Inspiration

“Live like an artist!”

-Art Wolfe

According to Oxford Dictionaries, inspiration is “the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative”.  I regularly seek sources of inspiration.  Inspiration can be found in books, on the computer, on television, and in nature.  There are sources for inspiration everywhere!

One of my favorite photographers, Art Wolfe,  has been a wealth of inspiration to me for years.  He has been sharing in a different way in the past months.  Since the world has become more confined, Art started sharing an hour a week on social media.  Tequila Time is the name of this wonderful time of sharing.  It takes place at 5:30 p.m. PST each Thursday.  I have made it a point to watch live for the past five weeks at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time.  Tequila Time can be found on both Facebook and Instagram.

The first week I tuned in, although not the first week of the broadcast, Art gave the viewers a tour of his incredible home garden.  The second week, Art led viewers inside his home to show how he lives like an artist each day.

The next two weeks were all about books.  Art shared ten books that influenced him one week and his own ten favorite books the following week.  While viewing these episodes, I watched Art on one device and ordered books using another.  I love photography books.

My heart was filled with joy as each box arrived at my doorstep.  Although conditions are not conducive for me to learn by taking workshops now, they are perfect for learning from these wonderful books.

I found that the things that I saw in the books were having an impact on what was catching my attention while photographing.

I never would have asked Randy to pull over so that I could photograph this recycling bin if I had not spent time with Manufactured Landscapes by Edward Burtynsky after Art shared it as one of his favorite books.

After the weeks of sharing his favorite books, Art shared one of his favorite projects, The Human Canvas.  Dear friends gave me this beautiful book, so I was familiar with the project.  I revisited my book and the artwork within it after listening to Art telling about the project that meant so much to him.

I am sure that having the Human Canvas in mind allowed me to see the beauty in these fallen Magnolia leaves.  I collected them in order to take them home to photograph.

I then further explored using the leaves as I created this self image.

I am so thankful for the inspiration Art has provided to me and so many others each Thursday for Tequila Time.  I highly recommend you tune in each week.  You don’t even have to have tequila.

To find out more about Tequila Time with Art and to see the past episodes, you can visit his website.

I hope this weekend you find inspiration and then create!