Posts Tagged: inspirational quote
Inspiring Your Art: Love and Hope
For your inspiration this week, I’d like you to consider this quote by Rodin:
“The main thing is to be moved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live.” Auguste Rodin
To me, it reminds me of the emotion, the passion, that I feel when I create art. There are (too many!) days when I don’t make time for art. I’m sure we all have those days. The days when you’re just too tired or stressed or “busy” and think, “well, I’ll just skip today and pick up again tomorrow.” And that’s valid. It’s a great thing to strive for, making art every day, but sometimes life just gets in the way.
But I’ve definitely noticed that if I’m not creating art regularly, I just don’t feel as calm and centered, as content or even happy as I do when I Am making art. So I try not to skip too many days. Even on those days when I’m tired and drained and don’t really feel like it, I try to work on something for at least a few minutes. Sometimes all I manage is those few minutes, but other times a few minutes turns into an hour or more!
In the spirit of the quote above, I’d like to hear about how you express your “passion” in your art. Is it through the subject? The colors? The medium? Or is it just the process of creating itself? What does this quote make you feel and how can or do you relate it to your art? Tell me in the comments.
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: 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: 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: Christmas
“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime.”
―Laura Ingalls Wilder
This quote reminds me of the excitement and anticipation that always went along with Christmas when I was a child. The joy of playing in the snow and seeing all the lights and decorations on all the houses. The evergreen scent of the Christmas tree.
When I was a kid, we did have a real tree for many years, before we purchased an artificial one. There are a lot of fun (funny?) memories that go along with those real trees. I remember once we had made a catnip mouse as a present for our cat and placed it, wrapped, under the tree. Well, he quickly found that present and batted it right into water in the Christmas tree stand, soaking the toy and turning the wrapping paper into a soggy mush. Another year, our Christmas tree lost all its needles the week before Christmas! My uncle stopped by on his way home from college and helped us haul it out to the trash. I think we got our artificial tree the next year!
As an artist, it is important to remember to play. To take notice of and joy in the simple things that often get overlooked in the rush to meet all our daily obligations. Reclaiming that child-like spirit of wonder helps promote creativity, which can only improve both our artwork and our overall outlook on life.
How do you ‘play’ with your art? Are there special techniques you try or subjects you choose? Have you tried a new method or medium?