Posts Tagged: art inspiration
Inspiring Your Art: Spring
It’s officially Spring! The weather seems to be warming up, the robins are back and the flowers are finally starting to appear. We’ll ignore for a moment that it’s supposed to snow here tomorrow… In celebration of the season, I’d like you to consider this image of spring crocuses as your art inspiration for this week. These guys are currently happily blooming in my garden, which is a welcome pop of color after the cold, dreary winter.
I like crocuses. They’re one of the first flowers to brave the early spring and its unpredictable weather. They’re colorful and cheerful, like a ray of hope! They also kind of signify to me the rebirth of spring, inexorably working their way up through the dark, frozen ground.
What signifies spring for you? Is it the first flowers? The return of the robins (if you live in the north, anyway!)? Or is it something else? How do you celebrate Spring with your art?
Inspiring Your Art: Broken
“The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places” –Ernest Hemingway
This week I’d like you to consider this quote by Ernest Hemingway, from “A Call to Arms.” I’ve always liked this quote—it really resonates with me. But I confess I’ve never really considered using it as inspiration for my art. So I thought I’d change that!
Aside from personal struggles, this quote brings to mind Kintsugi, which is a Japanese method of pottery repair that uses gold to accentuate the broken edges of the repair. This technique has its roots in the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, which emphasizes seeing the beauty in the flawed or imperfect. I’ve always liked that philosophy too. It kind of cries out “Look at me! I was broken, but I fixed myself! And I’m even better than before!”
So my goal right now is to take this quote and create a piece of art based on it. I’ll share the piece when I’m done and I invite you to do the same!
Inspiring Your Art: Green
Looking out the window today, I’m seeing a lot of white. It’s not surprising that there’s snow on the ground; it Is winter, after all. It’s pretty cold today, too. At this point in the season, I’m more than ready for spring! With that in mind, let’s pretend that winter’s almost over and spring is just around the corner.
To help get ourselves into the mindset of spring, I’d like you to consider the color green as inspiration for your art this week. Green can be warm, spring days and tiny green plant shoots starting to sprout out of the ground. Green can be wide, grassy lawns (or not, since they need to be mowed regularly. I don’t really mind yard work, but some of my friends certainly do!). Or that magical point when the trees all suddenly get all their leaves. It’s like a spring leaf explosion!
Green can also represent emotions. We’ve all heard the term ‘green with envy.’ Though I have to admit, envy isn’t really something I think of when I consider the color green. Green feels more calm and soothing to me. Though undoubtedly, the shade of green can also impact what it means. A bright, grass green feels far different from a muddy, murky, pond scum sort of green.
I don’t typically make a lot of artwork that is green, though I do frequently use it as a background color in my torn paper collage pieces. Of course, another take on ‘green’ could be the use of repurposed or recycled/upcycled materials. In that sense, my torn paper collages are all green!
What does green represent to you? Is it a time? A place or person? A specific emotion? How do you use green in your art?
Inspiring Your Art: Ocean
“You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean, in a drop.” – Rumi
I wanted to go with a water-themed quote for inspiration this week. I enjoy watching the ocean and miss living near the coast. This quote also speaks of the connection between the individual and a much greater whole. I think that sometimes we can get so tied up in all the many urgent details in our lives that we forget to take a step back and put everything into perspective.
I think, as artists, it’s important to remember the connection between ourselves and the ‘outside’ world. I know I find much of my inspiration in nature. And when I don’t spend time outside, it impacts not only my motivation to create art, but also my overall productivity and mood.
Where do you find your inspiration? Do you have a favorite place you go to recharge? What does this quote mean to you?
Inspiring Your Art: Sunshine
It’s that time of year when winter really starts to set in and I find myself missing warmer, sunny weather. So I think it’s time to remind ourselves, especially if you live in an area that gets cold in the winter!, that it’s not all cold, snowy days or struggling with icy roads.
I ran across this image and I thought it would make a good focus for inspiration. I like the warm sunny feel of the photo, and oceans are always a favorite of mine. And coincidentally, it’s also Valentine’s Day, so the heart-shaped wave seems appropriate.
I’d like you to consider how you can incorporate “sunshine” into your artwork. Is it through color? What is the texture of sunshine? Can you evoke that somehow? What does “sunshine” mean to you?
Inspiring Your Art: Dreaming
“What would an ocean be
without a monster lurking in the dark? It would be like sleep without dreams.”
― Werner Herzog
I like this quote. It’s not your typical “dream” quote. You know the type—“Follow your dreams” or “You can accomplish anything you dream of.” And those are perfectly fine. But today I’d like you to explore the darker side of dreaming. The dreams where you wake up with your heart racing, or the ones where you’re just totally creeped out and there’s No Way you’re getting back to sleep.
I find those types of dreams are the ones that stick with me long after I wake. And really, they’re probably the ones that I most need to learn something from. Figuring out what my subconscious is trying to tell me, however… That’s the challenge!
With this quote, I like the imagery of the sea monster hiding deep in the depths of the ocean, waiting to ambush the unwary traveler. Or perhaps, the unwary dreamer!
What does this quote bring to mind for you? Do you have any recurring dreams? Is any of your artwork inspired by your dreams?
Inspiring Your Art: Winter
With December popping up seemingly from out of nowhere and winter on its way, I decided that a little wintery inspiration was in order!
Too often I get focused on the hassles and inconveniences of winter. This photo reminds me of the beauty that can be found in this season. It reminds me of snow coated trees and frost patterns on windows. The red berries remind me of the cardinals I sometimes see at my bird feeder.
What does this photo remind you of? Is there something that says ‘winter’ to you?