Life and Art

Earlier this month, Karen from the Selvage blog asked her readers to share about idea sources.  It got me thinking about where I get my inspiration from. I get ideas from so many different places, daily life, poignant memories, seasonal images like flowers in my garden, family celebrations, graphic designs, fine art, blog posts, google photos, as well as other quilts at shows and exhibitions. Inspiration is everywhere. My problem has been how to store and retrieve it. 

Source: smith-sf.com via Martha on Pinterest

My camera helps me to capture these fleeting images and hold them steady so that I can ponder them. The limited frame helps me focus, often allowing me to see things that I missed the first time. But I found it difficult to keep track of all the digital photos. Usually my ideas need to percolate. I like to compare the natural images with art and see how other people in different times and places have responded to similar themes. For years I've struggled to collect all these scattered images in one easy to find place. What I really needed was a virtual design board. 

Source: socialmediadelivered.com via Martha on Pinterest

Then I discovered pinterest. At first it was fun just collecting and sorting images. Then I realised that my pinterest boards had become, in actual fact, my quilt design boards, the perfect place to group all sorts of images around common themes. Everything was coming together in one accessible place on the pinterest design boards. Some of my pinterest boards are just for fun but many of them are quilts waiting to happen. Now my ideas have a home.
"There's no place like home!"