On inspiration

What inspires? For me, it is everything I see. I keep my camera handy and have been known to pull off the highway to snap wildflowers, stop on a busy street to photograph pealing handbills and my favorite public art: GRAFITTI! The colors, subject matter, and of course, the individual "tagger's" style draws me in. What are they trying to tell me? I see the marks we humans make in our environments as our way of proving we exist. Why spray your name, or the name you want, on the side of a freight train except to prove you are here? Why do I create art? Well during the workday, I get paid for it! But after hours? I get these ideas in my head and they have to be expressed, they have to get out, they have to exist in this world, not just in my brain!
How to get inspired? Observe. Take pictures of what you respond to, even if you do not know why! I love to look through my snaps and find common themes. Sometimes it is color, or maybe subject matter (as mentioned above, I love grafitti!), I also love old buildings. I wonder what stories they can tell. Rust, weathered wood, peeling paint, all of this makes my imagination rev up. I love flowers for their saturated colors and for the way they attract birds and insects. Beauty is everywhere.