Inspiration! Where I get it, and what I do when it's lost!

What is inspiration?  According to the Cambridge Dictionary it's: "someone or something that gives you ideas for doing something". 

What inspires you?  Artists get asked this question A LOT!  And for me personally I find it so hard to answer.  Mainly because I don't get inspired by any one particular thing, there are literally hundreds of things that I may be exposed to during a day that may fan the flames of my inspiration (wow, that was a bit poetic!). For example: beautiful art, music, flowers, sunsets, sunrises, the countryside, black and white photography, people, animals, light, shadows, moutains, music, great pieces of illustration, books, traveling to new places, galleries, museums, poetry, did I mention music?  As you can see the list is vast, and this only refers to the things I can actually remember at the time of writing this.   

Personally, if I had to narrow it down to one thing, travel is probably what inspires me the most.  For me, there is nothing more inspiring than being exposed to different countries, food, culture, music weather, history and scenery.  BUT, not all of us get to travel as much as we would like; which is why Google is my best friend!  I keep different folders of images on my ipad of everything from animals, to sunsets, to flowers, to colour combinations that I like.  (Pinterest is also really good for this). I also collect books; these are not all art-related, but can be anything that has imagery that I find beautiful.  Whenever I'm feeling a bit stuck creatively, or want to explore something new I just have a browse and see what leaps out at me.

One of my iPad albums

​I do have to put in a word of caution at this point: use other peoples work and things you find on the internet as just that - inspiration.  To get your creative juices flowing.  To get excited about showing up and to perhaps be spurred on to try something new.  But at the end of the day you need to create YOUR best work.  Not that of someone elses.  It's a fine line.

What to paint?  This is also a tricky question.  A lot of artists love to paint/draw a particular thing such as horses, flowers or seascapes for example.  The problem with me is that I get bored really quickly.  I need the challenge of mixing things up, using different colours and experimenting with different lines and shapes.  Which is why I love abstract art.  Each piece can be as similar/different to my last piece of work as I want it to be.  It really depends on my mood and what inspires me on any particular day.

Music, music, music!  I cannot express how important this is to me!  I sometimes listen to audiobooks while I'm working (currently making my way through the Harry Potter series!) but generally my go-to is music.  Somehow it allows me to quieten my mind, stop over-thinking and just go with the flow.  My favourite music to listen to is actually Andrea Bocelli (I can't believe I shared that!).  Honestly, I love him.  I think it actually works for me because I haven't a clue what he's singing about half of the time, so I can just allow myself to get swept up in the music!

What do I do when I'm uninspired?  Sometimes you have to listen to your body, and perhaps acknowledge that maybe you need to take some time out.  People don't often realise how mentally draining making art is, and for me it's especially difficult to learn how to switch off and to stop thinking about what I want to do next, or whether what I'm working on would look better with a bit more pink! (The struggle is real when it comes to pink!!!)  When I'm uninspired I try to focus on something completely different artistically.  For example, draw if you always paint.  Try a different medium.  Take an art class in something you have never tried before.  Do whatever it takes to shake things up and get excited again.

At the end of the day sometimes you just have to get up, show up and give it your best.  And if things don't work out then you try again tomorrow!  I know this is easier said than done, and as artists we tend to be our own worst critics, but honestly sometimes we tend to take things too seriously.  What is the worst that can happen?  That we make bad art?  Acknowledge why you don't like it, then move on and start again tomorrow.

If you're still reading, thanks for sticking with me!  This post turned out to be a lot longer than I expected (I didn't realise there was so much to say!).  As always, comments, suggestions and feedback are always welcome!

Reading suggestions:

- Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear (Elizabeth Gilbert) - still reading this whenever I get a free moment.  Great inspiration for anyone living or wanting to live a creative life.

- Steal Like An Artist (Austin Kleon) - a witty and inspirational read for any creative.  Really puts things into perspective.

- Brave Intuitive Painting (Flora Bowley) - haven't read this yet but the pictures are beautiful.

- Painting In Acrylics: The Indispensable Guide (Lorena Kloosterboer) - this is a must-read for anyone thinking of going into acrylics.  Loads of information in an easy-to-use format.  I have been using acrylics for over 15 years and was still able to pick up something new.

- Colour Mixing Bible (Ian Sidaway) - an art-room staple.  I'm generally pretty good at mixing colours - I can 'see' what shades, tones and hues are needed to get a specific colour but I know a lot of people are especially daunted by this.  The Colour Mixing Bible takes away all of the guesswork and provides all the 'recipes' you will need for a variety of different paint mediums (oils, acrylics, gouache, watercolour etc.)

