At the end of 2017, I hosted an informal, totally random survey asking people what one trend they thought would be big in 2018. Now that we are nearing the end of the year, we can see if their predictions came true.
1. Roots. No, not the ones underground, but our origins. There was a strong theme related to "rekindling the love and passion of our roots." Whether that was a general idea or related to a specific art domain, it seems that people want to be in touch with all things handmade, non-commercial, and traditional.
2. Mixed Media. While mixed media is an art movement that goes back to the early 20th century, mixed media as we know it today is hot and getting hotter. Whether it is blending media, layering, combining found objects with commercial products, mixing fibers and paper, or other approaches, mixed media was on the mind of many of the artists who shared their trend predictions.
3. Fine Art Mediums. There has been a steady increase in recent years in the embrace of traditional, fine art mediums within the mixed media and craft worlds. This appears to be continuing with many people noting watercolor paints, portraiture, encaustics, drawing, color mixing, and referencing the color wheel as continuing and coming trends.
4. Nature. All things natural appear to be on the horizon. Think raw surfaces, such as wood, stone, tile and brick, metallics, eco dyeing, water themes, all-things rust, and botanicals.
5. Imperfection. Artists seem to be more and more comfortable embracing the imperfect and it looks like this trend will continue into 2018. Whether patchwork in textile arts, nonrealistic faces in portraiture, or repurposed and up cycled materials, imperfection is the perfect trend.
6. Paint. Paint seems to be the art supply of choice for 2018. Whether watercolors, acrylics or the hot trend of acrylic pouring, paint is definitely our passion.
7. Fiber Art. Perhaps reflecting the trend of returning to our roots, fiber art is everywhere. Stitchery, embroidery, hand sewing, quilting, fringe, patchwork, eco dyeing, and stitching on paper are all hot, hot, hot.
8. Text. Text-based art will continue to be big in 2018. Handwritten and creative lettering, asemic writing, journaling, and using text for story telling are likely to be seen everywhere in the coming year.
9. Journaling. The trend that keeps on giving. Journaling has not yet peaked and will continue strong next year. In recent years, a variety of approaches to journaling led the way. In 2018, bullet journaling and creating your own handmade journals seem to be in the lead.
10. Artivism. An historic trend that seems to reflect the times, creating art and craft for the purpose of political expression, activism, and protest has returned in a big way in 2017 and looks to continue into 2018.
So what do you think? Were any of these predictions correct? And if not...what trends were evident to you in 2018?
