Artisans and Inspiration...Calico and fruit

How do you find inspiration? For me it is from magazines, flickr, art, fabric, pottery, china, fellow artisans, coloured glass beads, books, jewellery….yes everywhere really! I have started a group on flickr.…yes another one…..especially for all artisans to show photos of what sparks their creativity. Only today I saw on Kelly’s blog that she was inspired by Kirsten of Two Lime Leaves [they are also involved with our flickr groups] to make her wall quilt ….. thank goodness it is available for us all in this month’s Quilter’s Companion. Should think Kirsten has inspired a lot of people over the years.

Some say it is a God given gift …others that its in our DNA, what do you think? All I know is that I am becoming more inspired the older I get, and like a lot of over fifties there isn’t going to be enough time for me to do everything that I have in my head….not to mention in my storage area! Also I feel that I am much more creative now….wonder if that is because of a newfound freedom in the fifties or an inbuilt mechanism that kicks in as we age. Its fascinating and deserves some research.

I do know that my increased creativity now is a boon to me as it distracts me from nerve pain and enables me to see beyond the present circumstance. And its a great source of accomplishment to create something, makes it even more special that out of suffering comes beauty. We only have to think of the late Laurel Burch and many artists and composers over history, not that I put myself in their league. Anyway, these are some of the things that are inspiring me at present.