I find beauty and inspiration in a multitude of places. Pieces of old vintage fabrics, trims and Bohemian jewelry might inspire me to make a bag. I find old Architecture fascinating and beautiful, walking through some of the Historic neighborhoods gives me ideas and inspires many of the projects I begin at Home. I find that when I'm in the presence of great Art it stimulates my Artistic gifts and creativity, it sparks my imagination and desire to create. It can be just the colors in an object, the way the light reflects or something in Nature that sparks an idea or gives birth to the designs I create. Or it can be the inspiration another Artist has that ignites a desire to learn to create another Art form, something different than I've ever attempted, challenging myself to see what I can do with a similar medium.
I feel that it is very important for us to frequent those places we love and draw positive energy from. The places we enjoy being in the presence of the atmosphere and ambiance they create...we need to support and visit as often as we can. Those little unique shops, the quaint little restaurants, the Artists and their Studios, the Botanical Gardens, the Museums, local Musicians, specialty vendors, old fashioned Markets, Farmer's Markets and Festivals hosted by our communities. And I'll tell you why... I'm seeing a lot of them struggling to stay solvent now, many are just hanging on or have had to close in these difficult times we find ourselves in at the present time. It would be a great loss to see them all become a bygone era, just part of history and no longer a part of our present culture.
I don't know about you, but I can't get the same energy, fuel for creativity, the level of inspiration or find nearly as much beauty in a chain store, a mall, a mega-store, seas of tract home subdivisions, a fast food restaurant, a supermarket and overly developed areas as I do in and from those favored places I enjoy so much and am deeply saddened to see shrinking and disappearing right before my very eyes in this decade. *sigh* Certainly there is a place for the modern, mass produced and the convenient, but I do believe there needs to remain a balance, and the preservation of the small businesses, the old, the hand-made and OOAK, the less convenient and yet more enriching... as well.
It is up to us to remain loyal to those we wish to help survive into the future and thrive, so that our children, our Grandchildren, and subsequent generations, get to experience it all also and have the options, the choices, that have been available to us. I don't want them to just see or experience it in old photographs, documentaries and told stories... I want them to be able to live it, enjoy it, and maybe even participate in it if they feel Called to do so. May those special places that enrich your lives, inspire you, and bring you Joy survive and thrive into the next millenium and may we not see them vanish in our lifetimes. Dawn... The Bohemian