Overthinking

Welcome to another episode of ‘Overthinking with Richard Yeomans’. In today’s episode, I spend more time questioning what my art means, try to fit it all into boxes (metaphorically, not literally) and realise I’ve been holding myself back from creating some of my ideas because they don’t fit in with what I’ve decided my art is about. This is, of course, a stupid thing to do. I mean, I do have to control myself sometimes, because I do have a habit of… “ooo!… shiny new thing!” However, I do need to stop thinking that everything I create has to be a finished product, ready for sale, and just let myself be free to play about and experiment.

I’m pretty sure I have reached a point in my artistic journey where I know what my style is, and by that I mean, if I create something new, I know that certain shapes, motifs and ways of mark making will always come up because I enjoy drawing and painting that way, and I think that those things will bring my works together and identify them as mine. Experimenting with and expending on that style is something I find incredibly satisfying. Perhaps, this experimentation of my style is actually more what my work is about than any of the subject matter?… I don’t know… I’ve been working on some pure abstract ideas in my sketchbook, so maybe I’ll find out if I explore that more. What I do know is that from now on I’m going to try and be free to create what I want to create and not overthink too much… until I see the next shiny thing, of course!