Inspiration

In conversation with a tattoo artist recently, and he had said something to the effect of not always having ideas. Which seemed odd to me as an artist I would think he would be overflowing with ideas all the time, but then I thought about it more and everyone is different in their creative process.

As for me I feel like inspiration comes from everything. It’s about looking at something and finding something that I want to interpret as my own.

I found inspiration for a found objects project from the Canadian flag. I liked the colors of the maple leaf and decided to construct a tree out of coke cans. There it was, I received second place in an art competition with it, and idea that started from something I’d seen a million times, I just at the time felt the urge to interpret it in a way that was me.

My freshman year seminar, “The Science of Creativity” had us read a book about a lady who had very specific advice on how to be creative. You had to set aside a specific time to be creative every day hers was 6am in her dance studio (she was a professional dancer) and to me this seemed like good advice though perhaps misguided. This is the kind of creative experience that worked for her. She needed to have a specific time and place every day to be creative.

I believe creativity depending on the style does need planning but placing such a specific rigid format onto creativity doesn’t make sense. For me, sure having a class with a devoted time and place helps me produce art work consistently, but that is not the space for everyone.

For some it’s a random happenstance of events that inspires them and for others it is always a specific kind of space that leads to creativity. In my mind it’s sort of like paper writing. Some people really do take all two weeks to write a paper, but others write it 4hrs before it’s due and to be honest I fall into the latter group. I do not think that one or the other is a better way of doing things. Having a deadline and pushing that limit produces a unique headspace for me where connections make more sense and my grades would agree. There is no right time or way to do it so long as the paper is turned in on time, and I believe creativity and art works in a similar way.

You can ask as many people as you want what inspires them but that only gives insight into their process not how to be creative for yourself. The secret isn’t held in one method. The secret to finding inspiration and producing work is figuring out a personal plan, for isn’t that art to begin with? Using your own method to show the world how you see it and who you are.