Where do your inspirations come from?

                                        This is a question that I am often asked.....
                            particularly in regard to some of my off beat costumes
                              like 'A Couple of Nice Fresh Snappers' and 'Tea Party'

                                         I often answer with..."I have no idea!"
                                                  which is absolutely true.
                                      However I have been pondering this question
                             since my return (bursting with inspiration) from Clay Push .

                                                I came home from my week away
                                           with various things singing in my heart.

                                      One was Lee Kang Hyo's freedom of expression

                                  another was Jeff Mincham's connection to landscape

                            and there were lots of technical tips from a variety of potters

                                                                           So......

                            How does this all fit into the idea of inspiration and the creative mind ?


                                          Well the thing is that when all these inspiring people,
                                                   events, things, places and works of art
                                             are put into the soup that is brewing in my mind,
                                 (which comes with its own history of experiences and tastes)
                                                                 anything can manifest!
                                             It is sure to be a unique and tasty combination of flavours
                                       that are all about my experiences with those events.


                                                              My pet hate is to see
                                                one artist copy another artists work.
                                                                   UGGGHHHH!
                                                                 It infuriates me!!!!
                                             There is no excuse for it but laziness
                                           and an inability to be true to their own journey.
                                                  I love to be inspired by other artists
                                                     but I like my work to be my own.

                                                   As you may know I was very into yoga
                                                          as a teenager and young adult
                                                            and although, these days,
                                        I am not the dedicated practitioner that I was back then,
                                         it does subtly inform my thinking and my attitude to life.

                                                   There is a teaching in yoga that says
                                         we all have samskaras ( impressions in the mind)
                                           and while I'm not convinced about the past life stuff
                                                        connected with this philosophy
                                        ( as I am very much a here and now kind of person)
                                                          I do find that I get moved by things
                                                              I see, hear, feel and read about.
                                                  Those impressions do hang in my head
                                and they blooming well grow until I HAVE to make something
                                            related to that experience or they wont go away.
                                          In yoga, meditation is used to get rid of these samskaras.
                                                   These days my art is my meditation
                                               and the samskaras I regard as my inspirations.
                                                              Just like the breath
                                                         * I breath them in (inspire)
                                                        * turn them into a creative thought
                                                        * then breath them out as my (h)art.

                                                             YES.......????  And..............????

                                                           OK ... Enough of the esoteric stuff!



                                            What have I started working on this week?

                                        Well....inspiration can come from unexpected places.

                                              I found this lovely basket in an old wares shop
                                              in Gulgong and I thought I might allow myself
                                            to be influenced by its form in a series of work.
                                           I love that it starts out square and becomes round
                                                     it reminds me of how life changes us.
                                                              

                                                   So here is the first in a series of work
                                                         inspired by all of the above.
                                                    Can you see the cross fertilisation?
                                                       And is it mine? And not theirs?
                                                                         

 

                                                              'A Whisper in the Trees'
                                                                by Sadhana Peterson
                                                         hand built and wheel thrown
                                                         stoneware with coloured slips

                                            not fired yet.... still wet .... hope it comes out ....
                                                               ummm ... interesting.