It's the dilemma every artist faces - the battle between artistic inspiration and commercial considerations.
Warren artist Aaron Chine realizes that his subject matter, which oftentimes combines nightmarish imagery with sociopolitical and religious themes, may be visually striking, but it's not the kind of thing that some people would consider buying and hanging on their living room walls.
Chine took a somewhat different approach with some of the 42 paintings and two sculptures featured in ''Grounded,'' an art show Friday at his Guerrilla Gallery in downtown Warren.
''I kind of did a mix and match - some for me that are a little darker, a little creepier, and then some insects and bright flowers, things I'm still proud of but that people could hang in their house,'' he said.
Not that Chine has had trouble selling his work in the past. His 2011 show ''Degeneration'' attracted about 300 people, and he sold nearly all of the paintings on display.
The title for the new exhibition emerged after looking at the work he'd created in the last year.
Fact Box
When You Go
WHAT: ''Aaron Chine: Grounded''
WHEN: 8 to 10 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Guerrilla Gallery, 160 N. Park Ave., Warren
HOW MUCH: Admission is free
''I never really plan for an art show, I just paint what I feel like,'' he said. ''Everything I do is organic, earth-related. I called the show 'Grounded' because the subjects were things that come from the ground or things like skulls that go back in ground and fertilize the earth.''
In addition to the work Chine produced alone, the show will feature four collaborative paintings with Thad Minnick. Like Chine, who owns and operates the tattoo studio Chine Box Ink in Austintown, Minnick is a painter who makes his living primarily as a tattoo artist.
Chine and Minnick each started two of the paintings and then would pass the canvas to the other after a couple hours. Each artist had two sessions with the canvas.
''That way the ones I started, he finished, and the ones he started, I finished,'' Chine said. ''We had so much fun with these paintings. I had a blast doing them.''
Guitar player Dennis Drummond will perform solo at the art show, and his full band will perform at the after-party at the Horseshoe Bar. Chine said he wanted to scale back from last year, when the event featured the full band, video collaborations and other attractions.
''I just want it to be about the artwork this time,'' he said. ''I just want people to come and focus on the art.''
He still expects the show to attract the diverse crowd that past events in the gallery space have drawn.
''It's really cool. One of the things I enjoy most is walking around and seeing the mix of people. There will be young, old, tattooed, people in suits, just a really interesting mix of people.''