Taking Inspiration

How I approach a piece of work artwork

I get my inspiration from many sources, especially the landscape and coastline. If I want to work on a floral or still life composition, then the flowers that are in season – their shapes, colours and characteristics are what call me. Or the birds in my garden. Ideas may arise from outside in terms of what I see that lifts me and calls to my heart or they may come from inside – I feel in-spired. How that arises is still a mystery to me!

Once I have an idea of what I want to create and what colour palette I want to work with, I will briefly sketch out my idea and then I will create a mood board. Here’s one below that I did for Fields of Gold.

My mood board will always include my own colour chart which I decide upon after exploring possible colour options; and maybe some collage papers with the colours I’m interested in and usually images of other artists’ work. The images I choose appeal to me. Maybe they are painted in a broadly similar style to my own; or they have some textural effects that I like or they contain some image or motifs that attract me. They will invariably reflect the colours that I am interested in for my art piece. This mood board helps me focus and then I turn away from it before painting or starting a mosaic. I of course don’t want to copy what other artists have done, but I find that the mood board is helpful to provide a pathway forward or just get over the resistance to starting a new project!  It’s also a helpful barometer if I become stuck. I can return to it and remind myself of my inspiration.