and push your practise.
Try new methods and materials in workshops.
Keep reading.
Keep a sketchbook.
Use a material or style you haven’t used before. Step out of your comfort zone.
Visit a new place and take photos, document what you find.
Set small challenges / write a selection of themes or topics and pick one out at random.