Inspiration

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

White Oak Study oil John Hulsey

Inspiration is defined as: The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially. to do something creative; a sudden brilliant, creative, or timely idea; the drawing in of breath; inhalation.

Inspiration is an elusive process and it is impossible to say why one thing inspires and another does not. It is an individual process, totally dependent on one’s vision and mental state, and yet, ironically, when given substance and life through the creation of great art, inspiration can infect others with the same inspiration.

I was out walking in my woods this morning thinking about inspiration and how I have found it over the years. It seems to me that it comes in two distinctly different forms.

The first, less common form, is the sudden flash of recognition of a perfect subject or a creative idea that just begs to be given life. Sometimes I can act on these immediately. More often they can only be noted i…