Every day most of us are challenged to use our creativity in some fashion. Maybe we need to become a magician and meet an impossible deadline, or figure out how to make six rolls of sod cover an area that needs eight rolls. Or maybe we’re staring at a blank computer screen, a new text document page open, cursor blinking, awaiting our fingers to touch the keys in a stroke of genius to write that winning proposal, that amazingly heartbreaking poem, the next great American novel or a Grammy Award-winning song. The blank canvas awaiting paint. A glob of clay awaiting shaping. A difficult conversation with a spouse or mate. Whatever creative challenges we each face during our daily lives, sometimes we get stuck, find ourselves in a rut, and allegedly unable to get to the next level. We are uninspired. How do we inspire ourselves?

Recently, I received an email from a friend asking that very question. “How do you find inspiration to create?” he wanted to know. He was embarking on a new project and had hit a wall. I thought that it was courageous of him to ask someone like me, an unknown artist on the other side of the country, for advice. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and I’ve talked with other musicians and artists and asked them where they find their creativity and inspiration when they’ve got a block. I’ll focus this How to Find Inspiration article towards artists, but it can be applied in many different walks of life.

1. Deep Observation. Of self, of your surroundings, your thoughts, goals, successes and failures. I like to start outward and work in. Grab a notebook or sketchpad and head to a place that inspires me. Sometimes it’s out in nature, near a river or up in a mountain. Other times, it’s as an unnoticed face in a crowd as I people-watch. I write down thoughts and ideas as they come to me, and I go back later to reflect on the initial bursts of idea in more depth. I think about how the external themes I’ve recorded may apply to me, and then eventually ask myself how those themes can be expressed with intimate personal depth but still apply as a universal truth.

2. Other Artists. When I feel uninspired, I go to the library and sit on the floor with art books sprawled around me. I always like to choose some favorites, and a few that are unfamiliar. I keep a notebook of ideas that sometimes includes rough sketches of an idea, but always a line or two about a project I want to start. Sometimes, it isn’t the library, but the Internet where I look at inspiring artwork. Drawn!, Flickr, DeviantArt, PhotoJojo, a random Google search, The Wooster Collective, or even a place like Bighappyfunhouse. In the case of my friend, the musician, I’d try head to the record store and browse via the headphones music with which he’s unfamiliar. Ask friends to make mix CDs of new music that they’ve been listening to with which you may be unfamiliar (so that you can use it as a jumping-off point for your own creativity, of course, not to pirate music. And, if you like the stuff on the mix CD, go out and buy the original). Go see some live music of bands or genres with which you aren’t familiar. Always explore the unknown genres of art, music, whatever when finding yourself uninspired.

3. Other Types of Art. If you are a visual artist, go listen to some live music or see a play. Watch a ballet. Check out some performance art. On a budget? Check your weekly independent newspaper, often there are many free cultural events happening around town that you can take in and help fill your creativity cup.

4. Collaboration. Nothing fuels creativity like collaborating with someone else on a piece of art or a project. The major challenge when collaborating is to let go of all expectations, and allow the process to create the art along with you. It’s one of the most challenging things I’ve ever tried, but when it works, it’s a lot of fun and also very rewarding. One of the big problems for many folks when collaborating, including myself, is not only letting go of expectations, but also of ego. When you collaborate, you have to be humble and open to new input and the ideas of others.

5. Experimentation. I work a lot with collage and abstract paintings. A while back, I was tired of the art on my walls that I’d made, and tired of what I was producing. I had some huge canvases that I’d gotten for free, some time on my hands, lots of paint, and no ideas. I decided to try something I’d never done. They reason I think that the paintings were successful is that I gave myself permission to fail. Sometimes in life you may think that you do not have that luxury, but, as James Joyce said, “A man of genius makes no mistakes, his errors are volitional and the portals to discovery.” By experimenting and playing, I found some things that worked that I knew I could apply in the future, and things I didn’t like so much that I likely won’t try again.

6. Deadlines. Sometimes, there is no way around it. You have to git-r-done and you have a specific cut-off point that if you miss it, you could die. Figuratively, of course. The death might be one of public embarrassment, missing a deal at work, or closing doors in the future. Last year, I wasn’t feeling particularly motivated to make art, so I created for myself a deadline. I agreed to do an opening in June with a very short notice. I pulled it off, and the June show lead to a July show, which led to an August show that bled into September. With each show, I learned something about the process of putting a show together, but I also found myself feeling more creative and making more art.

