August 25th, 2021

How Do You Get Inspired?​

I get inspired by going for walks to parks, places of interest, a nature scene perhaps, even my garden when the flowers are really blooming.  

We went on a walk in Eton playing fields one day (near Windsor) and took an unexpected walk to the left, rather than the right, and was very inspired by the beautiful and exquisite gardens here, the arches, the colour greens in the range of plants and foliage that I saw and the vibrant colours.  Hence, this was my painting of Luxmore Gardens - on my website - and was excited and engaged with the range of colours, the textures, the play on light and shadows that I saw.

When I painted out in my garden recently I was inspired by the eye-catching, vibrant yellows of the lilies, the spikiness of the Alliums and the lush pinks and reds of the asters amidst the busy garden.  This is in front of the fencing behind.  This reminds me of the parable that Jesus told in the Bible (Matthew 6: 25-34). "And why are you worried about clothing?  Observe how the lilies of the field grow, here today and gone tomorrow, they do not toil nor do they spin, yet that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.  Basically if God provides for these, he is sure to clothe us!"

What Else Inspires?
​I get inspired by visiting galleries and museums, studying the old masters, other artists and looking at popular art television programmes like Sky Arts and Bob Ross plus inspired by visiting websites and art magazines.  As well as this, I get inspired by doing sketchbooks and journalling at times.

I am inspired by the sea so have painted a few sea scenes - attracted by the foam, the waves, the colours, the roar and noise of the crashing waves and the sheer beauty of the colours and vastness of it all.​

So here in this painting I have painted this very choppy and reckless sea with a range of brushes including fan brushes, pallet knife and guess what?  A toothbrush.  I have also been inspired by the storm clouds above and the bright sun at the back of the storm.

I am inspired by stories, from books, from popular texts and from the Bible.

Also I inspired to paint people, from people watching in bars, children's faces and pub scenes.  So I painted a few people and crowd scenes.  This one is a large painting, which has paintings in it, when a few of us met in London and went to this big London pub.  ​ 

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What Else Inspires?

Travel has inspired me as I had been fortunate enough to visit Prague, Budapest, Croatia, Romania, Amsterdam, Spain and Malta, not to mention Gibraltar in previous years and France.  Plus I was fortunate enough to visit the USA.  There is a wealth of paintings that I have done which would be too many to mention.  Please visit my website at
https://www.jackienorman.com/.