Inspiration

Today was a really inspiring day, and really reminded me why I got into art in the first place. I spend a lot of time thinking about our shared emotions and experiences as people, because often it is what I want to address and explore in my work. Our pain, our feelings of rejection or acceptance, of inspiration or depression, are all things we have all encountered at one point in time. Sometimes our unacknowledged "togetherness" shocks me; that no matter who we are or our situation, we all feel the same drives, desires, anguish, happiness, longing. It is a comforting and strange thought, and one that I want to explore more in my work.

Today I attended a lecture and demo with the incredible James Gurney,

whose blog I have followed for years now. It was stunning to see his process in-depth, all the research he does, models he creates... and his devotion to his sketchbook was so inspiring. In the moments after his demo when he was just talking to a few of us, we got onto a discussion of learning how to draw well, and developing effective communication of our artistic expression. It's not solely about just expressing something; it's about renewing day in and day out a desire to build on yourself and your skills. This is why I love what I do: there is always more to learn, more beautiful, meaningful things to create. I want my work to affect people. I want people to feel something when they look at my work and to identify with me; I want to inspire as I have been constantly inspired.

I also just discovered this awesome song, 

which is a perfect end to the day.

{ photo from my [mostly]daily sketch posted to my instagram, mirilittlebird }