Finding Inspiration for your art
For April, I'm participating in the #Aprilforartists2023 challenge and this week we were prompted to post about "what inspires us" as an artist. I probably way overthought the prompt, but felt like it was worthy of a post because I know when I was starting out as beginner artist, this was such a hard concept for me to grasp.I couldn't seem to express and execute all the inspiration I experienced. I have artists now ask me to teach them how to paint a certain subject or in a certain way, but sometimes that is so hard, because it comes from a place inside me, and I can't teach those experiences with that subject that caused me to paint it in the way that I did. Here's my prompt for the instagram challenge-it you want to view the entire post with pics, you can follow my instagram here.
Day 7 for the #aprilforartists2023 challenge is to tell “what inspires me”. What a loaded question! What inspires me to both teach and paint on the big picture level is that I feel like we are all created to create, and God has given me a gift to share with others. I love teaching others, not just to paint, but also to remind them that they are capable and created to be creative, we just forget that as adults, or believe the lie we are not creative because our creativity looks different from others. We deny ourselves the joy of creativity because we compare and then feel we don’t have something important or special to offer. Then there’s the question of what inspires me in what I actually paint.I had to really look back at my works to capture all the things, so here’s a list, but they all boil down to my personal life experiences: Circumstances where God is teaching me something in his Word. a trip I’ve taken, nature-especially flowers, a color palette or texture-I love to touch and feel things, and the beach-I’m always inspired there.
Here's some quick thoughts with example photos about where I find inspiration for my artwork.
1) What God is teaching me. So much of my art is inspired by a scripture, from a place where God is really working on my heart, or where I've seen Him move.
2) Travel. Every time I travel, I come home inspired and ready to paint what I've experienced on my trip, whether it's new experiences, landscapes or the nature. Some of my more recent inspiration for my art comes from trips to the beach, Sedona, Colorado and California. Read more about collecting art inspiration when you travel in my blog post HERE.
3) Nature. I love being outdoors and God has created such a beautiful world for us to enjoy. Each time I spend time outdoors, I see God's creation in a new way. I especially love studying trees with the light and shadows, flowers, butterflies and all the greens, like moss and foliage.
4) Color. So many place to see color! Sometimes when I'm out shopping, I'm inspired by fabrics, window displays, or interior design palettes. Then, going back to nature, just seeing how the colors play off each other in a flower garden, the bright blue sky against new spring grass, or the changing blues of the ocean. I keep an photo album labeled "color inspiration" so I can collect photos of color combos that inspire me.
5) Texture. I'm a touchy feely person. When I buy clothes, the fabric matters. When I'm shopping I have to reach out and touch anything with texture. I love bringing new elements of texture into my art, whether it's through mediums, papers or even fabric. If you'd like to learn more about creating texture in your artwork, learn about my Touchable Textures course HERE.
6) Being around other creatives. Anytime I've attended an in person retreat or art workshop with other creatives, I come back so inspired to create and implement new ideas and techniques. I really can't express enough the importance about intentionally seeking out creative environments with other creatives. Even when I teach at a retreat or workshop, I receive so much inspiration from other creatives and artists and learn something form them every time. Since art tends to be a solitary practice, giving yourself this gift on occasion, no matter how scary it may seem, will challenge, inspire and benefit you as an artist or creative in so many ways.
If you'd like to learn more about my inspiration process and how I find and collect inspiration, check out my mini course HERE