7. Money. There is no way around it, Shakespeare’s got to get paid, Son. There will always be rent or a mortgage to make, car insurance, utilities, groceries. A person needs money to live. And sometimes when I know that I can make money by making a certain piece of art, that motivates me to make the art. If, after I’ve made it, I think it has any less passion or is in any way inferior to my other work, I don’t continue down that path. But money can be a strong motivator and inspiration.

8. Nothing. Sometimes there is absolutely no way I can get motivated or inspire myself. It’s at those times that I “just show up”, as was suggested in The Artist’s Way. Show up at the page. Write. Paint. Collage. Sing. Whatever your chosen art, show up at your specific “page” everyday and make your art. Practice makes perfect, and repetition breeds habit. Habits breed lifestyles, and if you are an artist, it is a lifestyle choice. I met Garrison Keillor once at a reception in Akron, Ohio after having heard him speak, and, at the time, I fancied myself a writer specifically. I was not focused at all on making visual art. I asked him, “What advice do you have for an aspiring young writer?” He said, “Write.” That’s it. Do it every day.

This list is, of course, not an exhaustive list. It’s a jumping-off point and can easily be added to. I invite you, especially artists, to share in the comments what inspires you to create, and how you become and remain inspired.

Donate and Support the Artist

If you found this article useful, please consider making a small donation. I accept donations in any amount, none are too small or too large. All donations and gifts will be used to further my artwork. Donations are easy to give online, via Paypal or if you would like to work out any other method of supporting your local arts, please contact me directly via email.

The Reverend was riding his double-decker bike beside us as we pedaled along the bike trail near the Clark Fork River. It was a beautiful low-heat, low-smoke late summer day in Missoula, and this crazy guy in white was hollering encouragement to us through a megaphone as we got the parade rolling. People rode on all sorts o bikes, from box-store BMXs to hand built metamorphosis rigged up with independently swinging rear tires. It was indeed a freakshow.

It was a freakshow that celebrated alternative transportation, and it’s a freakshow that comes to western towns every year, sponsored by New Belgium Brewing Company. It’s a free festival of live music and performance art, magic tricks and acrobatics, flameshooting pogo sticks and beer. Oh, yes, there is beer. But, this year, at four dollars for a “Token of Our Affection”, the cool little wooden beer tokens, my budget didn’t allow for much imbibing.

This year, I had some errands to run with a friend during the middle of the festival, so after the parade, we cut out early and headed off to get our lives out of the way so that we could get back to the festival. We missed most of the theatrics and music, so we spent our time watching the crazy bikes. In the middle of the park, a metal gate formed a circle in which rested an array of crazy bikes, ranging from the simple unicycle to the exercise bike that had no pedals, but was powered the rider’s ass moved up and down on the seat. It was hilarious watching people try to ride these bikes, and then the fun started with the Drag Show Race.

After one of the Tour de Fat’s workers explained from one of the main stages that the Tour is completely powered by alternative fuels, a faux NASCAR loving guy came out to make fun of the sustainability of the festival. After we had just listened to The Reverend explain that the entire stage and sound system is powered by the sun, that the plastic cups in our hands were made from a corn product that is compost-able, that all of the vehicles on the Tour are Bio-diesel, NASCAR Boy said that riding a bike is like having a fast car and making a right turn, referring to race tracks where one drives fast and turns left.

With that as a lead-in, the Drag Race began. Two teams chosen from the audience and comprised of a man and a woman each, the contestants rode fixed gear bikes with small tires around a small race-course. The women went first, and seemed to have a pretty good handle on it. During the required pit stop, they were then dressed up in NASCAR regalia before they were allowed to continue their last lap. They handed off the bikes to the men, who had a more difficult time figuring out how the things worked, but they got the hang of it in time for the required pit stop, where their female teammates had a blast dressing them in drag and sending them on their way.

We soon left in search of food and more beer, last call having been called, and our stomachs ready for a meal.

The Tour de Fat, while celebrating alternative transportation, also encourages alternative thinking and community. Creativity and art. Fun and relationship building.

And, I’ve decided that it is the New Halloween in Montana. Without cold weather to impede costumes that require one to go coatless, the Tour de Fat bike parade is the place to show off one’s costume prowess.

