What Inspires You?

Where do you find your inspiration? Have you ever thought about the different types of inspiration? What about that sometimes elusive muse? I find that for myself, there are two main types of inspiration. There are the kinds that come from things seen or heard or even just glimpsed from the corner of the eye. Then there are people that inspire you.

The first kind, seen or heard, is usually pretty easy for me to come by. Maybe it comes from a song that evokes an emotional response or a conjures up a particularly strong visual image in my mind, or both. For instance, I once made a book based on the song Ruby Tuesday, but in that case it wasn't inspired by the Rolling Stones version, although that is one my favourite songs. No, what inspired me in that instance was the actress Katey Sagal's version on the TV show Sons of Anarchy.

There was such raw, powerful emotion in her voice that went along with what had happened to her character. Sometimes though, it can be as simple as something like the shape and colours of these oxygen tanks all filled up and ready to go.

I saw these at the dive center where my daughter and husband were taking scuba lessons and thought they had their own unique beauty. And sometimes I feel inspired by the written word, poetry or books. Robert Frost, Neil Gaiman, and T. S. Eliot come immediately to mind. I am often inspired by the work of other artists, too numerous to mention here, and it makes me want to work harder and raise the calibre of my own work.

There is another way, however, that people sometimes inspire me, and that is by their actions. For instance, back in 2004 I had nearly given up on polymer clay altogether. I would see the work of polymer clay artists and really love the things that could be done with the medium. I would see artists on TV demonstrating various projects and techniques. One such artist was Donna Kato, I saw her on The Carol Duvall Show. She made it look so easy that I had to try it. Well, it wasn't hard for me to make things, but my things kept breaking or getting air bubbles in them or otherwise going wrong! All that work just for nothing it seemed! Then in October of 2004 my daughter and I were at the St. James Court Art Show in Louisville; Leslie Blackford was one of the exhibitors.

We got to talking and when she found out that I liked to work in polymer clay, but was was feeling discouraged, she suggested that I come to the first ever Clay Carnival in Las Vegas. She told me about the instructors and classes that would be taught. She was one of the instructors, as was Donna Kato. Leslie was so encouraging and so generous with her time and advice ("I think you should try a different brand of clay.", "Come to Clay Carnival, you'll learn so much and have so much fun!" "You should join our guild.") that she inspired me to not give up. Of course Leslie isn't the only person who has inspired me, but I mention her here because I feel that sort of inspiration is important. I mention Donna also because she inspired me to to try polymer clay in the first place, even though it was via TV. So what inspires you?

Note: The lovely bird sculpture above is one of Leslie's works that I purchased from her at that initial meeting at St.James Court. I have affectionately dubbed him "The Jackdaw."