How do I interpret real life…?

How do I interpret real life and how does it influence my work: Feelings and reactions following the Beatrix Potter exhibition at the V&A.

I recently visited the Beatrix Potter exhibition without any pre-conceived thoughts on what to expect. I read her books as a child and read them to my children. Her illustrations are delightful, and her stories are so imaginative. 

She used her pets as inspiration for the characters in her books. Her direct experiences with nature and the world she lived in were the creative influences on her life’s work. Beatrix made greeting cards as presents for friends.  She found that the recipients were saving the cards, so she started selling them.  At that time, it was unheard of for a woman to create her own income. Her letters written to friends evolved into the books we know today. She created the personalities and stories of the animal characters in her books from the people she met and the jobs they did in her life.

As I walked around the exhibition and read about Beatrix and her inspirations, I realized that I also draw inspiration from my life. Simple really, but I tend to mistrust my feelings about what influences my artwork – thinking that it needs to be more complicated and meaningful. The exhibition got me thinking about how much is derived from my direct experiences of the world around me and how much is in my imagination?

I use the landscapes I walk in and drive through, the streets and buildings I see; the close ups of tree bark, patterns in nature and the man-made world to inform my work.  However, I use my imagination to change colours, shapes, ultimately telling my own story through my thoughts and feelings.  I am not always conscious of what is happening while I am creating.

Like Beatrix, I collect bits from nature, play with fabric, wire and then I play with my collected things and start what I call “processing”.  I have little collections of these things in various boxes around my studio.  When I’m in one of my “stuck” modes I keep myself busy by clearing and reorganising, then I find these little collections I did earlier.  I sit with them and wonder what I was thinking; why I saved or processed these things and then it pushes me to start working again.  From a very tidy organised studio, I have spread everywhere, and I am creating and forming new ideas.  I’m finding new uses or ideas for the objects I made previously.

It’s a revelation to see that a visit to an exhibition has left me with questions and insights into my own practice.