Got Inspiration?

Finding images, meaning and the spark.

Technique is the easy part, it’s originality in concept or perspective that people are after. Something fresh.

How to find inspiration? Take a class, read a book, scour Pinterest, stalk other artists or…wait for it…NOTHING. Take a break, do something else. Raise your kid, work out, cook a lovely meal, take a siesta. It’s like the negative space of life, you have to leave room for inspiration to settle in, look around and take its time to flower.

Flowers hmm; while I mostly do abstracted florals, I did a surprisingly successful landscape study from a little getaway trip to Jasper before Covid Lockdown Christmas restrictions were announced. I was subconsciously inspired by a couple of prints in our room that were by highly underrated Group of Seven artist JEH Macdonald. I couldn’t take my mixed media haul so I did the following sketch in watercolour only.

A Woodland Scene (Pyramid Lake Island) - Dec 2020, Jasper National Park

I couldn’t stop looking at this little framed landscape within a landscape with its trees shooting off at various angles and a quiet little pool of water.

So after a bunch of photos, I did this sketch using my phone’s flashlight which helped neutralize the amber light in the hotel room (neat trick I learned from my buddy Sam Walrod). Sometimes, it hits you, sometimes you have to invite it and wait: Inspiration. However it happens to you, run with it and see where it takes you. For me, an inexperienced landscape artist, I got…this.

Another surprising moment was when I was approached on Instagram by one of my followers asking whether I held workshops. Interesting - and…YES. So for the next while, i’m going to pay objective attention to my own process and create a Zoom plan for the New Year. More updates to follow on my Newsletter (brand new, and the first of which will summarize this blog post).

Thanks for reading this Folks. This will be my last post until the New Year, so until then have a Wonderful Holiday Season and Best Wishes to you and your family from me and mine.

Cheers,
Meghana