Check out all of the 2007 Missoula Tour de Fat photos

I’ve got 2 pieces in the show, but only 1 with a photo right now. I’ll update soon with more details and a photo of the piece in question.

ADAPTIVE ACTION SPORTS PUNK ROCK BENEFIT SHOW

Adaptive Action Sports (AAS) is a non-profit dedicated to athletes with permanent physical disabilities and a diligent supporter of “action” sports. Through grants and private donation, AAS raises the bar to create the most outstanding adaptive snowboard events in the world. This is your opportunity to raise the bar a little higher and make a donation to the adaptive shredder.

The Punk Rock Benefit Show is a fund-raiser to help send our adaptive athletes to the world’s premiere snowboard/ski/skateboard camp in the known universe, Windells Camp of Mt. Hood, OR. Once there, our riders will improve their skills with knowledge passed down from today’s top pros in the industry. Please come and rock out at the Badlander or make a donation to AAS at our website www.adaptiveactionsports.org

• Adaptive Action Sports Punk Rock Benefit Show — at The Badlander, July 25, 9pm, $5 cover
• Bands Playing: Jacktop Town, Heiress Pilton, Joey Butta and the Fuctones
• Also, a raffle and a silent auction of artists including Marc Moss and friends original Skate/Peg-leg Sculpture Click here to see the flier

Head over to the Photoset for full-sized images and more details.

Adaptive Action Sports (AAS) is a non-profit dedicated to athletes with permanent physical disabilities and a diligent supporter of “action” sports. Through grants and private donation, AAS raises the bar to create the most outstanding adaptive snowboard events in the world. This is your opportunity to raise the bar a little higher and make a donation to the adaptive shredder.

The Punk Rock Benefit Show is a fund-raiser to help send our adaptive athletes to the world’s premiere snowboard/ski/skateboard camp in the known universe, Windells Camp of Mt. Hood, OR. Once there, our riders will improve their skills with knowledge passed down from today’s top pros in the industry. Please come and rock out at the Badlander or make a donation to AAS at our website www.adaptiveactionsports.org.

• Adaptive Action Sports Punk Rock Benefit Show — at The Badlander, July 25, 9pm, $5 cover
• Bands Playing: Jacktop Town, Heiress Pilton, Joey Butta and the Fuctones
• Also, a raffle and a silent auction of artists including Marc Moss and friends original Skate/Peg-leg Sculpture

Another posting straight from the Missoula Cultural Council email distribution list.  This time, every state in the nation is directly afftected.  Read on.  Act.

——————-

After postponing due to a procedural delay, the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to begin floor consideration of the FY 2008 Interior appropriations bill tomorrow [( 06.26.07)]. As you might have read in our Arts Action Alerts in the past few weeks, this bill includes an historic $35 million increase for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).  This increase will bring the NEA budget to $160 million and will provide new funding for the grants to state and local organizations, Challenge America, and American Masterpieces programs.  This directly affects the arts in Montana!

We learned this morning [ 06.25.070] that Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL) (who received a “D” voting grade in our 2006 Congressional Arts Report Card) is planning to offer an amendment to cut funding to the NEA when the bill is considered on the House floor.  We have worked too hard to allow this amendment to pass!

If you have not yet sent a message, we ask that you take just two minutes to visit our Americans for the Arts E-Advocacy Center to contact your Members of Congress and ask them to support passage of H.R. 2643, (the House Interior Appropriations bill) and oppose this amendment.  With a few clicks, you can send this customizable message to your Representative and Senators.

It only takes two minutes to make a difference - please send this message now

He walked into the bar with a swagger exuding confidence. On his head, he wore a hat reminiscent of the 1940’s, and, the thing was, he pulled it off. He had just finished a long day — nine hours — of painting, and had come back for a nightcap or two. He is Noah Ptolemy, who worked long days to complete a commissioned mural in the hallway at the newly opened Badlander Bar in the historic Hotel Palace building in Missoula, Montana. Over the course of the week, I would watch Ptolemy as he worked tirelessly on the playful expanse that includes a parade of red elephants amid a green sea filled with yellow sailboats.

Over the course of the past year or so, Ptolemy is coming into his own in the Missoula art community. The 26 year old is well traveled, having done time in big cities like New York, Detroit and Seattle, even making it as far as Japan in a search to fill a hole in his life. It was in Detroit that he initially began to realize that art was the missing piece, the thing that would ultimately fill the hole he felt.

