Photo by Cherry Laithang
The art collection of Vera Bonacci possesses an eclectic and oddly intimate range of styles and themes. Each piece is a thorough exploration of color and has me asking where they find inspiration.
It is within the world and its myriad wonders that artists find most of their inspiration, whether it is from living subjects, places of awe, or memorable events. It is through these observations of the world, mixed with their emotions and experiences that they create a vision for their works—you can’t create anything, after all, if you don’t have an end product in mind.
After looking at works from the art collection of Vera Bonacci, I was struck by how varied her works were and how, despite the seeming incongruence with each other, they actually held a similar pull. Perhaps this was the purview of artists and their mastery over their own work. Or maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about.
Regardless, I wanted to learn more about where artists look for inspiration.
A common source of inspiration for artists is the natural world. The complexities and marvels that exist in nature offer a potent spark for inspiring artists, from painters, photographers, sketch artists, and even those who work outside visual media. There is no end, and there are no limitations to the artists’ creative and ingenious mind when it comes to learning and mimicking nature, whether it is because of how dew drops cling on to the underside of leaves, the way sunlight breaks on the ocean surface, how snowflakes form and the patterns of rocks as they roll down the hills.
Some artists even incorporate physical activity when they want to find inspiration from nature: diving down the sea to feel its pressure, climbing up mountains to learn the sensation of lightheadedness, going to the jungles to observe the many interactions between flora and fauna, and more. By using nature as a subject, artists can put their own personal spin on the reality of the world, injecting existence with a bit more color.
Personal experience is also another source of inspiration for artists. They say that the best art is where the artist’s life is reflected—and personal perspective is often a popular subject for a lot of artists, especially those who are also working through intense and fierce emotions. It is often posited by many critics and art enthusiasts that good art is borne from emotion; this inclusion of one’s private thoughts into a public product makes the art more meaningful and resonant.
Isn’t this why love songs are so ubiquitous, popular, and pervasive?
It’s because love is such a universal emotion, and almost everyone has felt it at one point in their lives. By using their emotions and experiences to fuel their creative endeavors, artists can pull out finished products that are more relatable and appealing. Guiding your most passionate emotions into art is also a great way to work those feelings out.
The best thing about inspiration and how artists go about looking for it is that it makes for a very ripe and fertile ground for innovation. Styles and themes flourish because they are shared and examined. If an artist keeps singularly quiet and never even releases a hint of where they might have acquired their inspiration, the art, the finished product, becomes more hollow and unfeeling—that is because humans, while loving art, are also creatures of narrative, and we just simply love a good story, don’t we?
Regardless of where inspiration springs forth, all artists create art to create, with their vision, something that lasts—which is a work of art that is beautiful, meaningful, and genuinely authentic.
Whatever they are, painters, musicians, writers or dancers, perhaps even gardeners and handymen, they all play a critical role in human society and advancement. By relying on their own unique observations of the world and emotional memories, they create things that endure for a long time and are endlessly inspirational. Good art has the power to touch the heart and the best change minds.
Where artists find their inspiration, I think, is ultimately a narrow question that is forever without clear answers but nonetheless an intriguing one. At the end of things, what matters most is what they create with their inspiration, but I did find it a fun dive into things, and I do apologize if it comes off too short or too generalized.
As a wonderful English author once said, “Make Good Art.”
Alex Writes 