Sometimes the life that inspires my art keeps me too busy to actually make the art. Right now I’m at one of those seasons. There is a garden to plant, native plants to observe and document, and projects that need to be done while the sun shines. Not unlike the need to make hay while the sun shines.

The irritating thing is that this doesn’t leave me a lot of time to make paintings. But the good thing about it is that it refills my well of inspiration. So when I do have time to paint, I am doing so with fresh memories and impressions that always do contribute to whatever I’m working with on the canvas.

Life that Inspires

Much about the part of life that inspires me is being outdoors. Living here in a way-back part of the land in the Ozarks means that we have things to do outdoors often. And some things that I just ‘want’ to do, like look at plants. Or spend time sitting down by the chipmunk hill to try and get photos of them (haven’t managed this one yet, but it’s on my list).

Working on building and growing things in my garden is also inspirational, although you don’t see that immediately when you look at my art. But if you look closer, you’ll see the bronze colored skink on the bridge into my garden.

You’ll see the fence lizard on a rock. While that wasn’t in my garden, it was outdoors and I saw it while working with my husband on our solar project.

And if you go far enough back, you’ll see some rockwork in the watercolor, Coffee Nook.

That exact scene doesn’t exist, but the rockwork in it was drawn from my own rockwork in my garden, even if my isn’t so fabulous as my imagination.

Gathering Inspiration Always

Sometimes, the things I see when I’m going to town become inspiration for art. The owl that is resting on my easel now is one such example. I saw the owl and the background of my painting’s setting in two separate instances. So it’s not an exact representation of a specific thing I saw, but a combination of things that caught my eye while driving.

Not to fear – I’ll be painting again soon

While it gives me some anxiety to not be in a position to work on painting as often as I’d like to, I do get some comfort in knowing that everything I do and see between sessions is just life that inspires my art. I’ll get back to that painting as soon as I can.

For now, I have a greenhouse to help build, a garden to plant, and orchids to observe. And if I’m lucky, some chipmunks to photograph. I’m hoping to get a good reference photo to make a chipmunk painting eventually.