Inspriation from the Strangest Places

Last week I was at a Junior Chamber conference in Kelowna (where I bought a great piece of local art from a neat little store called Funktional). During the conference there was an Effective Public Speaking competition and the topic was 'getting inspiration from the strangest places'. During some of the speeches my mind wandered (says a lot for the speakers doesn't it? that's a whole other blog entry!) and started to think about where I get my inspiration from.

At my core, my most basic level of inspiration comes directly from my family. I have an over-active need to make them proud. I remember when I was in college out west and stumbling across a really old hand carved tomb stone that said his name, years and in quotes "..and he was a damn good Irishman." I think that sums it up, he made people proud of who he was. Now I may not want mine to read the same thing (since I'm not Irish) but I hope it will have the same impact.

When I moved passed my core I thought about my art. Why do I create? Why do I choose beach glass? I started jotting notes down and then I realized I was basically re-writing my artist statement. I remember when I first wrote my artist statement it seemed so daunting and difficult, but putting it in the context of inspiration it was all of a sudden easy.

So the next time you're asked to submit an artist statement, start with the question 'where does my inspiration come from?' You may even be surprised with your answer!