INSPIRATION BOARD-19 July 2009

Creativity not only begets creativity, it inspires it in others. Right now, I am finding inspiration from some pretty impressive sources.

1. Colin Hay-I was a very lucky (belated) birthday girl last Wednesday, 15 July. The Chef surprised me with tickets to the Colin Hay show at the Southgate House across the river, in Newport, KY. I had no idea until we walked up to SH, where I had never been, and saw the sign announcing that evening's act. The intimacy of the venue was a perfect fit for his sort of artistry: it let his impeccable songwriting skills and subtle voice shine. Days later that voice--and those words--still echo in my mind. It is a 'Beautiful World', indeed. Click here.


2. "Write something to suit yourself and many people will like it; write something to suit everybody and scarcely anyone will care for it."-Jesse Stuart


3. It is probably small surprise that I am a passionate supporter of Etsy. It is my favourite on-line shopping destination. Right now, I am quite in love with Austin Modern. The shop features amazing Mid Century goods, as well as assorted awesome wares from the earlier Art Deco period. My two current favourite offerings? Art Deco letter press type face ( a full set) and a luscious chrome club chair from the same era. Click here to go there.


4. I am slightly stunned by the above image, and not just because I bear a strong resemblance to the woman at the center. The 1920's is a vast source of inspiration for me: from art to literature, film to fashion, politics to pop-culture I find it full of energy, complexity, and beauty. There is a freshness and vigor to the tableaux in the advertisement, as well as a sense of unreality, however understated (which is, perhaps, typical of most advertising). Playing a gramophone sea-side seems much more sophisticated than bopping along to an Ipod. Ah, well: life was not meant to be static.


5. It always comes back to Neruda, Pablo Neruda. "May whatever breaks/be reconstructed by the sea/with the long labor of its tides./So many useless things/which nobody broke/but which got broken anyway." (from ODE TO BROKEN THINGS)