The Sunday Search for Inspiration: In the Garden

As an artist I definitely have my ups and downs. One week the ideas are flying out so fast I can barely get them down and there just isn't enough time in the day, then the next week it seems like everything has been done before and that there must be something I'm missing, if I could only find it. This emotional struggle is something that I've come to appreciate as part of the process, but for those times when I've really lost my motivation, I need to go to an outside source. And so, in an effort to remember that there is an entire world outside of my head, I'll be devoting Sunday posts to inspiration.

A great deal of the time that outside source is literally outside. I spend a lot of time in my garden when it's not raining and a lot of time looking out on the garden when it is. It's been raining this weekend, but I did have a chance to get out between the drops to snap some quick photos of the first blooms in the garden. Even the weeds, spiders and slugs have me inspired today. It's nice to see the signs that summer is just around the corner and sunshine will soon be on its way.

This year we've got plans to plant three raised beds in an effort to grow our own vegetables and add to our herb collection.  We're also going to cut down a tree that was planted too close to a fence, work on my pond project that I started last year, and build a pit for firing ceramics.

So how does this all relate to art? Many of the forms in my work are drawn from nature so the more I get to know the natural world, the more the ideas grow. Sue Amendolara is an artist who creates phenomenal works based on nature. Her work is a true inspiration.