I went online and found the good advice I was looking for to keep going in my own direction. This is really good advice from artists who have reached a level of respect that makes them good mentors. These are professionals in the art world. The following is paraphrase.

• What kind of artist do you want to be?
• Find your subject.
• Keep looking at contemporary art; keep your eye sharp.
• Make work that contents you: that gives you motivation and satisfaction.
• Make work that makes you ‘happy’ (sustains yourself with the way you make
work.)
• Trust your instincts; find your voice.
• Don’t engage in famine mentality (cheap supplies, victim artist, etc.)
• If your art is pleasing to you, vital, exciting scary, or exhilarating,
Why do it?
• Believe in your own unique vision.
• Take your work seriously, sometimes your satisfied with it sometimes your
not.
• Make more time for making your art than just talking about it.
• Dialogue and theory are good but studio time should come first.
• Pay attention to the ideas of other artists but look inside yourself to find
your own ideas.
• Why they are making art? Look at their reasons. Focus then on your own art,
love it, fix it or change it.
• Search out your peers, other artists you respect near your level. Talk about
both of your art.