In response to my previous post, some of the responders seemed to assumed that first I was inspired by the water and then I made work that reflected that inspiration, in that order. Which is never how it works for me. I make work because I have to make work. I make stuff. I’m not usually inspired by something specific, I just show up in the studio most days of the week and do some work.
I saw that connection between some of my work, which spans seven or eight years, and the specific water that I took the time to photograph or take video of, which spans an even longer time frame. I love seeing that particular water reflected in my pieces. It is unconscious, and for me it has to be unconscious.
How does inspiration work for you? Do you make art directly in response to an inspiration? Do you see connections in your work long after it’s finished? At what point do you see what your work is about, what it is saying?
Jane Davies Art 
That is how inspiration works for me as well. The very best shows up from my subconscious. It took me years to figure this out, lol. If I push myself to ‘be inspired’ consciously,
I get very tight and the work isn’t very interesting. Looking back on my work it reveals themes and influences I didn’t consciously know were there.
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Thank you for this! I imagine that people take inspiration in various ways. But for some reason the expected way is to experience the inspiration material (the stuff that inspires) and then ‘translate’ it into art. I would love to hear from people who experience it that way as well as other ways. My work, also, gets tight and forced if I try to ‘be inspired’ by something specific.
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For me, it’s a bit of both. Whilst I make most days and not always “inspired by” there will be times I see something that sparks an “Oh! I have to try that!” which sends me off onto a (sometimes very long!) tangent. Usually by the end I’m nowhere near the beginning and has taken enough turns to come back to “me”. If that makes any sense at all. 😜
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Grateful..thanks!
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I loved reading this about how you come to do what you do.
I approach my work with no conceived notion or idea, just love to do what I do.
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Love these pink pieces SO much! I am often inspired by my materials or by looking through my studio treassures, like fabric, papers, buttons and paint – and afterwards I can see connections to other inspiration such as the colours of the season (this happens all the time).
Cheers from Sweden
/Hanna
http://www.ihanna.nu
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interesting question. so lovely to be open to different ways of working, thank you! It has been difficult for me in the past to try to come up with some specific “intention” or “inspiration” and then put it in my work. I can’t work that way. I’m always surprised at what comes out in my work. Then I learn what is inside me.
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It’s so good to know others walk into their work place and make “their marks”, just because they must. If I am working steadily at my table for weeks and months, the very process gets better and better, and so does the inspiration. If I hold the autumn colors somewhere in my mind, unconsciously, for example, they may or may or may not appear. One never knows!!!! Just enjoy the discovery, whatever it may be.
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Jane thank you for this article. It was salve to my poor mind…. I end up making really representational work if I try to work from inspiration like a photo. I was seeing it as a complete block on my part. Maybe it is but alas I am not alone. Thanks. Sue.
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Your post has come at a perfect time as I seem all out of inspiration. I thought I found inspiration from the coastal area where I live but I feel as if I’m just going through the motions. So I’m just showing up and making work, about the coast to see what happens, I don’t have any better ideas or inspiration!
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Love the post and reading all the replies! I usually find something that sparks me out in nature, then I come to my studio and try to recreate the colors of that image in my mind with a limited palette. This prompts me to start exploring and see where it takes me. Can I create that misty morning fog using only blues, orange and white? Maybe, maybe not, but that curiosity is going to take me on an enjoyable journey and eventually lead to another spark!
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