The Art of Noticing
the art of noticing
Hello beautiful soul,
I hope you’re feeling creative these days, and here is a bit of inspiration for you!
My latest art journal page was all about autumn and today might be the first day when it truly feels like this beautiful season has arrived! The chilly morning was an invitation to put on some cozy layers (cord is back!) and this afternoon, William and took a walk in the nearby apple orchard. The fiery colors of autumn will take a bit longer to show themselves, but I love the muted, rusty colors below:
a sense of wonder
It's pretty much impossible not to feel inspired when you spend a bit of time in Nature. Even a few minutes are enough: looking at (and smelling) a flower, observing a busy bumblebee with curiosity... it's all about slowing down, noticing and rediscovering a sense of childlike wonder.
William walks faster than me, which is great from a health and wellness perspective, but it also means that I don’t notice things as much. Around the end of our walk, I decided to slow down so I could pay more attention to the beauty around us. Because that’s the thing: we’re constantly surrounded by beauty and inspiration, it’s all there for the taking if we just slow down and take a closer look.
When you kneel down and really take the time to look, you will see wonderful things! Colors, shapes, textures… For instance, cyclamens look gorgeous as a mass of flowers covering the grass, but I had never realized that the young stems coiled in such pretty spirals. And can you see how the flowers resemble butterflies? Or the way empty lunaria pods reflect the light, while the still-full ones can look like faces?
It’s not just about getting closer, it’s also about slowing down. We have lots of bumblebees in the garden at the moment, feasting on the blue salvia, and I wanted to take a few pictures of them. But any time I came close, they would take off and fly to another flower. I realized I needed to be still and quiet, and wait for them to get used to my presence. After a while, they didn’t mind me coming just two inches away, and would even brush against my hand as they flew!
And it’s not just about looking either. The more you involve your other senses, touch, smell, listen and even taste, the more you will discover, and the more inspired you will feel. A rose is always pure delight, and as my hand brushed through the garden balsam, seeds popped open and exploded like tiny fireworks! This instantly took me back to some fond childhood memories, as I’ve always loved these little flowers that look like fairies dressed for the ball.
Next time you feel creatively stuck or uninspired, remember to slow down, look closer and feel all the magic of nature. You don’t even have to go outside: look at the leaf of a houseplant and touch its soil, notice the softness and the different colors in your cat’s or dog’s hair, look at reflections in a drop of water on your window, or even slice an apricot or a tomatoe!
Once you make it a practice, you will find inspiration not just in nature, but in all the many layers of your life: the texture of a wall, the shape of a cup, the soft touch of wooden furniture, even the patterns and colors of your clothes!
Inspiration isn’t something that comes and goes: it’s a practice, a state of mind, a way of life. The more you cultivate it the more often you will feel it. It doesn’t mean you’re going to paint or create something directly from what you’ve seen, but it will fill you up. And next time you show up at your canvas or your journal, it will be there right by your side, like a faithful friend.
layers of light
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