What brings inspiration to you?
I’m curious to know what brings you inspiration. I didn’t know what it was so long until recently. I didn’t know how I got ideas most time either. But I tend to get ideas when I am having a shower or walking. These are the common situations to get ideas, as I later found out when I explored creativity (if you are curious about what I did to develop creativity, you can find them here).
Anyway, back to the inspiration. When I was attending one of the free drawing events around London, I drew plants and organic things I could find in the building. I was surrounded by beautifully designed architectural objects or items but my intuition suggested me drawing plants.
At the end of the session, we shared our drawings, and I was the only person who was drawing plants in the building. Other participants drew the unique architecture of the building or products they found inside the building. I felt a bit uncomfortable, although I remembered the instruction was to draw whatever grabbed your attention, so I did. Then, the instructor saw my drawing saying, “This is the beauty of art — everyone sees things differently even in the same environment, and we get inspiration from different things.”
Her word opened up my eyes. I am drawn into natural and organic things consciously or subconsciously, and that’s what I get inspiration from. After this event, I looked back on my life.
I grew up in a mid-size city in Japan where most places were already developed for houses, commercial properties and mid to small-size manufacturing factories to support a big car manufacturer nearby city. So I wasn’t in beautiful countryside or farmland. My grandfather was a carpenter, and I often visited his wood workshop as a child playing with offcuts of wood — the texture of wood was rough and warm. Then I was fascinated with tadpoles, frogs and crayfish in a small rice field near my home. It was one of the last few rice fields left around my neighbourhood. I had to look for nature around my house.
My strong memories at primary school were related to nature. Each year we grew something in the school garden or outside of school. Year 1, we grew morning glory in an own plant pot. In Year 2, we upgraded to tulips and year 3 was sunflowers. We grew loofah at Year 4. I recall I had to go to school to water them in the middle of summer break. In Year 5, we went school fam and grew sweet potatoes. The last year in primary school, we grew rice at a school rice field. One day, I wrote a poem about a seed becoming a plant, and my poem appeared in the local newspaper.
My class also had a couple of rabbits donated by a classmate who moved to another city. I asked around local supermarkets and vegetable shops to give me scrapped vegetables for rabbits. I didn’t mind caring for rabbits as I enjoyed looking at and drawing them.
At an art class in primary school, the teacher told us to make woodblock print from a friend’s face. I don’t remember why but I didn’t want to draw a face, so I insisted on drawing trees I could see from our classroom.
I now recall another episode that I insisted to make a screen print out of a picture of Stonehenge at an art class in high school. Again, we were instructed to work with human figures. I never been overseas at that time and had no connection to England. I recall the contrast of grey sky, luscious green grasses and grey stones stood in the middle was irresistible to make a screen print.
I now think the scarcity of nature around me made me look closer at the natural objects.
I forgot about nature after high school when my life filled with study, friends and parties. I got a job and spent the most time in the office. One day, it was pure chance, I got into scuba diving and mountain trekking through workmates. I began taking photos underwater and around mountains and observing nature again. Time in nature help me reflect and think differently. It widens my perspective when I am looking at mountains range or boundless blue underwater, and I often get ideas for work or my projects.
So, my point is, if you are looking for something to trigger your inspiration you can start with something you liked or fascinated by as a child. For me, it was nature.
You may have forgotten what it was as we become occupied with other things in our life. If so, why not talk to your parents or someone who knows you as a child? The conversations will bring new insights about yourself and find out what you were fascinated about or obsessed with.
You will find a clue when you trip down your memory lane. When you find one, please let me know.
