After this new fine art piece was realized I knew I had to blog about my experience since it was such a long time coming.

When was the last time you stopped for a moment, put down your cell phone, turned off the t.v. and all distractions, and just sat and thought? When was the last time you went to an art gallery or local show? Have you looked inside yourself to see what inspires you and do you make that a part of your normal routine?

THERE ARE A THINGS THAT I’VE BEEN DOING TO INSPIRE MYSELF TO BE A MORE JOYFUL AND FULFILLED PERSON. MY NEW FINE ART PIECE, “FREED”, IS THE REALIZATION OF THAT NEW FOUND FREEDOM.

The following questions I’ve been asking myself have led me to where I am today and where I am going tomorrow…

• What inspires me?
• If I know what inspires myself, how often do I place myself in that inspirational place?
• Are the people I surround myself with contributing in a positive way or are they sucking the life out of me?

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• What inspires you?

The morning is my favorite time of the day because I get up before anyone in the house, have my cup of coffee and sit still, plan my day/week and wait for inspiration for potential projects.  I have a pencil and paper and jot down ideas, pictures, inspiration I’ve had over the past week…

my cheap find at Michael’s in the $2 bin

Most of my ideas comes from the past 6 years… you’re constantly changing and growing, mind you, but for me this was the most transformational time of my whole life.

• If you know what inspires you, how often do you place yourself in that inspirational place?

Only in the past year and a half (the time I started my business, officially) have I really looked around, reanalyzed my life and prioritized everything. I can tell it is the start of something amazing, and I love where it has been leading me. I’ve been finding inspiration in the quietest places; little art galleries, Meetups (which sometimes are not so quiet :), even through Instagram friends.  I’m thinking of featuring some galleries in future blogs, more to come on that!

I try to get out of my routine and visit places, people, and new situations a few times per week, it helps me stay creative and focused.

What I’ve learned from inspiration is that I have to seek it, if I don’t, it does not always find me. I call it inspiring myself. The more I seek, the more I find and the more my cup is filled.

• Are the people you surround yourself with contributing in a positive way or are they sucking the life out of you

Anyone who’s ever had experiences that made them stop and look at their surroundings and say, “Is this really the best place for me?” knows what I’m talking about.  I had several negative things happen all within the span of about two years, and looking back, it was the catalyst to me changing the whole direction of my life.

 

Soon after those experiences a very special friend came into my life and taught me so much in a short amount of time.  She is the sort of person who you you feel like you’ve known forever and I know that we will keep in contact for the rest of our lives.  I’ll never forget the first things that stuck out about her when we first met.  She told me she had a deal with herself that she would say, “yes” to as many things as possible that year. She was so open to finding new places and experiencing new things, it was infectious. Needless to say we soon became quick friends.  She ended up moving out of state after a year to move in a completely different direction with her life, but before she left she gave me a small gift I could keep at my desk and it inspires me every time I see it.

Soon after she left I came to terms with my needing to leave my environment to seek greater potential.  Photography started as my passion but grew into my business.  So, in between clients I had created some few fine art pieces for fun (in the beginning).  But soon I realized they could be a cathartic way to push the restart button and learn more and stretch myself farther than I knew I could go. So I pushed and pushed myself.  Then I realized I could make anything I could dream of, even though the process was never perfect and there were plenty of failed attempts, I always learned and continued to get better.

Then came, “Freed”.

I met Liz at a Meetup called, “Tuesday’s Together” that’s a part of the Rising Tide Society. It’s an organization that promotes community over competition when it comes to creative small business owners, (i.e. wedding planners, florists, calligraphers, videographers, photographers, etc…). We chatted for a long time and quickly realized we needed to schedule a coffee date and soon.  After hanging out we connected so quickly I asked her if she would model for me for a piece I was creating.  Of course she ended up saying yes because she’s always ready for a new adventure!

We shot some behind the scenes images and video and I ended up making a video that shows a little glimpse inside how I create. This was just another creative outlet I found, it was so much fun to make I’m looking forward to other opportunities with Video promotions and behind the scenes!

I hope when people see this piece, they connect with it on some level and can relate.  Every person alive has felt at one time or another that they needed to be free of a situation, person, environment, or otherwise.  I only hope once inspired, they do something about it and get themselves out of that situation.