Finding Inspiration

What inspires you?  Whether you paint, craft, pot, garden

or read you are constantly in front of things that have

the ability to inspire new ideas and thoughts.

If we are intentional we can often trace a "sudden" flash of inspiration

back to its original seed.....

Such as...

This photo I took in a hillside town in Umbria, Italy as the sun was going down:

I was in the courtyard of an old castle cooling my heels while waiting on friends.  I loved watching the light come through these trees and get softer and more golden by the minute.  As I noted how the limbs had grown together and gotten intertwined I began to imagine that the roots were likewise tangled up below the surface.  In reality, I thought, these trees have become one in that they support each other visually and invisibly.  The swing made me wonder about the lucky child that was playing beneath the protection of such strong support.  I took a few more photos, watched the light go nearly out and rejoined my friends.

Time passed but every now and then I would re-imagine those limbs reaching out to each other as they grew.  Much like my friends reached out to support me as I grew.

And one day I was cartooning around with pen and ink and watercolor and transformed my thoughts into a more literal drawing of what those trees meant to me.

Yes, I am certain that with more time and thought I could more proficiently depict this...but sometimes whimsy can carry its own message.  I've sold a lot of note cards with this image on it.  People always ask about it.  But the painting remains.  I'm thinking that it is waiting for the right time in the coming year to share yet another message.  Who knows?

So, the next time you are hit on the head with a "great idea" think about where it may have started...it can be a fascinating journey.

Best wishes for your journey into 2017,

Cindy

No Limits, No Excuses

Inspiration comes in all forms...and when we stumble on it unexpectedly it is all the more joyful.  For instance: just as I was bemoaning the coming of a certain heavy-duty birthday early this summer I had the pleasure of meeting Virginia Greene.  Ta-Da!  A long morning with Virginia and I have a new perspective about my age...and my art.  Let me share....

Virginia is the mother-in-law of friend and potter Patti Greene.  I had heard tales of her creativity: how she and her husband had built their cabin (with their own hands!) and about how she took up quilting after she had retired.  I had seen several pieces of her work and knew they were stunning...Patti called them "story quilts." I referred to them as "fiber art."  But I still hadn't laid eyes on this force of energy so I made an "appointment" and in true southern style dropped by one morning for coffee and pie.  Hours later I begged forgiveness for my extended stay and left full of creative juice and positive inspiration.

Virginia's very first quilt was made with a friend because she wanted something to do with her hands while she watched her beloved Red Sox on TV.  "I didn't know there were books on quilting," she explains, "so I just fumbled around and did ok.  When I found out about the books I was off and running." But Virginia discovered that traditional patterns didn't hold her interest for long.  "Something else was needing to get out," she explained.  And her "story quilts" came into being.  "I just fool around with shapes and figures I cut from cloth.  And then I audition colors for the background and then I just start putting them together like pieces in a puzzle,"  her simple explanation for what turns out to be a vignette from days gone by.

Virginia's work is totally unique but my inspiration came not from it but from her: her attitude, her methods and her outlook.  "I just do what I like," she insists.  (note to Cindy - well, that's certainly when I am happiest at my easel, not trying to paint for a sale but paint what I love.)  "You know I don't have time to practice," she explained excusing the small piece above (which I now own).  "I like to dive in and learn while I am doing." (oh ditto, Virginia, ditto).  She had just gotten a new machine and was getting the feel of the free motion stitching on the background, "there's some errors here and there." Charming, I thought, proof of human touch.

 "I kind of like to put a story in my piece, or at least a little something hidden to keep the viewer interested," she also shared.  "Something new they will see when they look again and again."  (Oh yes, Virginia, you took the words right out of my feeble attempts.)  "I also like color," she confessed.  "Lots and lots of bright, bold color."  (Amen sister!)

Virginia has quit her art at least three times in the recent past.  Eye problems, moving, and other issues made her think it was time to shelve the cloth for good.  Each time she sold her machine only to find that she just wasn't herself without the creative outlet.  Like the clever woman she is however, she managed to upgrade machines each time she returned to the craft!  No debate there, we creatives know it is all about the latest and greatest tool.

We shared stories of failed experiments and grand surprises.  We talked about the fact that nature provides both of us a lot of comfort as well as a lot of ideas for shapes and colors in our work.  We also talked about the joy we get from someone enjoying our work and honoring us by wanting to live with it.

My visit with this lady in her 80's convinced me that age is not an issue when it comes to craft...one's vision of what is to be shared is much, much more important.  And wow, if Virginia is even now coming upon new ideas and themes, who knows what strides I can make by the time I am her age?  I have an entirely new perspective. Thank you Miss Virginia!

photos: top photo credit to Cheri Glover, Virginia McKinley Greene for Carolina Mountain Life
2- bird piece as Virginia learned her new machine...I still have not decided if they are on a birdbath or a feeder or in front of their house...but I love it
3- free form design I decided was a leaf...or a feather...or a sail...or a path...or ?
below: a traditional block pattern assembled in a non-traditional manner, exact colors of my living room and wonderful texture next to the stone as shown here.

ArtFully Yours,
Cindy