Sometimes though, I'm just not feeling particularly inspired on a Saturday. By the time the weekend rolls around, I'm usually worn out from the work week and finding the energy to create can be a challenge.
Luckily, I've discovered a couple of things that usually help get me back in the creative mindset: My vast collection of Books, Craft in America, Art in America or A PBS documentary about Andrew Wyeth
Some of my favorite episodes are:
West – Season 17, Episode 2 – Western saddles, cowboy boots, and Native American Indigenous art.
Collectors – Season 16, Episode 2 explores the relationship between craft and collectors
Miniatures – Season 15 Episode 2 Of course!
Harmony Season 13 Episode 1 and bridges the art forms of music and craft (one woman has a 10 year waitlist for bows)
Identity - Season 11 Episode 2 Artists challenge accepted norms of gender, race, culture, and place, sharing authentic expressions of their lived experiences
As a miniatures maker and an introvert with some social anxiety, I don't always get out and meet other artists as often as I'd like.
One thing I particularly enjoy about these programs is hearing artists refer to what they do as "their practice" and the things they create as "the work." It has occurred to me that "practice" is exactly what each piece is. Practice, Learning, over and over again with what I make.
I also draw inspiration from my rather large collection of books. As a kid I always loved books, and as an adult, it's a joy to know that I can now buy the books I want for myself.
I collect horse books, old tack catalogs (especially from the days when printed catalogs were much more common), and my absolute favorite: cowboy memorabilia auction catalogs!
Remember the old Sergeants Western World catalogs? SWOON!
I have catalogs from High Noon when they were still in business, old Butterfields catalogs, Brian Lebel's Old West catalogs, and many others.
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I also have the Luis B Ortega Book: Luis Ortega's Rawhide Artistry; Braiding in the California Tradition by Chuck Stormes and Don Reeves; the Edward Bohlin book Saddlemaker to the Stars; Fine Art of the West by B Byron Price; The Art of the Western Saddle by Bill Reynolds, and plenty of other cowboy and Western-style books.
These books and catalogs fill my heart with joy and inspiration! I can spend hours looking through them, studying the details, and discovering things I might otherwise overlook.
Sometimes inspiration comes from seeing a beautiful piece of craftsmanship. Other times, it's simply finding an interesting detail in an old photograph or catalog that makes me want to try something new in the studio.
Inspiration from the Andrew Wyeth documentary was a bit of a surprise to me. I've always admired the work of the Wyeth family, but something about learning more about Andrew Wyeth's process really struck a chord with me.
As I watched it for the first time, I really couldn't look away. By the time it ended, I wanted to dig in and create!
The way he worked in tempera and watercolor, rather than oil, and his ability to notice the smallest details in ordinary, everyday things really spoke to my miniature-making heart.
I was fascinated by the way he returned to the Kerner farm again and again, painting it and paying attention to small details in the landscape and surroundings.
Part of my family is from a small town in central Kentucky, and I spent weeks there during the summers when I was growing up. Some of the houses didn't have air conditioning, so the windows were usually open with those nice breezes... We'd spend time playing in the creek, and I remember all those little details that make up life on a farm. The smell of freshly cut grass, the smell of the old wooden barns, the sound of crows, the sound of frogs and crickets, walking on country lanes.
Watching the documentary brought some of those memories back. The details of the Kerner farm reminded me of being a kid and spending those summers in a small rural town. I think I recognized something familiar in the way Wyeth looked at the world around him. He noticed and appreciated all the little things that someone else might walk right past.
That level of observation and attention to detail is something I can really appreciate as someone who makes miniatures.
Two of my favorite works are Wind from the Sea and Thin Ice.
One of the things on my bucket list is to visit the Brandywine Museum of Art in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and see his work up close.
I think there is something incredibly inspiring about an artist who can look at an ordinary subject and find so much beauty and meaning in it.
Sometimes, even when I'm grumpy, tired, or don't feel particularly inspired, all I need to do is put on the PBS Andrew Wyeth documentary or look through one of my books or catalogs, and suddenly I want to create again!
What inspires you?
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