I’m a big believer that inspiration can be found in the everyday and that everyone is creative. Everyone! Like with most things, creativity is (and takes) practice. From time to time I like to reflect on inspiration to keep my ideas fresh and my creativity growing.
Inspiration: what is it, where do you find it and how to capture the special energy that creates magic?
For me, inspiration starts with something that catches my attention and excites the creative spirit within me. Most of the time it’s a shape or texture or colour of something that jumps out and catches my eye. When I feel the thrill of a new impulse, I grab it and bring it with me into the studio to put it on canvas.
Inspiration is everywhere
Where do I find inspiration? It might be something in my Instagram feed, it might be the way the light shines through the clouds or it could be something familiar that strikes me in a new way for some reason. And all of a sudden, I see possibilities.
Like this mauve dress. A luxurious texture and playful design that in the first instance inspires a smile … but that colour! It's the colour that drew me in and invited me to explore where I could go with it. Purple, they say, is the colour of creativity.
This photo and its colour palette became the starting point and catalyst for some new paintings. The texture, colour and movement of the dress evoked a feeling and a mood I wanted to recreate. That mood was abstract and energetic, a study in colour. At first I sketched a little to play with balance and movement. Keeping it loose, somehow reflecting the shapes and spirit of the photo but not at all trying to recreate it. Just capturing the feeling.
And then I went deeper, more bold, more magenta, more daring.
I ended up in a place which may more familiar to you as my style of my painting. The freedom of painting abstracts brings me joy and challenges me creatively. Keeping it weird keeps me sharp! The experiments and discoveries I make when painting an abstract often become new palettes for an imagined landscape.
Oh, the journeys colour can take you on! When it all comes together like this it feels like magic. ⭐
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