inspiration

inspiration |ˌinspəˈrā sh ən|noun1 the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, esp. to do something creative

Last week, Jen from Quench Metalworks asked me to write up an entry on inspiration that would be posted on the blog Artisans Collective this morning. Initially I didn't think think anything of it, considering it an easy task but soon found myself overwhelmed at the thought of where my inspiration comes from and how they transpire into well-formed ideas and concepts in my creations. Here's what I came up with. 

Ingenuity and innovation. I am always inspired by artists, designers, engineers, inventors and architects who are able to study problems and come up with brilliant, comprehensive solutions. If there’s only one thing that I could thank my college education for, it would be for the determination to study, absorb, deconstruct and comprehend the world around me. I’m a “how-to” kind of a girl that would prefer to understand the process than simply reap the benefits of the outcome! Maybe that’s why inspiration is such a difficult word for me to swallow; the fact that ideas had to originate from somewhere is an overwhelming thought. How far back can these thoughts and little nuggets of inspiration be traced?

Several people have asked me what inspired my silk, sewn mobile entitled “two-hundred two” and I usually tell them about the countless pages in my sketchbook that consist of imperfect, circular shapes clinging and breaking away from each other. But after really thinking about the source of my inspiration I recall looking out the car window on a rainy day as a little girl and watching raindrops run from the top to the bottom of the glass, gaining speed as they collided with other beads of water moving in the same direction. It’s funny the way a creative mind filters every day images and experiences; it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "some things truly never leave you!"

With in the past year I’ve become interested in interior styling and have experienced a heightened awareness of how every day objects relate to each other in color, content, shape etc... Often it’s the simple things, the way textile patterns fall against aged metal, the vividness of plum jam simmering alongside my favorite antique, wooden spoon or even my stacked wood piles ready for burning this winter that truly inspires me, subtly informing everything that I create. This is where a sketchbook comes in handy, (something I haven't been using enough of lately) but ideally we should be compiling these ideas, colors and concepts. It's amazing when you're able to witness these pieces in your life come together in a puzzle. 

What about you? Is there anything you've created recently that has strong references (ie. color, subjective, conceptual) or is specific to past experience?