I painted it in late summer of 2016. Over the spring and summer I had invested a lot of time and money into getting new blankets, and silk scarves and prints made with my designs, and I had a bunch of new art ready to release for the holiday season. Then - without warning, Facebook algorithms completely changed. All of a sudden 80-90% less people were seeing my posts. Almost no one at all was seeing the posts I made in all the art groups I was in. And then I got banned from posting in groups at all. I even got banned from posting in my OWN group.
As I looked at my studio cramped full of blankets and silk scarves and new prints and new art - I just wanted to scream. I was angry and frustrated. I KNEW it was Facebook algorithms, not people deciding all of a sudden they didn't like my art, but I began to doubt myself. I began to doubt whether I could - or should - keep my art career going. I began to doubt if what I was doing was really making a difference to anyone. I became filled with fear and anxiety. After working for 2 years for myself doing what I loved, the idea of having to give that up (even temporarily) felt like a huge failure. I didn't know what to do. I felt lost and confused. Overwhelmed and depressed. Disconnected.
I decided the best thing to do would be to create a piece of art to express my state of mind. I didn't feel like making a Mandala. I knew it had to be something different. Something not symmetrical.
As I began to create it, something really cool happened - soon I was having a ton of fun! I realized that with all the custom pieces I had been doing for patrons, it had been a while since I painted JUST for my own enjoyment. NO deadline. No patrons expectations to meet - just creating for the fun of it. I decided to just go with the flow, put some good music on and not worry about what would happen after.
Slowly something cool began to develop, and I got excited! I was so into it, in the moment I didn't even think about anything else. And, that feeling made me realize I needed to do whatever it took to keep making art full time. I was in the zone again! I started to feel a bit more like a "real" artist and a bit less like "only" a Mandala artist. It was exciting!
So here is the final result - I hope you dig it!
"SOUL SEARCHING" - 16 x 20 inches, acrylic paint on canvas
Since then I've painted close to 30 paintings in this style, and I'm having a lot of fun seeing it develop. I have a great time coming up with the looser design elements of this style, so I'm going to keep on creating new ones. Stay tuned!
Check out all the other paintings I've done in this style here - https://www.nexusvisions.com/new -Adam
And as you already know, your paintings have always been a source of inspiration for me.!! :) ;)
So glad you find my work inspiring! :)
always awesome to see what your creating!
Love watching what you create. Keep it up!
You know it!
I can only speak for myself but I love this painting. It's unusual, unconventional and very cool! I know what you mean. I'm not an artist, just started to learn drawing and it feels good to be free, to draw what I want. Good job, you made it, found your way out of the hole. Keep up the good work and show us more cool things! 😊
Congratulations! Your post has been selected as a daily Steemit truffle! It is listed on rank 24 of all contributions awarded today. You can find the TOP DAILY TRUFFLE PICKS HERE.
I upvoted your contribution because to my mind your post is at least 12 SBD worth and should receive 45 votes. It's now up to the lovely Steemit community to make this come true.
I am
TrufflePig, an Artificial Intelligence Bot that helps minnows and content curators using Machine Learning. If you are curious how I select content, you can find an explanation here!Have a nice day and sincerely yours,
TrufflePig