on inspiration

"What inspires you? In your life? In your day? In your art?"

Life: People. Everyone has a different story and if you look hard enough, you can still see their childhood imprinted in their eyes and the way they smile. My people—my family, friends, coworkers, people I see on a semi-daily basis—they are the most inspiring. They have shown me strength, courage, bravery, grace, and all the goodness in the world. My people are truly an army. They have raised me up when I was at my lowest points, and they have shown me that it's the little things that really matter. It's like in the season 5 finale of Grey's Anatomy, Meredith says, "Did you say it? 'I love you. I don't ever want to live without you. You changed my life.' Did you say it? Make a plan. Set a goal. Work toward it, but every now and then, look around; Drink it in 'cause this is it. It might all be gone tomorrow." 

Day: Morning. I always wake up an hour or two before I have to be somewhere so I can have some quiet time to myself. I drink my coffee and sometimes take a picture for my #annalovesmornings series. I check social media & blogs. I take selfies on Snapchat while I do my makeup and get ready. It's routine. Quiet. Calm. It helps me settle my head and emotionally prepare myself for the day ahead of me. 

Art: I am inspired by light, shadows and shapes. I am inspired by color. I am inspired by texture. I am inspired by lines. I am inspired by imagery and text. I am inspired by the process. Making things starts off as a rush and ends as a rush but the in between is a constant series of highs and lows. "Is this good enough?" "Does this look okay?" "I don't ever want my art to be good enough. I need to take pride in my work, damn it!" "I hate this. I'm starting over." "Actually I think it's done." I'm a starter. I only get about halfway through things most of the time before I lose interest (see: summer mini book, that pink & grey scarf) and they sit collecting dust until my creative energy comes back to them. That's why I think in order to understand the ebb and flow of the flighty temptress, inspiration, you need to understand how you work and what your processes are. And figuring that out is half the fun. I love making things and I will be a happy camper if I can just keep doing that for the rest of my life.