Thursday, January 14, 2010

Inspiration: where it comes from, what it influences, where it goes

I recently purchased 52 weeks of blogging your passion by Tara Gentile (editor of Scoutie Girl) and the very first project is to figure out your mission statement. She asks a couple of questions to get you started:

What fuels your passion for craft, art, or design? What’s your inspiration?
How does that passion manifest? What do you create?

I'm inspired by the wonders of nature, strong women accomplishing their dreams, the arts & performing arts... But rarely, do these things inform my creations. Yes, it makes sense that I want to equip warrior women and it makes sense that I want to protect the environment by working with Earth friendly ingredients that are straight from nature and good for people. I almost never think: that Amelia Earhart was one amazing chick, maybe I should make some aviation inspired chain maille. Huh... maybe I should think things like that. That would certainly solve the problem I was just about to discuss.

In the past, I would have moments of inspiration, but felt like it would never manifest itself in a creative way. Inspiration would come, make me all warm and fuzzy, and then go away. The areas that I like to work in make sense based on what inspires me, but shouldn't inspiration also inform what I'm making in these areas?

What inspires you? How do you find it being made manifest in your own work?

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