What Inspires My Creative Art
I get the question when I show my work publicly, “What inspires your work?” Comments on my creativity are honestly my biggest flattery. Yet- I shortly ago used to think I wasn’t creative enough to be a true artist. This is back when I was stuck in the block of trying to make “commonly likable” work. I let go of that once I couldn't help my imaginative mind from taking over. Do you relate?
Every artist has their own unique sources of inspiration. This may include why they create, what imagery they represent, and in what manner. For me, I am still exploring my specific niche of painting. However, what I am sure of is that I strive to create deeper meanings and hidden messages within the iconography and style of my artwork.
If you click on my originals page here on my website, you will see much to explore of my recent and dated works. They all have a common theme: representational meeting distortion, color vibrancy, and contrasting lights against darks.
Below I categorize my top most inspirations.
Distortion of Reality
When I paint a simple copy of a photo, I often get bored with it after a while. Not that realism isn’t beautiful, but I find its hard to feel on the concept if its just something I can walk out and see before my eyes. What I gravitate towards, is taking images of our reality, and blending, bending, saturating, or morphing them into a different “fantastical” imagined image.
"Reflection on Human Life" 2023. Oil on Canvas.
Above, this image has lots of objects that can be found in life. We recognize them, yet some are morphed into abstracted patterns or stretching out into ways that don’t make sense. Taking inspiration from Salvator Dalí, I painted a melting clock which the time itself becomes nonsensical. It symbolizes time is of a subjective quantity. On Earth, our days are 24 hours, but on Jupiter, its day only is 10 hours. Time is a part of every humans waking consciousness. For example, time is so valuable, we say “time is money,”
Other aspects of this image don’t make sense, the flowers are melting into space, symbolizing life is doing the same. Not in a negative way, but in the sense of our lives melt and bleed into whatever we make them.
I can go on about the morphing of reality that I represented in just this painting, but to say the least, making the normal into something ‘abstracted’ or made up, is what I am in it for. I love seeing how far the mind can go. Thats why I really admire the surrealist painters of the 20th century. They all had such creative brilliant images that are so famous for being the way that they are.
Human Facial Expression
I have always, always, always been in awe of painting or drawing the human face. It was the main reason why I became interested in art in the first place. A huge part of my artistic inspiration is the pure expression and story the human face can share alone.
This grid above shows a lot of abstracted faces which I have recently done. I do enjoy painting regular portraits as well, heck I’ll show you one below just so you can see what a normal looking portrait that I’ve done looks like. Getting bored with regular portraits is something I struggle with, thus why I usually abstract them now.
Study of painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau that I completed in oil paint in 2023.
I find the various facial expressions that we are able to make to be so intriguing. The way the head tilts, eyes widening or softening, and the rest of the micro adjustments a head can does so telling to the mood of that person. It is like its a whole story within one thing, you can tell how their spirit is feeling or imagine so, and see where they are in their state of mind.
I often use represented real life images of faces that I find in photographs, online, or even sometimes AI generated, to mesh them into something semi abstracted. This is endless fun IMO. I am excited to see all I do with faces in the future.
Existentialism
A philosophy a whole lot of us ponder. “Exisentialism- Existentialist philosophers explore questions related to the meaning, purpose, and value of human existence.”
Do you hear of that '“existential dread” ever? I find when people online or in real life mention this phenomenon, it more or less is the shattering waking up to a life that you feel you’re not really in control of, or understand.
A common inspiration for my work is this very concept. Meshing together the life, passion, and death. This is supposedly morbid I guess, but to me its just a meditation on what it is to be alive on this planet, having the chance to carry out our purpose or at least try to find it. I like thinking about these types of spiritual things, and I so badly want to find those who think similarly.
"Spirit Animals" 2024. Oil on Canvas.
For example, how I explore existentialism is shown in the painting above “Spirit Animals”. This was 6/6 paintings of my ‘Spirit Animals’ Series, and I chose the only physical structure of our bodies that doesn't naturally decay on Earth. I chose the five animals I painted during the series, turtles, dolphins, and snakes. To represent the soul within them, I have glowing beautiful butterflies in the top of the painting, tricking down the spark of life onto the skeletal features of the animals. Lastly, to link ourselves in with this greater sense of the natural course of life and death, I shown a human skull. The hourglass represents time.
Travel & Nature
The last common theme of where I draw inspiration from, is when I reflect on nature, or explore our world and travel to a new country or area.
I know all of us can relate to this, and I am so happy about that, because its a commonality we all have to discuss. I try to take lots of photos, sit down and observe, and walk a lot in both nature and when I am out exploring. I find, the different ways of being and new discoveries really effect your mental perception of the world. It allows you to constantly grow.
Shown below, this is an example of how I use nature to assist my paintings meaning.
"Transience" 2024. Oil on Canvas.
I find landscapes specifically can create a whole world of expansion, right in a 2-D canvas surface. I used this to create the effect of perspective while having the main object, hands, aid to about half of the composition.
Many people derive artistic expression from nature, and there are so many styles and niches out there just in this category alone.
For travel, I don’t necessarily paint the Roman Collesium, but I do think when I travel it greatly gives me new ideas and perspectives to help me in my artistic practice. Its interesting that we can be inspired by something that we don’t create imagery of itself.
What are you inspired by? I am so curious to know. I think it is important to take time to even ask yourself this question, and why. If you wish- maybe journal on the things that light you up. You don't have to publish, or share this. It can be just for you, and is a great way to find more about yourself.
Thank you for reading this blog post! I really appreciate if you’ve made it this far. I hope you got something out of it.
