A Collection of Thoughts and Ideas
How do you cultivate ideas? Where do you find inspiration? How do you incorporate that inspiration into your body of work?
So how do we suss out inspiration?
The first thing that comes to mind is simply being curious. Curiosity has been my constant companion. We can easily find inspiration in even the most difficult of times, just by asking questions. For me, curiosity fills my life with an abundant richness. Yes, there are times I am saddened by what I learn, but for the most part, I can gather information to help guide me along my artistic journey.
Here are 5 other ways to find inspiration
By being open to new experiences. In art, this means using a new tool or in a different way. A new color palette or canvas substrate. Going that little bit further with a painting even though you may like where a piece is at this moment. When we go ahead of ourselves and let inspiration guide the way, new ideas come about.
Embrace change. Things change, even if we don’t want them to, but it is inevitable. Fighting against change is futile. You don’t have to jump in whole person at once but maybe sit with it for a minute. If you are trying a technique and it feels foreign, give yourself a minute to breathe and witness the change unfold.
Being open-minded and sitting in the uncomfortable. The more we practice this in our art the easier it gets. It takes on a life of its own and we begin to seek out that uncomfortable feeling. I don’t think it ever goes away, the unsureness, but it does ease.
Surround yourself with art and nature. Both are a never-ending resource.
Practice gratitude. It helps inspiration come when we welcome it with praise and thanks.
I recently started creating a new body of work that explores my connection to my backyard. I am a hobbyist gardener. I love plant specimens in all of their stages, from new growth to budding, blooming, and dying. This mixed media collection has been wandering around in my noggin’ for many years. I knew I wanted to create a line of hollow-form jewelry that encapsulates the fibers from my garden. Creating hollow-form jewelry is my thing. It bubbles up from the depths of my being. I have also been in love with fibers for as long as I can remember. This collection is my 2 great loves coming together. I am not quite certain where it will go, or how it will live in the world, but I am blissfully embracing their union.
I encourage you - dear reader - to dive into your own self-discovery. What ideas have you dreamed of and how you can go about exploring your Artful Voyage?
