Getting Trapped in your Niche | Bhat Boy
I have made it my life’s work to paint about this shy and noble city, because I think that Ottawa deserves it. Each of us, as artists, must find our niche in the world. It became clear to me early on that my niche is painting cityscapes of Ottawa.
Knowing what you have to create to sell a painting is a really handy thing, it helps an artist move forward with confidence, but a niche is a tricky thing. Forced to paint the same subjects over and over again to please adoring patrons can trap an artist. Their niche becomes a box. It is for this reason that I am continually trying to reinvent my subject matter, to view it from different perspectives. One year I will paint the Parliament Buildings on the backs of goldfish, the next year they will be in tree houses. It is in this way that I slyly avoid getting stuck in a box.
Many artists only wish they could be caught in this trap of success, but like pop stars and heroin, the box is the artist’s great weakness. It is only with determination, and continual reinvention, that we manage to keep our niche from closing in on ourselves. Fortunately I am blessed with a lot of energy. It is enduring optimism, and relentless energy that moves me forward from one year to the next.