What are an artist's values

Artists often say that they are searching for their style; their work varies so much from painting to painting: they never know what they will produce next; they are readily influenced by the work of others that they find attractive; they are butterflies.

We have all been there. In hindsight, my fluttering about from style to style, subject to subject has been a sideshow, a distraction and possibly even dishonest! That is to say that I have not been honest with myself. I have often been needlessly searching for this imagined 'me' when, all the time it was right there in my heart. The problem was that I was not able to recognise it.

Now that I can look back on a lifetime of drawing, etching, painting, slip-casting pots, designing fabrics, clothes and furniture, the true 'me' is plain to see. So, all I have to do is to trust it and go shout it out to the world ......... well, my small world anyway.

Every organisation that takes itself seriously will have drafted a Mission Statement in which is describes its Mission, its Vision and Its Values. The Mission should clearly outline what the organisation does and, maybe, how it achieves its goals. The Vision will state some future targets in terms of timed achievements. Whereas the Mission is designed to inform their stakeholders what they do, the Vision and Values are intended to be guiding lights for the people who work within the organisation so they know where they should be heading and how they should behave and what factors should influence their choices and strategies.

So, how does this apply to artists and how can it help us?

Instead of a mission statement, artists are advised to compose an 'Artists Statement' in which we explain, to the world, what we do, why we do it and how we achieve the resulting work.. This helps audiences and galleries to understand what we are trying to say through our work. But it is probably one of the most difficult tasks that an artist ever faces. Did Van Gogh, Monet, Cezanne or Turner ever have to write one of these? No. They just seemed to get on with what they did and were not self-conscious enough to have to explain anything to anyone. Their lifetime bodies of work seem to be effortlessly coherent. What great artists do have is CONSISTENCY and FOCUS.

This brings me to VALUES,