How am I inspired as an artist?
I find constant inspiration in the world around me and from memories of my childhood spent in the country surrounded by animals, especially my family's quarter horse Fancy. One of my earliest childhood memories is of spending time around Fancy and feeling her breath on my neck. I gravitate toward old family photos of Fancy, and also my Aunt's palomino horse.
Dogs, current and past, are another source of inspiration and memories. There are vintage photos of my grandparent's white German Shepherds that I often use as reference images. I currently have four dogs (a Chow Chow mix, a German Shepherd mix, a Great Pyrenees mix and a Chihuahua) who constantly inspire me with their movements, color patterns and forms. I am involved with a Shiba Inu rescue and have had five Shiba Inu, so they are also a breed I derive a lot of inspiration from. As a child I helped my Aunt show some of her dogs in dog shows (Poodles, German Shepherds) and I loved walking around and seeing all of the variety in various dog breeds from hairy to sleek and huge to tiny. I would also spend time in the summer at her dog grooming salon watching all types of dogs get groomed.
Currently, living in Charleston, South Carolina, I derive inspiration from seeing alligators and water birds on a daily basis just driving my children to school in our neighborhood. I try and remember the image and feeling from seeing the wildlife and beautiful plants that also surround me, and to notice the colors and textures.
I gain inspiration from being creative and playing around with different textures and mixing mediums and just listening to music and letting my mind flow. I love to switch between mediums, going from acrylic painting to weaving fibers on a loom, to hammering metal and sculpture with clay and glass, back again to drawing and painting with different mediums and mark-making, each medium inspiring the next. I move between more abstract images and then realism based work.
I see colors in a fashion advertisement and get inspired by their harmony (or disharmony) and patterns. Even just walking my dog around the backyard can be a major source of inspiration when I open my mind to notice all of the details in my surroundings: moss hanging from a tree, butterflies and moths flittering around while red hawks with patterned feathers fly off of my fence and a colorfully camouflaged box turtle roams my yard. Just seeing the differing colors of green in my bushes gives me inspiration for layering paint or weaving fibers. Being open to the world around me helps to provide me with never-ending inspiration and helps contribute to my ability to create art on a daily basis.