January 23, 2008

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One of the things that is becoming more important to me is that of recording my own inspiration. As much as I love all of you, I do have somewhat of a mockingbird complex - I tend to mimic and imitate those artists that I find beautiful, losing track of my own "voice" in the process.

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Now of course, there is "nothing new under the sun" - art is not made in a vacuum, and we all work from inspiration and influences. I don't claim to be immune from that. What I need to work on is being conscientious about finding and recording inspirations from my daily life, instead of living vicariously through others' work.

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Simple as it is, this is somewhat scary for me. Most of the people I know would classify me as someone with a defined sense of personal style and asthetic. So to admit that it's not always the case, to revisit and critically analyze that definition, is something very daunting indeed.

5 comments:

Anna McClurg said...

I can relate with you on this as well. Although I know what I like and what I dislike, I sometimes find it hard to translate that into my own without copying. But I do think it's probably the same with everyone. As artists and lovers of beauty, we all get inspired by one another. It's kind of cool how it works. That's why I love this blog community. So much inspiration out there. I just need to focus more on my own creativity. :)

Anonymous said...

I totally know what you mean! It is very hard to find one's own style while constantly being inspired in other's work! I tend to find that journaling lists of my favorite things helps me narrow in on what I like best! Thank you for sharing!

Anonymous said...

I'll chime in with Anna and Blaze and say I know exactly where you are coming from! Sometimes I feel I just have to step away from all the "media influences" in order to listen to the own voice of creativity in myself. I've been trying sooo hard lately to just follow my own vision and creativity. Alas, it is proving harder and more frightening than I anticipated! hehe! But you're not alone... :)

bery said...

Aww... *icecream*

Your post helped me think of something. I often worry when I write about stealing too much--consciously or, more often, subconsciously--from others' work. But when I was thinking of a reply to you, I thought: most great artists learned, in the beginning, by copying the masters, and then they developed their unique art by building on or breaking down what already existed. And then I thought that that instead of saying that to you, I should adopt that idea into my own life! Ha! Thanks for the post!!

erica-knits said...

I feel the same. Great post.