Finding your inspiration - the problem

Sometimes when you're faced with that blank paper/page/screen/journalling box you know vaguely what you want to put, but you can't start.

So approach it sideways. Start by defining the problem. Start with

• What I want to write about is...
• It's difficult to write about because...
• What I want it to end up like is...
• What I want people to think when they read this is...

By the time you've thoroughly explored the problem, you might find you've actually got the bones of what you want to write already there. At the very least you should have a better idea of how to start - so pick one of the other general journaling prompts and see if you can now start.

What I want to write about is our new garden - but it's difficult to write about because I usually journal about people and a garden isn't anything like as interesting.
What I want it to end up like is just a record of the garden changing from a mess to a lovely place to sit, after years of neglect. Perhaps I want to give a feel of why it's such a big thing - is it ok to mention cost? - and how it makes me feel already and how I hope it will make me feel?

Art - experiment

Art

Play with the word art in a creative way – cut out letters, use stamps. Create an ATC (Artist Trading Card). Use altered alphabets, mixed alpha stickers. Play with a word as a title… Just experiment!

To write, free associate starting with “art”.

ART is ...

Use the word ART as a writing or journalling prompt.

Give yourself ten minutes – set a timer or alarm if you can – and just keep your hand or fingers moving

If it helps, when you flag start again with one of these:

Art is . . .
The kind of art I like is . . .

I like art most when . . .

Art to me means . . .

It isn't art if it is . . .

Art inspiration: online gallery

Go to an art site and find a picture that inspires you.

Try:

The National Gallery
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/collection/default_online.htm

The Saatchi Gallery

http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

http://www.metmuseum.org/

The Louvre

http://www.louvre.fr/

Now start journalling - either about why you like it or what you think it means, or about what is in the photo - if people, what are they doing? If a place, how does it feel to be there?

Artist inspiration

Is there a particular artist or crafter who has influenced you?

Who is it? Research a bit about their life and work, or just explain what you feel about their work.

Journalling: I have been inspired a lot by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. I have used some of his designs as backing paper, I have bought stamps of his roses, and I have written a whole narrative story with his squares and roses as a theme. In some layouts, I have used an image from a Rennie Mackintosh calendar to cut out the letters for the titles.

Art & Books

The love of learning, the sequestered nooks
and all the sweet serenity of books ...
LONGFELLOW

This week the prompts are based around artistic inspiration.

What books have changed your life?
What was the last book you read?
Do books inspire creativity in you?

Journalling: I like to read inspirational scrapbooking and
cardmaking books, but as I become more experienced in papercraft and probably have developed more and more my own style, I find I get less and less out of these. But when I sit down and I don't know where to start, a glance through some books or magazines usually gives me enough inspiration to get started.