What Inspires You?
It all started with a teapot.
I had joined a still-life challenge with Helen Stark and needed objects I love to put in the project. My great aunt’s teapot! It was a no-brainer. Being my favorite color and having come to me from a favorite relative, I chose the little teapot.
From there, I worked in a plant I love and (OF COURSE) books. Lastly, I chose a beautiful little vase that felt like just the right size and shape. But the teapot was the inspiration.
Still, Sweet Moments, acrylic patinting, 11” x 14”
What inspires you? We ALL need inspiration.
We get depleted. We wear out at times. Often we try to pour out more than we have to give, and exhaust ourselves. We think we are being super spiritual and feel so good about our sacrifices until our minds and bodies get damaged in the process. We can only take so much before our bodies respond. And that is a good thing. It is a check, if we are willing to listen.
Inspire: to draw breath in; to inhale air into the lungs; opposed to expire.
I had no idea this is what inspire meant by definition.
And “to be inspired” in my American Dictionary of the English Language, 1824 says, “ breathed in” but also, “informed or directed by the Holy Spirit.” (Just a tip, get a copy of this dictionary if you don’t have one.)
In whatever we are doing, we need inspiration.
“God is going to reveal to us things He never revealed before if we put our hands to His. No books ever go into my laboratory. The thing I am to do and the way of doing it are revealed ot me. I never have to grope for methods. The method is revealed to me the moment I am inspired to create something new. Without God to draw aside the curtain, I would be helpless.
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Not in a Hurry. acrylic painting 10” x 10”
We just have to trust Him and be willing to lean in and listen.
If you meet with a complication today, just push pause and lean in. Ask God to lead in you, advise you. And be still and wait. If you have a thought or impression, step toward it and see what happens. If you don’t, just begin to move on through your day with a heightened awareness that he may reveal something to you during your day. Don’t suppose that He doesn’t care or isn’t speaking because you didn’t get insight immediately. I’m going to be honest with you. He doesn’t often respond immediately. We have just become an impatient people who have been discipled by the internet (John Eldredge’s words) to expect answers immediately. That is a worldly expectation.
I have had an art piece I started months ago that went south. I tried some things I had never tried before. When I finished, I didn’t like it. But I did not get rid of it. I stuck it in the closet. (Experiment 1—fail.)
Several weeks ago, I wondered if I could remove a few collage pieces I didn’t like, to see if it would help. So I leaned into it again. Deep sanding, and although I liked it better, I had no idea where it was headed. I really couldn’t see any kind of meaningful direction. I stuck it back in the closet. (Experiment 2—fail.)
I have worked for 3 weeks on the first-mentioned still-life painting with the current setup: teapot, books, plant, and tiny vase. The challenge ended, and I assumed I was done. But there was still some stirring of inspiration that wasn’t settled with this idea. Ideas of collage kept circulating. While on my walk, I was listening to an art podcast I love, an idea came forward. The hosts were talking about setting up a studio, and I started having thoughts of that collaged canvas in my studio. I came home and was still sweating from my walk. I picked up a palette knife and mixed some paint. I started painting with that knife and ended up with a base coat on top of that collage that I like better than any of the other paintings I have done so far. (Experiment 3—great potential.)
I don’t know what I am going to do next with this painting. But this I do know:
I’m not going to stress.
I am going to try a few things
I will move slowly.
I will pray for direction.
I won’t be in a hurry.
I may not get the answer today. That is ok. It may not come this week or this month. This is a journey. Being inspired by God is lifelong and into eternity. od.
Invite the Lord to meet with you and inspire you. Try some things in your life and work that you might never have tried before, just to see what happens. That experiment you try might not yield something you like, but who knows what it will lead you towards?
Enjoy the journey and lean into things and places that inspire you. I would love to hear about your inspiring journeys with the Lord!
