Hello. This blog post is a journey of self discovery discussing how I source inspiration for my artwork.

Sourcing Inspiration

The presence or absence of contentment?

I am more likely to be inspired by the absence of contentment, as it is something I have long been familiar with. I have a deep running desire to seek out contentment and have found enjoyment of art a large part of it.

Interactions with humans or non-humans?

I think I am more likely to be inspired by interactions with humans than non-humans. I am extremely close with my cat; however, I don’t feel she plays a very major role in my artistic or creative process. The people in my life certainly influence my way of thinking in ways that cannot be detached from my art.

Culture or nature?

I think I am more likely to be inspired by nature as opposed to culture. In nature in particular, I find myself constantly drawn to the ocean and water as well as trees as both symbolic and literal things of beauty. I think I struggle to be inspired by culture and feel often a disconnect between my work interests and current popular culture.

Familiarity or mystery?

I think I am more likely to be inspired by familiarity as it provides existing feelings to work with. I think that new notions can become a part of my artistic process; however, new meaning something that may soon become familiar or has become no longer unknown and lost its mysterious aspect.

Facts or feelings?

I think I am more likely to be influenced by feelings than facts when it comes to my artwork. At a certain level, when drawing a book, yes the book itself contains facts: a cover, pages, the desk it sits on; however, in a drawing it is more important to capture the essence and feel of the books existence than to render its facts precisely on the page.

Anger or pity?

I think I am more likely to be inspired by pity than anger. As a person, I find it more natural to be empathetic and attempt to understand and respect other people than become angry. I definitely experience anger, but I attempt to reason through it more often than not, since there’s little anger can do for me productively.

Yourself or others?

I think more often than not I find my inspiration from myself as opposed to others. Others certainly influence my thinking and understanding from the world in ways that even I may not be aware of; however, I think that when I truly rediscover creativity it comes from myself and inward thought and reflection. While that thought and reflection is certainly influence by others, it is digested and rediscovered by only myself.