Hunting & Gathering Inspiration...

I’ve worked for 20+ years as a Landscape Architect so its no surprise that my art is inspired by the outdoors. Whether I’m running, walking our dogs or working in the garden I am always picking up bits of nature that catch my eye, or snapping pics with my phone - trying to capture anything that makes me stop and gaze.  
I love the endless supply of design elements that nature can supply…interesting patterns, compositions, energetic organic lines, contrasting textures and  color combinations.

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One of my favorite sources of inspiration is the garden. I treat planting design like 'painting with plants' with broad strokes of color through a field of green. The blooms of the Pink Muhly grass do a great job of this!
I take a LOT of pictures throughout spring and summer to call on in winter when I need some color inspiration!

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A recent favorite palette from the garden is a cool sage green next to a more vibrant yellow green contrasted with a bit of burnt sienna from a branch,  or in this case dried Sedum blooms.

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I also turn to Instagram feeds for inspiration. A current favorite is an interior design feed @enter_my_attic. She posts gorgeous vignettes of minimal spaces. I love her color palettes and modern compositions accented with botanicals.

The trick is to then have a gathering place for all the inspo!  I started a new Instagram account just for this purpose @inspirationonmyrun. It's my easily accessible bank of images I can dive into when I need inspiration.

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My sketchbook is another place I keep my keep my findings.  Occasionally, when I don’t feel inspired or know what I want to work on I will do some visual ‘cataloguing’ of my gatherings - which usually leads to an idea.
 FUTURE GOAL: to spend more time reflecting on my gatherings, sketching- not for reality but to spark something new - a way of translating it into something of my own, my own visual language.

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