As an art student but also as someone who likes art you are often encouraged to go visit exhibitions, go to museums and really immerse yourself in art. I believe this is partly to develop a greater understanding of the contemporary art world but also for inspirations and to let the visual impact of other works of art enrich your own. It is both recommended and urged to the point that as an artist you feel like you really should visit plenty of exhibitions, and almost feel slightly less of an artist when you don’t. Obviously you can’t constantly be going to exhibitions, at some point you will have to actually sit down and create something (if you are an artist, art lovers of course don’t have to).
However, even though it isn’t quite the same, from time to time I will look at art on virtual galleries and browse the works of the many talented people across the globe, out of interest, for inspiration and to just marvel at their skill.
However I often feel in doing so that I dilute my own ideas and my visions for various projects. I’m not sure if this is because I’m simply looking at it wrong or maybe my ideas aren’t strong enough to withstand the impact of different ideas. I’d like to think that I am able to find inspiration in the small things in everyday life so maybe it is just that my mind get’s a bit overwhelmed with ideas. A little bit like how you might be in a particular mood for a snack but once you are in the store you suddenly want a bunch of other items. It is a struggle sometime though when you think you need some extra inspiration or even just need to confirm what way the shadow of a certain shape object would fall for example. Before you know it it feels like the mind that was originally clear like water, getting all muddled up with paint of all kinds of colors…
On the bright side though once I give myself a bit of time, for the excitement to subside I usually find my way back to my original ideas. Funny how that works.
– jeanie