Some serious soul-searching...

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I was discussing art with a client once, and I was showing her the different things I'd done in the past. There were huge abstracts and floral works on canvas, delicate watercolours on paper, graphic black and white pieces, and a few figurative bits and bobs. She commented that she'd never guess they were all done by the same artist. Which, if I'm honest, threw me a little bit. Did that mean I was too scattered in my approach? Did it all look a bit hit and miss? Should I work on developing a particular 'style' and stick with it? I'd never really though about it too much before, and had always just painted what I liked, whatever that may be. Which seems completely natural to me, but maybe that's not the best way to approach this business. I mulled it over for a while, trying to decide what to do.<br /><br />Then, a discussion with a friend put things in a whole new perspective. We both often joke that we really need a good half-dozen houses, just so we can decorate them in all the styles we like. Breezy and beachy, clean and modern, heritage, country....they all hold a certain appeal, and I could quite happily live in my version of any one of them. So why not art? Who's to say I need to stick to one style - surely there are no rules? I like to rotate my paintings with the seasons; darker, moodier pieces for winter, fresh and bright for summer. And why not combine lots of styles into one glorious mish-mash? I decided to go in search of the best examples of this approach, and think these pics prove without a doubt that 'eclectic', although done to death, really is rather fabulous when done right.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1YVoLU26edGWa0bfSuwL-1mtMK3pwIS_fLWLAHM56htk247c9rzTODuyWw7iq3pDyrNARAG2AWpT1NIpPIZfOnfQSn_QoHGGTJv3O4ipammF5UHGBXmlImPj4Qut5BCzL4Mb1Wp8cGCs/s1600/103558795il1162332774.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1YVoLU26edGWa0bfSuwL-1mtMK3pwIS_fLWLAHM56htk247c9rzTODuyWw7iq3pDyrNARAG2AWpT1NIpPIZfOnfQSn_QoHGGTJv3O4ipammF5UHGBXmlImPj4Qut5BCzL4Mb1Wp8cGCs/s640/103558795il1162332774.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBOQ1KZWz0xy2DZc02u12FhhA6ijMH8K506Dd3I_pDi21mZiY2w8YfMuFjg3TIbW-hroUSdvtkPvTf1-r06nUGh5pX00ej8BYovAQtp9c6JJNpXh3ApTpQG_ppl-lggJ6KJkKS134u2U4n/s1600/622862762_bvjhA-M.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBOQ1KZWz0xy2DZc02u12FhhA6ijMH8K506Dd3I_pDi21mZiY2w8YfMuFjg3TIbW-hroUSdvtkPvTf1-r06nUGh5pX00ej8BYovAQtp9c6JJNpXh3ApTpQG_ppl-lggJ6KJkKS134u2U4n/s640/622862762_bvjhA-M.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvx1Kf7onsriEN0D3mVlvtCH_N3aBwjjwb7x5YrZwEjBFubPPreLkSZW8u2O397ozA4CLMNjuKd7b-WTJHaEznH-HuQMttUMqXCT0DES8zC7XxHCS4CRYIBWiuLHxgHHibmYM5cJpAIbIR/s1600/105755018hl1243063493.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvx1Kf7onsriEN0D3mVlvtCH_N3aBwjjwb7x5YrZwEjBFubPPreLkSZW8u2O397ozA4CLMNjuKd7b-WTJHaEznH-HuQMttUMqXCT0DES8zC7XxHCS4CRYIBWiuLHxgHHibmYM5cJpAIbIR/s640/105755018hl1243063493.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDeyInmzUTiSHaeu2G859Y9DBwGI5wvlBuNNCBX2Y9HAToQXIq2M5G4aHcy0oeZM-RwImN-X7S8EC2hxQ0IMjFHh-AIMpUYGf3m14uRywDa0UD8WgUnf4QHQid2uOROzmpMzztS4dhAFJ1/s1600/117372_0_4-8099-eclectic-living-room.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="564" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDeyInmzUTiSHaeu2G859Y9DBwGI5wvlBuNNCBX2Y9HAToQXIq2M5G4aHcy0oeZM-RwImN-X7S8EC2hxQ0IMjFHh-AIMpUYGf3m14uRywDa0UD8WgUnf4QHQid2uOROzmpMzztS4dhAFJ1/s640/117372_0_4-8099-eclectic-living-room.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsdhnb8A0sT9iwcYpkCu5uZKo7FE7zAtNhwEDlxZH8mrMjLt4bX7WuYdX2lDwXNKVhYQgCph-EyR8W3bLyYRF9lloaDIYcIVN4NRWYFdzJ9qdXLFa1sW8JYUkGOs4tmNCUSxmyTFdVwF8p/s1600/IMG_4005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsdhnb8A0sT9iwcYpkCu5uZKo7FE7zAtNhwEDlxZH8mrMjLt4bX7WuYdX2lDwXNKVhYQgCph-EyR8W3bLyYRF9lloaDIYcIVN4NRWYFdzJ9qdXLFa1sW8JYUkGOs4tmNCUSxmyTFdVwF8p/s640/IMG_4005.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6n8B0bUm0Dbqc8ztI5DtD81tdM_i0xjFhSJJzkGq27S9lq7KauvEqmceJrIwoCSxIO_VyIrUdNXQDOorjLuxJ2vKwclj93VDvurWqQYJeNZGy2EEjLGHBaLmrILmQs15kG7f0F0htpLFC/s1600/Lonny+Magazine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6n8B0bUm0Dbqc8ztI5DtD81tdM_i0xjFhSJJzkGq27S9lq7KauvEqmceJrIwoCSxIO_VyIrUdNXQDOorjLuxJ2vKwclj93VDvurWqQYJeNZGy2EEjLGHBaLmrILmQs15kG7f0F0htpLFC/s640/Lonny+Magazine.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp3zH9l3VzuoNfytifxjY1QX8efQpKHiE1epPIhPb4Vh-LG9obgxxgCKvZO0Bvw1nZkZIa0i1ylkQM5VXx8x3XqmlbwfPq8CJJS9hZoLX-qBU-LgdsW0jQbCF-YWUQSUdYRNxPzjFrI4VQ/s1600/lonny2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp3zH9l3VzuoNfytifxjY1QX8efQpKHiE1epPIhPb4Vh-LG9obgxxgCKvZO0Bvw1nZkZIa0i1ylkQM5VXx8x3XqmlbwfPq8CJJS9hZoLX-qBU-LgdsW0jQbCF-YWUQSUdYRNxPzjFrI4VQ/s640/lonny2.jpg" width="502" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />So, I'd love to hear what you think? And if anyone is a marketing-guru extraordinaire, then I'd also love your thoughts from a business perspective. But at the end of the day, I am who I am, and this is how I work.<br /><br />Thanks guys, you're the best. Hit me with your best advice...I'm ready.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85794/shatay01/57292ae3db79c6d939a1f2a85508a076.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">sorry, but lots of these images were saved ages ago...long before I was savvy enough to record the source. I know a few are courtesy of Lonny and Rue magazines, and some via realestate.com.au. If anyone knows more, please let me know and I'll credit accordingly. Thanks!</span>

Some serious soul-searching...

I was discussing art with a client once, and I was showing her the different things I'd done in the past. There were huge abstracts and ...

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