When you want to create painterly images, think about combining techniquess. The end result is often quite different from the original, and you produce images that you didn't conceive at all when you first took the picture. In fact, it's almost like a surprise to see the final version.
For example, this portrait of a white horse from the Camargue in France was originally manipulated in Topaz Simplify. Then I combined it with a texture using the blend mode commands in Photoshop, and finally I applied the Pro Contrast filter in Nik Software's Color Efex Pro 4. Sometimes you can end up with a mess, and if that happens just start over again in a different direction. Often, though, you might end up with an artist image that you love. Combine plugins, textures, other images, and add to the mix some of Photoshop's native filters. It's really a lot of fun.