What Inspires Me
What inspires me to create art?
That depends. I can get inspired by a set of colors, or a photo I took, a flower, a butterfly, or a special event. Sometimes I’m inspired by special requests for original artwork. Sometimes my inspiration comes from memory.
Click on the image to shop for artwork inspired by the super bloom of California poppies this spring.
The past couple of months, I’ve drawn inspiration from Spoonflower’s challenges. While useful in getting the creative juices flowing, I’ve also found them to be stressful. I want to do well at them, but sometimes my quirky out-of-the-box creative bent takes me off in unanticipated directions.
And sometimes, my original ideas just don’t connect with my intended audience. Stress is bad for creativity. Stress also knocks my inspiration down and stomps all over it. I don’t perform well at all under pressure. Oh, let’s be honest here: introduce stress to the mix, and my creativity and inspiration take a hike and refuse to return for quite a while afterwards.
In talking with other artists, I’ve discovered that