Art And Inspiration

Today I wrote three poems, first about inspiration to wisdom,
second about meaningful education, and third about the first two.

Every once in a while I have to turn myself around,
because even thought I am not rhyming, these poems still steer themselves.

And I simply want to write about,
what to draw, what to paint.

Choosing inspiration for art is a lot of trouble,
for one, it is just not possible to use a random picture.

You have to be connected to something inspiring,
and you have to be the one to take the reference photo.

Going from place to place in search for inspiration,
can often result in never finding anything at all.

And this is a huge problem,
because without inspiration to art ... you can't create art.

One time at the college,
everyone was asked to hurry out of the class room.

And I realized,
a naked model was preparing to pose.

I remembered how the teachers assistant, pointed at a small seemingly comfortable bar stool,
made a face that I've never seen before, and muttered "I would never sit on this".

The last thing I saw before leaving the classroom,
was the teacher plastering paper over the glass portholes in the door.

If the model wishes to celebrate beauty that's fine,
but a strange stranger does nothing to inspire the artist.

I think it is Frankl's description of success that gets it right:

"...success, like happiness, cannot be pursued;
it must ensue, and it only does so,
as the unintended side effect
of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself..."

So it maybe that the search for art inspiration,
must be a by-product of something greater.

And I can't think of anything more colorful, right now,
then the things one discovers on little adventures.

There is no telling what a little adventure is,
but if I was pressed to describe one.

I would say that a little adventure,
is going somewhere somewhat within a walking distance.

One of my adventures that I adore,
is taking a long lonesome walk across the city of Plymouth, in Michigan.

I ended up in an old bookstore,
and all the way in the back, on the bottom shelf, tucked atop a dusty cardboard box filled with magazines.

Sat the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millamn,
it is not a perfect book, they rarely ever are.

But read it in a single go,
and it kindled my life long love for Antique Stores and Knickknacks and Trinkets, and bookstore cats.

That in my book,
is a perfect adventure.

Had I been an Artist back then,
I would have taken a nice photo of the bookstore.

Then I would use an office projector to project it on a few sheets of drawing paper,
and a couple of large canvas.

Do a couple sketches at the site,
probably work on a painting, though I would do the under-painting at home and wait for the oils to dry.

I'd sign my name with a Kitty Cat drawing,
and leave one of my paintings at the books store.

Th inspiration for the painting would be lots of things,
I'd wait for a person to give the now finished Peaceful Warrior book to.

I'd try pastries from various coffee shops in the area,
talk to strangers, sit on the bench, and maybe wait for the autumn to roll in.

It is your work of art,
you don't need to find inspiration that inspires the world.

You just need the inspiration,
that inspires you to a new work of art.