After arriving in Missoula, Ptolemy had stopped creating and was feeling edgy and depressed again. He listened to himself honestly and once again returned to creating artwork to heal himself. As he painted, he sold his art in the streets of Missoula to try to make ends meet. Most recently, Ptolemy has been exhibiting at a variety of galleries in town, and his work can currently be seen at The Catalyst .

The first time I watched Ptolemy work, however, I did not know that he was even going to be painting. There was an art event happening at Caras Park downtown that had not been well publicized. Either that, or I just had not been paying attention. It was a Saturday afternoon in early spring, a warm day, and I was walking downtown to grab some lunch. As I crossed the bridge, I noticed the goings-on below me, and I walked down the steps to see what was happening. I wandered through the tent and saw the same familiar food vendors, the same beer tent. But what really caught my eye was a huge wall of yellow canvas that was, even then, drastically changing by the minute. Several other people had gathered to watch the artist at work, and I recognized him as Ptolemy. I walked up as he was painting to congratulate him on such a high exposure piece, and he grinned, telling me that the paints and the canvas had been donated. He wasn’t getting paid, but he was just happy to be able to paint on such a large scale. I could see the joy in his face and was happy for him. He had to work fast, as the painting was to be completed by day’s end. By the end of it, he told me, he was tired and sore from all of the reaching and bending he had to do in order to finish the painting. It was fun for me as a fellow artist to watch him work, but, as a simple casual observer, it was almost as much fun to watch others watch him work, and see the smiles as they witnessed one brushstroke cut a large swath of gray across the field of yellow that had developed, or as an area that looked completely developed disappeared beneath another field of yellow.

More photos of Ptolemy working:

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Last week I wrote about appropriating Missoula’s public spaces for a renegade art show in the alley. As I was still setting up the show, a young mother walked into the alley with her two young sons. I stopped setting up and grabbed a roll of newsprint that I had and tore off a generous sized piece. I duct taped it to the ground and set out two pint glasses of colored Sharpies.

“Are you guys artists?” I asked , inviting them to draw on the paper as I continued setting up. I wanted to keep their mother in the alley so that she could see all of the work, and also so that her presence might attract other people into the alley to look at the art.

The kids colored away busily as I finished setting up. Their mother looked at all of the art, and she was the one who said, “I’m so glad you’re doing this!” Over the course of the evening, many other kids would attack the Sharpies and fill the newsprint with their own spontaneous art. And when I say that they attacked the Sharpies, I’m serious. I’ve never seen such dented Sharpies as I did after those kids used them.



But it wasn’t just the kids that were busy coloring away. I caught at least three adults over the course of the evening gripping the colorful markers and losing themselves for a few minutes.

Home Resource had their annual spring cleaning recently, in which they give away house paint, doors, windows and all other sorts of DIY fix-it goodness. I picked up several gallons of latex house paint with the intention of experimenting in a new medium. It was a rainy day, so I threw all of the paint into the trunk of my car and forgot about it for a few days.

The sun comes out, and I head to my garage to stretch some canvas. Then I remember the paint, so I pull my car around to the garage to unload it. A partially full gallon of “Bistro Yellow” had leaked onto a tarp I have in the back.

No paint got in the car itself, so that’s good.Then it struck me to use the wet paint to paint print on a canvas. I pushed it onto the canvas in random patterns, then left it to dry, as I had other places to be.

I had placed the can on top of some cut glass that was sitting on an old chair. I thought the paint had just spilled from a not-tightly-sealed lid. When I went out into the garage a couple of days later, I discovered that this was not the case, and that there was a hole in the bottom of the can, because it leaked all over the glass and the chair.

Of course, I decided to make impressions on the canvas using the glass with the wet paint on it.

I also peeled away the paint itself, and found that it too was wet underneath, so I used the paint itself as a way to make prints of the wet paint.

I started two different canvases, and neither are finished. It’s fun experimenting an playing, and I’ve needed to do something different for a while, so this could turn into something cool.

With the above canvas, because it’s not treated with Gesso, I’m thinking I’ll soak it with water before applying a wash to it, so that the yellow stands out from the wash and is not covered by it.

I’m not sure what I’ll do with this one, but I know that it isn’t finished.