Class Blog: Sourcing Inspiration

More inspired by joy or sorrow:
JOY. WHY WOULD I WANT TO BE SAD? I am an anxious person, but a happy one. I think all that anxiety comes from the need to want to preserve my own happiness as well as the happiness of others around me. Much of my work so far has been created to lend a sense of harmony or comfort to the viewer. If the subject is uncomfortable or blasphemous, it is used in a humorous fashion or highly ornate to give the viewer another reason to look at it. IF IT NOT JOYOUS, I WILL MAKE IT JOYOUS, DAMMIT.

I am more inspired by positive energy, as it is not draining. There isn't this underlying need to make everything positive if it is already positive, so I can focus on other things, like flowery neck manes or how I want to cook an eggplant.

More inspired by rest or fatigue:
I am certain that I am more inspired by fatigue. Both as an emotional state and a feeling on a day to day basis. Usually, in that first moment where I realize I feel great, I put half my energy in to worrying about when and whether or not I will become too exhausted to function. But in reality, when I hit that point of exhaustion, I am no longer worried about getting there and have the space in my mind that was previously used for worrying returned to me. It is the same for developing ideas, as I begin to come up with something I immediately become worried that I will loose it or exhaust it. But when I have actually failed at something, I tend to find a better focus shortly after. It is entirely irrational, but worry overrides a rested state.

More inspired by relaxation or pressure:
It seems counter-intuitive. I know the typical human being usually works well when they are being pressured to work well. But again with the anxiety taking over the process, I am less inspired by pressure as more energy goes into worrying than actually creating. I have had the tendency to want so bad to give up if outside pressures are so bad that I may finish, but I will likely be less proud of my result than I would be if it was finished on my own accord.

I know pressure is really something totally unavoidable, so I have just learned to deal with it by maintaining a fairly strict structure in my process. I think that is how printmaking has worked well for me, because there are steps in the process and maintaining a time table is potentially more possible than something ( painting ) that just winds up becoming infinite. I know I am not inspired by pressure, but I don't know if I am inspired by relaxation either. I don't really do that.

More inspired by culture or nature:
I am definitely more inspired by culture, however this is not to say that I am not inspired by nature. I take my fair share of walks and climb my fair share of trees. I am obsessed with mountains. How they look, how they smell, how I feel when I walk to the top of a little one or drive through them after a big breakfast. But I think what people have done with nature and how they have dealt with it is more inspiring to me, like cold weather parkas and big pots to carry water in on your head forever.

I suppose when a culture gets to the point of being able to basically ignore nature because of design improvements, I get bored with it. The struggle for comfort and happiness and how it breeds creativity is what is inspiring to me.

More inspired by anger or pity:
I am more inspired by anger. When I am angry, things happen. I feel like pity is a waste of energy. You can feel bad about something, but if you don't have enough fire in your system to do anything about it, you just become a waste of space.