What Currently Inspires Me (2023)
Being an artist, sometimes just living life can be inspirational to me. But today, I wanted to share what is currently inspiring me in my life!
Something that always inspires me, especially to create art is music! My musical tastes change but no matter what I’m listening to, I can always find inspiration to create! Music most often inspires me to write, which isn’t what I create all the time, but when it is what I am working on, music really helps me not only get into my feelings but also my thoughts. It’s nice to hear the thoughts of those who seem to be also feeling like I do. Music also just helps me get into the zone when working on a creative project like painting or a coloring page! Lately I have been listening to a lot of singer songwriter songs along with pop and country tracks! I also have music from my favorite musicals on my fav playlist too, as I find much inspiration in seeing live productions of musicals!
Some of my favorite songs lately include: Used to be Young by Miley Cyrus, Battle Cry by Beth Crowley, Casual Kisser by Mckenna Grace, Timeless(Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift, Enchanted(Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift, Vampire by Olivia Rodrigo, Rock and a Hard Place by Bailey Zimmerman, At least by Jessica Baio, and That I Would Be Enough from the musical Jagged Little Pill to name a handful. These songs bring out many emotions and inspire me through my creative process and allow me touch that inspiration firsthand when I sing them too!
Like I mentioned, seeing live musicals bring me much inspiration! I don’t exactly know how to describe the feeling I have after I have reached the conclusion of a fantastic production. If it’s even one emotion at all. All I can say is that is always leads me to rushing to learning my favorite songs and run into a creative whirlwind! It’s not uncommon for me to have bursts of energy after experiencing something beautiful, and live musicals are almost always inspiring and give me creative bursts!
Recently my creative energy has come from the likes of Les Mis, Sweeny Todd, and The Six! I highly recommend if you can attend a live show, you definitely should!
Movies also give me creative energy. Of course, I love a good musical whether in person or on a screen but I also enjoy other genres. I love romantic, historical, and horror films the most. Because of the different feels of just those genres along, I can get different creative energy from them! Romantic films lead me to feel romantic and feminine which can often be seen in my art. Often seen through the colors I choose to use. Historical films can also lead me to feel romantic and feminine, but they often also lead me to the feeling of wanting to learn. Often a food historical movie can send me down a spiral of learning all about one subject. This often leads me to learning all I can and then I will go unsolicited to sharing all this knowledge with loved ones! This creative burst happens often and is one reason I started this blog! So that I could not only share what I learn, but find others who want to learn with me! Lately, I have not only been watching historical films about English history, but have gone to watching T.V shows too! My recent history obsession has been that of the Tudor Dynasty. If you are interested in also learning with me, you can read all about the art in Tudor England and learn a little bit about the monarchs of that time here on my blog!
Another creative form that inspires me is books! I love reading and I read many different things! I recently finished Little Women by Louisa May Alcott which I have never read all the way! I had a children’s edition when I was little but now that I’m grown up, I am happy I have read it! It really was a great book to end summer with! It really let me feel that romantic and feminine energy that I feel has filled me recently, especially through spring and summer. Now that fall is here, I’m leaning into books that give me cozy, get lost for hours, vibes. I’ve started fall with restarting my favorite book series, The House of Night series by P.C Cast and her daughter Kristen Cast! I’ve already finished the first book of this vampire series and am taking a bite into the next one! Along with my fiction reads, I always am reading at least one nonfiction book. I find it important to always be learning and books are one of my favorite ways is through books! Since I’m super into 16th century England, I have been reading a book about the Tudor and Stuart dynasties that ruled that time. I am also reading The Body Keeps Score by PHD. Bessel A. van der Kolk who goes over how trauma effects our brain and body. As someone who struggles with PTSD, I have found it a comfort and informative at times and hard to read at others. But an important book I have found I want to continue. This book and I have been on a journey for over a year now. But this is why I read multiple books at the same time, because sometimes I need one thing at a time, and at other times, I need something else!
Another big media in my life are video games! I probably don’t play the games you may think of first, or maybe we’re similar and so you are! But I play “cozy” games like Animal Crossing and probably any farming sim game you’ve looked up, along with the Sims, any of them are fun to play! I find video games fun and a great way to rest my hands. Because I am constantly using my hands everyday whether it’s for painting, crochet, Cricut crafts, or writing for this blog and then typing, I give my hands quite the workout everyday! I am always trying to be careful to not over work them! You can actually pull things in them and depending on what it was, it can be damaging to them long term so I do my best to give my hands breaks. My favorite way to do this is by playing a fun cozy game!
