Embracing Randomness
Creative Empowerment Series
Volume 1 Issue 1
"Inspiration"
By Lisa Smith
Inspiration
What is Inspiration? My definition: an “ah-ha” moment, seeing through
someone else’s eyes, seeing something in a very different unexpected
way, a stimulating experience that moves you to action.
Motivation
When we are inspired, we desire and long to act upon that
inspiration…to create a similar experience. We want to experience the
same passion and intensity that we felt when we were first inspired.
~~~
Recently I’ve come to realize that an artist whom I’ve admired for years has influenced some of my art and photography. I’m finding that I am sometimes drawn to similar subject matter. I am especially moved by environments much like those found in his paintings. I hadn’t really considered the subtle common threads until someone else commented that one of my photographs reminded him of a painting by this particular artist. I was very touched by this observation and honored to be associated even loosely. Both the painter and I are drawn to the intense colors surrounding the twilight hour and the magical qualities of various ambient light sources at night. Trees and other objects take on a mysterious extremity of form that morph into powerful compositional elements. Quiet summer nights are especially magical to my eyes. I am taken to another place and time where anything is possible and reality isn’t…necessarily.
When I look at the paintings of the great American artist, Maxfield Parrish, I dive through the rabbit hole into a fantastic realm. When I am out photographing at night, I am just as caught up, easily losing sense of time and becoming enveloped in intense sensations and creative motivation.
In San Diego this summer we are fortunate to have a collection of Parrish’s work on exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park. Since I learned of this exhibit, I have been telling everyone I know. I am very surprised at the number of photographers and others who are not familiar with Maxfield Parrish. What a loss! As creative artists (ALL OF YOU!), you should be seizing opportunities to become inspired and consequently motivated to creative action. We have a rich and diverse art community and a heaping treasure chest of artistic events and experiences weekly. No matter where you live, if you are not finding it, you are not looking very hard. It’s out there.
~~~
Action
I would like to propose a creative challenge to everyone who might wish
to feed their creative spirit and then take action to pass along the
passion and inspiration by sharing it with others.
I encourage those who can to visit the Maxfield Parrish exhibit: http://www.sdmart.org/exhibition-parrish.html
If you can’t make it to an exhibit, you can study his work online or in books. Then, if his work inspires you in any little way, go out in the world and attempt to see through his eyes. Create a work in the manner of, in the feeling of, or in the environment of the great Maxfield Parrish, Master of Make-Believe. Your creation doesn’t have to be complicated or involve models or oil paints or canvas. It can be no more than a single snapshot to remind you of how you connected with what inspired you. I simply urge you to act upon your inspiration! Let go and let your art speak to you. Don’t make any prejudgments. Just enjoy the journey.
~~~
Share
When you have completed your piece, email a jpeg to me at
ls@lisasmithstudios.com
As a tribute to Maxfield Parrish, I would love to create a gallery of your images in his honor! How wonderful to show that one artist can inspire so many and to see all the different variations that will branch from this one source of inspiration! Also remember that you too inspire those around you every day! Inspiration = Motivation to Creative Action!
Here is one of my images I believe was inspired from my memory of Maxfield Parrish’s work.
The Creative Empowerment Series is a little offering of encouragement and a boost in ideas for creatives and even those who think they are not.
mbracing Randomness is making the most out of whatever situation you find yourself in; to find joy and adventure in the unexpected forks and bumps in the road of life. Artistically speaking, Embracing Randomness is to see something wondrous in an apparently aesthetically-lacking environment and create from it a new way of looking at the world.
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