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Sunday, March 25, 2012

Finding Inspiration

I recently went to see the documentary, "A Not So Still Life" about Seattle glass artist Ginny Ruffner. After the film, she was there at the event to answer questions from the audience. One person asked her where she got her inspiration for her pieces on an on-going basis. I liked her answer. She said, "thinking". She said she spends a lot of time in her garden thinking. She reads and then thinks about it. As she thinks, ideas are allowed to form and then grow and journey through her mind until reaching their destination as "inspiration" for another art work. With today's technology, we are often always "plugged in" and do not allow our minds enough quiet so it can just "think" and traverse and explore on its own. I would like to allow this to happen more often, as I seek to stay "inspired". Tonight, as I worked in my studio, I didn't turn on my radio as I usually do. Instead I sat in silence for two hours working and allowed my mind to just think. Other ways to find inspiration and to keep your mind creative are:
- Be out in nature: go to a park; take a nature hike; visit a river; go to the ocean; go to the forest. Look around for beauty and ask yourself "Why is it beautiful to me?"
- Look at art in your field but also in other fields. Are you a painter? Look at stained glass art or woodworking or sculpture. Are you a mosaic artist? Look at fabric art or metal art or ceramics. There are so many ways the human mind can express itself in art that it may open your mind to see things on a different level if you are looking at other art other than in your field. You will be able to deepen your expression in your own field, and may even branch out into another!
- Talk to other artists. Talk to new, budding artists because their mind's are fresh and excited and the way they look at their art is sometimes more emotional than technical. Talk to very experienced artists because they often have very wise things to say that will get you thinking. Talk to other artists doing what you do so you can exchange stories, ideas and techniques.
- Read. Read about science, archeology, architecture, nature, the lives of innovators. Look at magazines and photo books in these fields. I like to look at those books that have amazing nature photos of odd and unique natural phenomenons.
-Get to know and study the ultimate artist- God, the creator of all the beautiful "art" in the natural world. I find I am inspired to create after reading God's Word, the Bible, or spending time thinking about Him and what He has done in my life. Be thankful and praise Him and you may find yourself creating art as a response to Him. That's the best kind of art because it is motivated and created from a place that is not self-centered. It has a higher calling.

So, open your mind and think and don't limit yourself, and you will find creativity coming alive in new and exciting ways.