Lately my go to games have been Palia, a cozy MMO game currently in Beta, Disney Dreamlight Valley, also in early access, Pokémon(I’m working through all of the games I own along with what my boyfriend owns), and Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town, a fun and slow farming simulation game! I sometimes dip my feet into Minecraft but then I get reeled in by my other games! I not only find games fun and relaxing but also visually appealing. Sometimes these visuals inspire me to create too! I absolutely love the art styles of Palia and Pokémon!
A media that I consume almost everyday is videos from YouTube! I most often watch art content, true crime, and gaming. I most often out of these, watch art videos from other artists. I not only get to see their processes, but I also get ideas for my own work! I also learn tips and about other art mediums too! And I also love watching studio vlogs which are the day to day experiences of artists, not only creating their art but also sometimes see them run their own small businesses! Which is always inspiring to me as an artist who is working on my own art and small buisness!
Lately I have been watching these channels on YouTube: Adam Duff LucidPixul(fantastic for art advice and learning about the gaming industry as an artist!), Apple Cheeks(a great artist running her small buisness!), Bailey Sarian(a talented makeup artist who talks true crime!), CoconuTacha(a Welsh small buisness owner!), Danielle Kirsty(another talented makeup artist and talks true crime!), Jazza(a leader in the art YouTube space!), Jess Karp(not only a talented artist but also has fantastic videography skills!), Kelsey Rodriguez(a great source for art buisness advice!), MimimooIllustration(also fantastic for art buisness advice and adorable drawings!), Mira Byler(a for always watch of mine for art content!), Royalty Now Studios(not only talented recreations of historical figures but great history content along with them!), SimplyPressStart(another staple of my YouTube viewing with cozy games!), Stephanie Harlowe(A smart woman who does great work in true crime!), Tina Le(a well accomplished DIYer and home designer!), WadeLady(another great source for cozy gaming!) I know this is a lot, but I watch a lot of Youtube content! It’s the social media platform I use the most of my time! I watch videos while creating art, while I work on my small buisness, this blog, and in my free time! This is only some of the channels I watch, but they are my current favs!
Along with Youtube artists, generally consuming the of others, whether on Instagram or on Pinterest, I love seeing the art of others! It can be inspiring to see how the creativity of another person produced the artwork before me! And sometimes it can inspire me in my own work! I find most of the art I consume on Pinterest, usually in the pursuit of a creative project in mind, but I also love to just scroll through seeing what others are creating! Lately, my interests have been in colorful digital illustrations, clay, and crochet projects!
And finally, a staple source of inspiration that I get creative energy from is nature! No matter what season, I always find creative bursts of energy from nature! My favorite seasons are spring and fall, as they in my opinion, have the most going on to me. Spring is the world waking up from a long winter and so we watch that waking up in the form of new growth of leaves on trees and flowers blooming.
My number 1 inspiration from nature has always been flowers! It is what I draw most and it is because of how beautiful they are! They always make me happy and there are so many in the world!
Fall, has the changing of colors on trees that just are so beautiful, sometimes I don’t know what to do! Lately, I have been saying goodbye to the sunny and hot days of summer and hello to the rainy, chillier days of autumn! I am enjoying these cozy vibes of rain and the fresh cold air on my face. It makes me want to just cozy up and crochet and read all day! I’m also enjoying the beautiful golden feel of the change of colors on the trees and bushes!
Fall allows me to be ever so present in life and I love that. Sometimes fall can bring the first of what can be a handful of bursts of depressive episodes as I am seeing the sun less until spring, so it’s very important for me to enjoy all that fall gives me and use that to ground myself while I deal with those bits of depression. Fall always allows me to tap into a lot of creative energy and calming my soul as I begin the end of my year!
I hope this blog post has allowed you to see that inspiration is everywhere! Living life itself can be inspirational all on its own. I hope if you were feeling stuck, I’ve guided you to sources to find creative energy! It’s also okay, if you need a creative break. As creators we can’t create all the time. It’s enough to be creative. It’s enough to have the ability and courage to be creative 90% of the time. If you need 10% off, then just live life! I promise, life will give you that creative drive back when it’s time to get back to it!
