Inspiration Paper due 9/15

Inspiration-
What is inspiration? I suppose inspiration feels, looks, or even smells different to everybody, but everybody experiences inspiration in some way or another at different times. For me, inspiration embodies itself in many ways, both visual and non-visual. The word itself is hard to define, but I use it synonymously with words like motivation, creativity, and passion. Inspiration is in everything you can touch, see, smell, taste, and hear, it is only the way we interpret it that makes it feel more sparsely distributed. I find that inspiration is like the game “Hide and Go Seek,” because it hides really well when you are “playing,” or looking for it, yet it likes to jump up everywhere you are when you don’t have any plans.
Things that inspire me pop up randomly when I’m not expecting them. Sometimes you find inspiration in typical places, like museums, libraries, and other settings that are designed deliberately to inspire the public, but that doesn’t always work for me because I find that too much influence makes me feel influenced, and, therefore, unoriginal. I like to let inspiration come to me on its own time. My strategy is to think about a project with all of its guidelines for a couple of days until I feel like I will never come up with an idea. Then I force myself to make a decision on the “best” idea I’ve had so far. From there, I think about why I feel uninspired or unoriginal, and then it just comes. I realize that even though an idea seems like it has been done before, there are millions of approaches that haven’t even been dreamt yet. Then I get really excited and the project just evolves with every step I take towards completion. I allow my own skills and mistakes dictate where I need to take the idea until it becomes something that feels inspiring and original to me.

Working Environment-
The working environment can influence a project even more than the artist sometimes, so it is important to consider the space when dealing with a project. Most often, I work in a studio-based environment where I am mostly by myself and it is relatively quiet. Sometimes I like to have music or other people around me, but it depends on what I’m doing. If I am working to improve my technical skills, I try to be around other artists so that I can receive critique and feedback. I also like input when I feel uncertain that my ideas are coming through in the manner I intended. Sometimes, the case is that other people do not understand in the way I originally thought, but the new interpretation is good too. My reasons for working in a studio are purely about the medium and the appropriateness of the space, that is, I can be a bit messy and the size of the area is good enough that I can work comfortably.
I love to work outside of the studio when my project permits it. That is, when my medium can be cleaner or more portable. Working outside when I am either drawing with pencil or using my camera to photograph nature is very inspiring to me, if only because it is so beautiful. I also feel inspired when I feel the warmth of sunshine on my body or feel a cool breeze brush through my hair. Often times, I use these experiences to influence what I do in the studio. I am not really an installation type of artist, nor do I choose to use less traditional materials or methods to create my art. For example, I would not think to reorganize the grocery store, nor would I want to if the thought had occurred to me at all. I admire and appreciate these methods, but it is not my style, so I prefer to work in the studio.

Working Process-
My working process varies by project depending on what I am doing and whether there are guidelines I must follow. When I am working on a project that is part of an assignment that must be completed in a specific structure for a class, I follow the rules. If that means I start by visiting a place, drawing thumbnails, and doing research on artists or art pieces similar to my theme, and writing a paper discussing my concepts, then I am happy to do all of that. However, just like working outside of the studio, that is really not my style. I do believe that those things can be important, such as researching artists so that you can find inspiration in them and find your place as an artist. I also understand the concepts behind writing papers that talk about your work and doing hundreds of thumbnails helps develop your work to new and interesting levels, I am just not patient enough to partake in those procedures if they are not required.
I am usually so inspired and ready to start my work, that doing all of the pre-project work bores me to the point where I have lost the motivation I need to actually get started. If I am at a loss for an idea, sometimes these measures can help, but not when I am ready to just hit the ground running. Often, the only thing I do to get ready to start a project is take photographs that help me develop my composition, and then I shop for inspiring materials which can always influence the direction my project goes in. I always wish I had the patience to do more, but it always slows me down to take the extra steps. I would like to get into the habit of at least doing all of the steps at the end of my project for the education that comes with it, even if I don’t do it at the beginning, but I will have to work on that. I wonder if that would allow me to create the project I first envisioned, but then would bring me to creating an entirely new and improved follow-up project.

Motivation-
My motivation comes from lots of different things, but primarily it is either an external influence or internally driven. When I say external forces motivate me, I do not use that terminology negatively. I only mean that I feel strongly that my performance will affect others whom I do not want to let down. For example, I feel motivated to do the best I can in a group project so that another person’s grade does not suffer from my incompetence. I also feel motivated to exceed in school because I want my mother to be proud of the education she is paying for me to receive. I feel motivated to make teachers, who have taught me and inspired me, proud of the work I have done, because I want my efforts to reflect their teaching appropriately. I do not work politically, but if ever I did, I would feel motivated to succeed for the success of the movement or even I was supporting.
I also feel motivated internally for more selfish reasons. I want to succeed in school so that I can get good grades and eventually a good job that will both support me and bring joy to my life. I want to succeed so that others are impressed by me so that I can be proud of myself. I am motivated to complete projects just because I do not like to leave anything unfinished. I do not like the feeling of defeat, and not finishing something that I started, for any reason, makes me feel like I have lost a game that I play with myself constantly. I compete with myself stronger than I have ever competed with any other person.

Reading-
I read a lot, but not much about art, however, I find reading inspiring no matter when or how much I do. I often have to read books or articles for classes that would not be by my choosing under any normal circumstances, but I find it always helps to expand my horizons and enrich my mind. Although I much prefer fiction to factual, I find both fascinating. Required reading out of textbooks always bore me and put me to sleep, but when I am done and I can analyze the facts, I am happy to have the new knowledge. I would read every word ever written if I had the time and the brain capacity. Even if I complain about required reading, I always see the benefits in the end.
I do love reading for pleasure, however much required reading may bore me. I have recently come to enjoy historical fiction the most. I find it very inspiring to read about times, places, and people I have never known, but existed at some point in history. I feel I make friends with the characters or even become one of them as I read. I get engulfed in the emotions and I can almost see everything happening as vividly as if it were occurring in front of my very face. Reading is always inspiring to me, whether artistically or in some other aspect of my life.

Most Inspiring Person-
This is definitely the most difficult question on the list! I suppose if I have to pick one person in the world that inspires me, I would have to say my grandmother. She is an incredible person who has made her life into something meaningful to her. I admire the fact that she was a workingwoman in the 1950’s and 1960’s before it became a normal thing; she was even valedictorian of her graduating high school class. I think it is amazing that she was a scientist and a computer expert when computers took up a whole room. She has traveled to from her home on Cape Cod to France, Germany, China, India, Mexico, Quebec, Utah, and California, and all in the last ten years. She has been teaching herself to speak French for a couple years now, and she frequently takes classes like Poetry and Watercolor Painting classes because she believes you can never be to old to learn something new. She is a member of a book club in town, so she reads everything. She actively involves herself with the town politics: running campaigns and encouraging people to vote. She raised my mother to be the person who she is which is maybe the accomplishment I am most thankful for.
My grandmother has done some amazing things in her life, but what is truly inspiring is that she doesn’t give up on anything, and she is always there for me. She encourages me to be who I am. She proves to me, by example, that you can make yourself into the person you want to be, all you have to do is keep going. She does everything in her power to help me when she can. I know that I can count on her, and my own mother, when I need help, be it emotional, physical, inspirational, or otherwise. With all of her accomplishments and caring towards me, my grandmother could not be anything other than inspirational.