My process - from start to finish

How do I start a new piece?  I'm sure different artists have completely different ways of going about this but for me the process begins with prepping my canvas with at least a couple of coats of gesso.  Depending on size I try to do a couple at a time, that way I always have a canvas ready to go when I need it.  It is time consuming, but I much prefer how the gesso makes the surface not only brighter but also smoother to paint on.  The next step for me is applying a coloured ground - this means covering the canvas in one flat, overall colour.  I choose the ground based on what I am going to paint or the colours I am going to be using.  It can tie-in with the overall colour palette, or be a contrasting colour to add depth to the paints layered ontop.  For me, there is nothing scarier than a blank white canvas! Honestly, I find it really intimidating and it usually takes me ages to get started.  I have found that adding a coloured ground REALLY helps with this!

Layer 1: Coloured ground - not a scary white canvas anymore! 

Next, I paint and paint, and then paint some more!  This is the part that I enjoy the most because you really never know where you're going to end up.  I can get into a zone and paint like a crazy woman and finish a piece in a couple of days, OR I can spend weeks coming back and changing things until I am satisfied.  There is no set rule to how I work.  One thing that has really helped my process is to work on at least a couple of pieces at a time.  I had heard other artists suggest this and was a bit wary because I thought I would be spreading myself too thin etc.  But it does just the opposite.  If you get bored or uninspired or things are just not working with a certain piece, you just set it aside and work on the other one.  This gives you time to mix things up and come back to things with fresh eyes.  I highly recommend giving this a go.  It's changed the way I work, and I've been producing more than I ever was before!

Layer 2

Progress shots!  I cannot stress how important this part is to my overall process.  I take a photo of each piece once I am done working for the day.  That way I not only have a record of how the painting has progressed (which is always really interesting to see!) but it also in some ways seems to highlight areas that need further work.  I don't know how or why, but seeing the piece in its entirety in a smaller format (on my phone or ipad) seems to make me notice things that I wouldn't normally 'see' when I'm in front of the canvas itself.  It helps the most with looking at the overall layout of colour on the painting as well as the composition.

How do I know a piece is finished?  This is such a good question, and one that artists get asked all the time!  Generally it's a gut feeling.  I know that doesn't help much, but for me it really does come down to intuition.  You are constantly asking yourself questions while you paint like "what about if I did this here" or "what if I added this colour there".  I think a sense of completion comes about when that internal dialogue stops and you're more satisifed with keeping the majority of elements rather than adding to or changing them.  When I think I'm 'done' with a painting I leave it alone and live with it for a while.  I put it up somewhere where I can see it and just observe it while I am going about other things or working on a new piece.  I generally don't add to a piece once I think it's done, but I like this part of the process because it allows me to enjoy the painting and to highlight the areas that I love about it so that I can incorporate them into future work.

Evolution: the start and the finish

The absolute final stages of a painting are the adding of my signature and then coating it in a layer of varnish.  I cannot express how much I love varnish!  Literally!  I have a slight obsession!  It just seems to bring the piece together in some way and make it look more finished.  It also REALLY seems to make the colours more vibrant.  If you thought they looked good before, they look even better after they've been varnished!  Seriously, if you haven't tried this you need to!  (*On a side-note: It's really difficult to take good pictures after you've added the varnish.  So if you need photos for your website etc. remember to take them before this step!)

And that's my process from start to finish!  I hope you've enjoyed reading about how I work - if you have any comments or questions or even different ways of doing things, I'd love to hear them!

A little bit more than my bio!

Hello and welcome to my first ever blog post!

For those of you that don't know me I was born in the UAE to an Emirati father and an Irish mother.  Although I was born and raised in the Gulf I like to think that my mix of both Eastern and Western heritage has moulded me into the person that I am today.

Art has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember but by the time I finished secondary school there weren't very many opportunities to pursue an Art degree in the UAE.  So I did what a lot of people end up doing and got a 'real' degree!  Mine just happened to be in International Hospitality Management; which I loved studying, but did not suit my personality at all!  I'm not exactly what you'd call a 'people-person', in fact I'm more of an introvert really.  As you can imagine it didn't take long for me to realise that this wasn't going to work.

After a few years of trying to find my feet in the corporate world I realised that however much I tried, it just wasn't for me.  So I went into teaching.  What started out as one of those jobs that you take while you're in between things turned out to be a huge learning experience for me.  I LOVED working with children every day and not only that but it gave me the opportunity to be creative.  So I worked and studied and got my Post Graduate Degree in Education.

During this time my family and I went through what you might call a life-changing experience.  Literally.  My brother was involved in a road-traffic accident and very nearly lost his life.  Although this was a hugely traumatic experience for all of us, it really forced me to put things into perspective.  And completely changed my mind-set in terms of what I wanted out of life.  So I made another huge career change and decided to put all of my effort and energy into what I have wanted to do all along - make art.  I didn't make this decision lightly, and it took a huge amount of soul-searching.  But with the endless support from my wonderful family and friends I've been given the courage to take this huge leap of faith.  And here I am paintbrush in hand!

If you've managed to find your way to my page, and you're still reading this...thank you!  And welcome to my journey!