Inspiration Drop

Grief and other things to distract myself with art, fashion, and food (not sponsored)

Text to Image using Canva, prompt: stripes, green, fashion on a building with filmic filter, 2023.

Saying goodbye to a beloved pet is so hard, and this goodbye was so drawn out because he was already quite sick the year before, but this post isn’t a eulogy or a public display of my own grief. Instead, I decided to share some of the things that I have been distracting myself with over the last couple of weeks aside from welcoming a new little pet family member into the fold.

So, here are some of the things that have made a difference to my creativity recently:

1. I haven’t been watching TV before bed or doom scrolling to feed my imposter syndrome (puppy schedule forced this routine but it’s a good one!) and has led to me having over 2 hours regularly of REM (that’s dreamtime).

2. I have seen the sunrise every day because of my new body clock being up before the birds, and because I am in bed earlier, I don’t feel resentful or deprived for being awake so early.

3. Dancing, I dance and do personal training each week for fitness but so good for my mind and consequently – creativity!

4. I have been lucky to have some wonderfully stimulating and supportive creative discussions with friends in person and online (you know who you are and thank you for listening).

5. Inspired by the incredible Erin Deering to make time to think about my next creative moves and not waste that precious time being idle and consumed by streaming and scrolling but mentally productive and allowing those big dream goals to percolate.

I have put together a small edit of some of the other visual stimuli that is lifting me up right now, because I know how you love to see it when I share them on my Instagram Stories.

Flowers and food

#BTS with my creative bestie Lauren Peters from Me&MyGirl, 2023

First up, a little snippet of some of the amazing things I got up to with Lauren recently on the first part of our artful project together. This is the ‘Creative at Play’ and goodness do we play. I can’t explain to you the synergy we have together on work like this and we must find a way to do more of it! More on this very soon! Beautiful blooms featured in this series were put together by Kelly from Blush Floral Design and sweet treats from Mr Burch.

Fashion

I am looking forward to drawing inspiration for spring this season to create a lot more inks and penwork, and it seems like many people are looking to add a bit more colour into their wardrobes too. For me? I am wearing less colour and moving back to crisp black and white cottons with great shapes and splashes of colour if I feel like it. When I am in a high creative output phase, I need a quick uniform that doesn’t make my mind feel busy but productive and a mix between sporty and feminine. I am on the hunt for wide leg Adidas green pants aka Denise Boomkens (@and.bloom).

Image Source: Denise Bookens, AndBloom 2023

Art

When I am feeling a bit flat or in a creative sticking point, I get back to the major galleries in Melbourne to reset, if I can’t get to the galleries – I read or quietly look through the many beautiful books on my shelf. Some of the artists I keep coming back because they remind me to be expressive, daring, and experimental but deliberate with colour.

Louise Olsen

Image Source: Olsen Gallery, stockroom listing of In the Silence, oil and acrylic on linen, 129 x 109 cm.

Georgia O’Keefe

Image Source: Huck magazine, TCO London, article on Georgia O’Keefe, 2018

Tell me, what is inspiring you today? I would love to hear what you think in the comments below or drop me a line at hello@thezingystudio.com