Finding inspiration in our everyday lives

Music Credit: Mountains by The Eastern Plain

Reflecting on the ‘why’ of our art is such an interesting and enlightening exercise. Why do we create what we create? Why are we drawn to certain subjects or approaches?

Vases, vessels, cups and mugs have always fascinated me. Small intimate, domestic objects of beauty. My parents had a love of ceramics and vases, I inherited many of them when they died. And I think that’s part of why I’m still drawn to them now.


They feel symbolic, a container of life, an emptiness ready to be filled… They hold memory, usefulness, beauty. Often handmade and handheld. A moment of decorative delight. Always purposeful. A small reminder that ordinary objects can carry deep meaning.

Draw what is there…

Lately, life’s been a bit busy. And often when I feel like this, I try and make making art easy for myself. The way I like to nurture my creativity is to draw what is already around me or to use what I already have. 
A favourite cup. A jug on the shelf. An interesting house plant. Things that feel familiar.
Reassuring.
 Part of my day to day life. The things that are right there in front of me.

Still life drawing has become a kind of small ritual to literally and metaphorically still my life.
 To slow me down enough to re-connect back to my self, reconnect back to my sense of home, my sense of psychological safety. A way of grounding myself in the here and now. 
A way of making something without needing it to be extraordinary.

The art of noticing

You don’t need a big idea to make a drawing.
 Sometimes, what you need is already in front of you. Still life observations and drawings help me to pay attention to shape and shadow,
 to pattern and line,
to the relationship I have with the objects in my home.

Drawing is a way to connect to my belongings,
to cherish what’s familiar, to remember that even the smallest things can hold meaning and beauty….

Perfectly imperfect

None of the drawings in my sketchbook are polished.
 Most of them are full of searching lines. Some feel clumsy. 
They contain finger prints and smudges. But that’s the magic of it. We don’t need perfect subjects or perfect pages. Sometimes we just need a 
pencil and a bit of time. And something ordinary to connect with.

Materials

In this video I was drawing in my sketchbook with a 14B pencil :

The pencil I was using was a Faber Castell Pitt Pencil Matt Graphite Pencil 14B

The large sketchbook is A3 in size (a double page spread is A2). Ebony Hardback Sketchbook, Portrait Orientation, A3 Size by Daler Rowney

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PS: If you’re wanting to develop your own experimental approach to Still Life inspired art you may like my course The Still Life Lab