Every time I finish a piece the immediate question that follows is "what's next"? So how does one keep the inspiration coming, where do the images come from, what is it I'm looking for when I need something new to paint?
These are questions all artists ask themselves. At least, that's what I assume....any artists out there if you don't, feel free to speak up. I can, of course, only really speak to my own process and what motivates me. So this is my process: take pictures, lots of pictures, all the time. And when its time to find inspiration: look at at those pictures, lots of pictures, sometimes for a long time....and pick one that calls out to be painted.
Doesn't really explain it, does it? No, its not really about the pictures. Inspiration comes from life, from experience. Painting is a visual experience but its more about sharing a view of your reality. I'm sure some people try to just mimic what they see but that's not what art really is. Art is about sharing with your audience a visual image but, also, its about sharing how what I saw or experienced affected, touched, and in a sense changed me and my perception of some space that I happened to pass through.
It sounds so vague and its hard to explain. Imagine stacks and stacks of photos, even more digital files; these are just truly physical reminders of places you have passed through and moments you experienced. They are references. The true inspiration comes from the time spent in the location. So what is inspiring? Life is the true inspiration. The place is the true inspiration. The air you breathe is the inspiration.
Many years back, I booked a flight to Paris and set out on what would turn out to be a transformative journey in terms of my art. I was alone and all around me a city that has inspired artists throughout history....Now, many years have passed since I took off by myself to see what Paris had to teach me. To be honest, I went in large part for the cemeteries. My mother and I had spent a lot of time in my high school and college years driving around those backwoods of New Jersey looking for old forgotten cemeteries. When I saw what the cemeteries of Paris looked like I had to go see them for myself. Of course, when I arrived I found so much more inspiration than what I had set out to find. My trip to Paris was not the start of my painting career and it was not the first time I was inspired, but it was a pivotal change in how I sought out inspiration and how far I was willing to travel for it.
For me inspiration is about capturing a moment, a time, a place. So I wander, and I take pictures, and I think "I'm going to paint this", but it has to feel right. It has to be the right size, and the right day, and the studio has to feel right and the music I listen to has to be the right music, and there are so many factors to keeping myself inspired to get the piece to come out perfect....and every now and then you think: "this is going to be so good..." and something falters and the inspiration is gone. Sometimes it comes back, sometimes its seemingly gone forever.
Inspiration is hard, because it's a gut feeling. For me at least. Its about capturing a moment. A feeling. The photos I take: reminders, references, memories. I could perhaps be less vague and say I'm inspired by the woods, or hiking, or architecture, or cemeteries. All these things are true, but its more than that. Its about how something about these places connects with me and makes me want to look deeper. In Paris, I found myself drawn to certain locations again and again, and even years later my work would return to Pere Lechaise or the Basilica St. Denis. In Philadelphia, certain locations pull me back over and over....Rittenhouse, Laurel Hill, South Philly. And in Jersey, the Pine Barrens calls to me again and again and again. Places I've lived, places I've wandered, places I have memories.
So I keep wandering and I keep wondering: what's next? And again, its time to look through the photos and see what memory I want to revisit and see what it is that I hope to share. And hopefully, whoever it is that ends up looking at whatever next piece I create is inspired or moved by the time I spent wandering.....wherever it is that I happen to wind up this time.
So wish me luck....
I'm off looking for inspiration. Again.
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