Last week it snowed at my house. It snowed in a lot of places around the world but I live 45 minutes from downtown Los Angeles in my own little micro climate and when it snows here, it really is a novelty. So much so that I love taking pictures of things covered in snow that I ordinarily forget to notice in winter - like my cactus garden.
I think snow covered cactus is such a cool and unexpected visual and it has the power to inspire art. I asked other artists on www.fineartamerica.com what kinds of unexpected details do they find inspirational? Here's what they said:
Christine T: "I really can't say but I know it when I see it."
Kevin C: "Young women relaxed and not knowing that I'm watching."
Julie L: "Light is my inspiration."
Maria G: "I once saw a rainbow land on the beach. At the same time the sky was slit vertically in half - light to dark with no transition - by a weather front. Not worth painting because no one would believe it."
Michelle K: "Nature and people inspire my work. It could also be a word spoken or a story shared by someone."
Tara B: "The island Martha's Vineyard."
Thomas E: "I am inspired by all of God's creation, particularly the randomness and at the same time the order."
Pauline R: "Food, reflections, lighting, colors, wildlife, the shoreline, old barns or boats, music, museums, interesting faces, my imagination."
Shari N: "The natural world, colors, textures."
Michael F: "Words, songs, other art."
J.D. F: "Nature".
Cliff H: "The golden light of a sunset or sunrise and the resulting long shadows across a dirt road."
Do artists notice things average people don't? Or do artists notice the things everybody does but feel inspired as a result? If so, I think the difference between artists and others is that the artist looks at the world and feels an impulse...a reaction. The reaction to create.
Posted in What Inspires.
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