Creative inspiration

People often ask where artists get their inspiration from, how and why do they start a piece of work and why do they choose to draw or paint the things that they do.  

When it is asked of me, I am always struck dumb (temporarily)because the answer is so complex. When people stop to look at my work while I am drawing in the landscape they sometimes as - "how long did it take you to do that?"  Should my answer be "three hours" or should my answer be "fifty years"? As to the 'why' - well that is much more difficult. Every one of us has unique experience of life. Each artist has a unique perspective on the people, places and events they encountered or experienced in a lifetime. Here are my thoughts about how the artist develops from childhood.


When a child starts to draw at the age of two or three, every single mark made on the paper is of equal importance. 

By five they see that people look different and so give them different features like long or short hair but houses are still all the same. By seven or eight they will include landscape and weather to give context to their characters but the houses are still the same.

By nine the young artist is drawing on their own observations and start to create recognisable compositions of places and things that they know, have seen or, maybe, in response to recent events. 

Now that the young mind is taking in everything that is going on, they are gathering image and sensory memories . They are interested in the creations of others and become fans, or followers of different styles. These influences are also stored in the memory banks of the mind.

With every drawing, a path is being carved between the eye, the creative corridors of the mind and the hand. They start a conversation that is sometimes led by the hand and sometimes by the mind. 

Sometimes the hand makes a mistake or 'does its own thing' and the mind quite likes the result. other times, the hand is a slave to the mind's intent. 

As the young artist experiences more emotions. the heart also become part of the conversation.  




When we mature we seek the input of others and they too become part of the conversation.  All the while, the artists is storing away images and sensations that can be drawn on at any time.  The memory banks are growing in size every year. 

As the artist ages, the memories of images become more detailed and the banks grow every hour and minute. It can become overwhelming.

So how do artists draw on these memories and inspirations?  Memory banks are not like a library; you cannot  do a search by subject because the categories are infinite and the languages used to store them are those of the hand, the eye, the heart and all 19 senses. The only tool that can sort them out is the subconscious and this seldom works on command.

I access my subconscious every morning in that precious time between waking and rising.  As I become conscious, I lay on my back and stretch my spine and limbs as if on the rack. I use a small pillow of seeds and perfumed oils to support my neck. Sometimes I am naked, sometimes my sheet has to be perfectly smoothed over me. I don't decide - something inside decides.

Now I start to think about the task for the day ahead and soon my imagination, directed by my subconscious, takes over. They talk for about an hour and then it is time to start work while the inspiration is fresh. Breakfast can wait.

Alexndra waking by Laura Lacambra Shubert