Art Inspiration

 I am back to making, but also to thinking. This time of year feels reflective as I look back and consider what has taken place and what I have achieved; and as I look forward as I begin to plan out next year.

It might seem ridiculous, but there are already several key markers in next year's diary which will mean we travel to different places at different times and do different things...

As a result I need to have a think about what I want to make next year - are there shows I want to submit work to? Is there anywhere I can take some of the work I have done? How do I deal with my feelings about the world? What sort of things could I be making? When do I need to have key works done by and how does the travel interact with that?

I am fortunate to have a variety of modalities to investigate and play with and sometimes my head just gets a bit jammed full of ideas, dates, times and deliverables; so it is always good for me to stop and ponder so I don't get too anxious about things.

Whilst we were in Scotland, I had the notion to write a list of things I love in artworks; things I respond to; things that hit me in the centre of my body and make me go ahhh...

I think the availability of so much imagery on Instagram in particular, has made me stop and think about but what do I REALLY respond to? enjoy? appreciate? How might I include some of those things in my artwork when I am getting stuck or feel like I am doing the same things over? Are there themes?

I added to my list on my phone regularly - whenever a thought popped into my head or I reacted to something and wondered why. I am not sure if I will do mood board as originally indicated or not - seems a bit of overkill and would take too much time I think. Might also make me get focussed on other people's work rather than my own.

Then I transferred the list to the computer so I could print it out and over the past week or so I have picked it up and played with it.

I had given myself permission to double up; to jot down anything and to not worry about it. And so it was a fair jumble of things; and I tried then to see if there were grouping or categories.

I ended up with 8 categories, and I colour coded each of them. Some words ended up in two or three categories. I am not convinced this is at all comprehensive or scientific but it was a good way to sort and settle my brain.

At Biblio this morning, I continued with the grouping and added in extras here and there. And then this afternoon I got on the computer to make a table - colour coded again - and began to enjoy the thoughts and ideas it generated

I laughed at  the name I gave it, but it felt right, not too serious, but kind of what  hope it does!

I am going to go away and have a play with this. I have a book in mind, and will now see if any of these ideas nudge me along a slightly different path than the one I kind of assumed I would follow...