What Inspires You?

I am finally sitting down trying to muster up some list of my creative inspirations; honestly, my list resembles an almost blank word document. Lately, I have been hitting a total ‘writers block’. I feel as if I am in a vacuum, a blank space, a void but the void is closing in giving me less room to move or breathe. Deep breathe, eyes closed, another deep breathe… repeat? And thus the word vomit continues, and the ideas are still nowhere to be found in the blown chunks of scattered ideas. Yikes, ew, apologies. Being unfiltered helps the creative energies flow more. But Okay, real talk.

I have been trying to get out of my head more and more lately, to think less and just do more; oddly, it has been helping. When I walk to class, I try closing my eyes to hone into the sounds, vibrations, and environment around me. Much of my inspiration comes from trying to do something different everyday. I am someone who gets freaked out by repetition in life. I get bored easily, especially, when my life gets too comfortable. I think this is why I have a desire to move around as often as I can. Spontaneity drives me – not knowing where I will be, who I will be with, what I will be doing in six months gives me drive, gives me an adrenalin that is too easily addictive. Being able to see new places, meet new people, and explore different cultures gets me in tune with my creativity. This is why traveling is a large proponent in inspiring my work.

Being from a rural town in Idaho with a population of 2,000 can either make you want to stay after graduation get married to your high school sweetheart and give birth to some little nuggets or it can make you want to run away and never look back. I am the latter. Although I appreciate my roots, I always knew that there was something bigger and better out their for me. My dreams were not in tiny town US, they are out there floating around in the air being taken by the wind making me follow them to possibly smaller spaces but also larger ones; Ones with diversity in the people, culture, and terrain. I hope throughout my life, I will continue to search for more beautiful noises to discover, smells to uncover, and places to stare longingly at, where my senses will be stimulated. And if I am not, I must be dead.

The mystery behind the world excites me. I am a huge supporter of just getting in your car and driving to discover lands that might have you completely surprised or completely disappointed. I have this continual love, like a fiery burning passionate love, for the novel, ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coehlo. He speaks a truth about travel, adventures, passions, dreams, and fears that give me a new perspective and clarity on life every time I read it. Although I find inspiration in the unexpected, there is something to be said about the simplicity in life. Coehlo once said: “The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.” Although I could get better at this concept, I find these words absolutely beautiful. Sometimes I over think creativity, but when I finally step back and remember that most things can be simple and lovely…. It really just depends on how you take a step back and look at it.

Lately, I have really been into collecting stickers from all the places I have been too, but they have to be TINY. I only buy the tiny ones. Not sure where I got the inspiration to start decorating my laptop, water bottle, honestly anything customizable. Not quite sure where the inspiration of tiny stickers came from but tiny stickers inspired me to start drawing tiny things, make tiny things, really do anything creativity that can be tiny.

Nature will and always will be a reoccurring topic within my works. I grew up in a valley surrounded by mountains that became my background. The trees became my shelter, the flowers became my medicine, the mushrooms became the poison, and the animals became my friends or so I thought all these things when I was little. But I use those experiences within my work now. Tying in the mountain ranges I would hike and ski, the smells of the flowers I collected when I was little, and so many more scenes of wild Idaho that I use to help me show the feelings I have felt through sound, illustration, and digital projects. I use nature as a form of inspiration because it is something that I feel like I can easily grasp. It is always a good start when I am feeling blocked creatively. Feeling the comfort of something similar helps me remember that you can go beyond it and push yourself to farther places.

Music has been a huge inspiration in my pieces lately. I love the classics – I grew up with a lot of the Beatles playing in my childhood home but definitely have gotten more into the electronic music for its different sounds. It is completely mind blowing that there is probably millions beyond millions of musical pieces out in the world. Not all are good, not all are bad, some are absolutely whimsical and others give you the chills but behind the music is someone creating a piece of work that is their own from their own inspirations that they are truly proud of. I feed off of the happiness and excitement others have about their work. It is truly a raw emotion that can definitely inspire you to be wicked stoked about your own work because I feel like my biggest downfall is being my own worst critic.