The Inspiration Journal - Never Be Stuck Again

Let’s face it. We all want to be inspired. One taste of the drug of inspiration and we are hooked forever. In fact, artists live for those blissful moments of seemingly divine guidance. We try to invoke the Muse but sadly are often disappointed by her fickle nature.

So what to do when the inspired voice is silent? When we stare blankly at the white space of the canvas and we got nothin’?

A fraction of the Inspiration Journals I’ve been making for over 30 years. I paint the covers so I can differentiate between the different books for future reference. Amy Guion Clay © 2021

This is where my Inspiration Journals come in and save the day! These books are where I get to LOVE WHAT I LOVE. No one else ever need look inside. Here, I am my own master - raw, honest, unapologetic. They are a combination of what I love, what I think, and what I do.

Normally, I keep these to myself, but I’m sharing a few pages here so you can see how these references have become the foundation of my work. And if you don’t already, you might start to create your own library of Inspo Journals for reference down the road. At least 1/2 of my pages are simply writing thoughts and ideas as well, but I won’t be sharing those here.

Here I was inspired by the fleshy pinks, rich ambers and soft blues to create a palette that has the feeling of northern light. The soft earthy colors, even the standing stones have shown up in my work. Amy Guion Clay ©2021

Inspiration Journals:
Those who have taken my classes know that I’m a huge cheerleader for making these books. Some might refer to them as sketchbooks, but that can suggest one has to sketch in them, which can be off-putting to some. While you can certainly sketch in them, they are mostly for collecting inspiration and ideas that can prompt your own work at some future time.

My Inspo Journals are very different than my Travelogues - those are painted journeys in book form. They are meant to evoke a sense of place and a sojourn, as if you are privy to some adventure that maybe did or didn’t happen. They are evidence of some kind of walkabout.

But these books are an opportunity to collect the visual things that catch your eye and then anchor them in the physical form of a book. They should be easy and fun and at least create visual excitement inside you.

Early pages that sparked the red/aqua palette I so often love to use.

Many of my students keep images on their computer, phone or make Pinterest boards. That’s all fine, and I do the same. But there is nothing quite like a physical book in your hands, where you can flip through and land somewhere that suddenly sparks an idea or mark, often years later. So I print out my favorite digital images and then cut and paste into my books. I also make notes about the things that I love about each image - this makes me look closely and define what it is that interests me.

Finding References:
References are everywhere these days! There is no shortage of inspiration. Pre-internet we found our images from magazines, art catalogs, postcards, etc. But now images bombard us from Google and social media. The thing is to discern - to cut out the overwhelming noise, and choose that which truly inspires you.

Films are a great source of inspiration - In the pages below I took screenshots of a Columbian film I loved called “The Wind Journeys”. Each frame of that film was a painting. I printed out the screenshots, and pasted them in my journal. Some months later, the photo in the middle right of the page inspired the painting below. You just never know when, and from where, the ideas will strike!

Screenshots of the film The Wind Journeys - the middle right image inspired the painting below, many months/years later.

LOVE WHAT YOU LOVE:
So how do you know what you love? You will begin to see colors, shapes and patterns emerge and repeat. For example, as you may know, I often use tree subjects in my work, so I’m always collecting tree images from other artists, to see how they use these forms in various ways. I also include my own images, as shown in the collagraph print I made on the lower right.

Another example is shown in the pages below that I created many years ago. I began to see the pointed arch shape repeatedly show up in my books. Eventually, I began to incorporate those simple shapes into my paintings as seen below the pages.

One of my encaustic paintings from 2007, showing the pointed arch shapes inspired from my inspiration books above. ©Amy Guion Clay

And again, here is another example of color palette inspiration - in the case below, I printed out photos of a residency I was at in Ireland. I also included a photo by a fellow resident, the photographer Bill Miles. I loved that he accented the greens with the pop of the color orange, which really made the photo zing. On the lower right, I included one of my small painted sketches.

MAKING AN INSPIRATION JOURNAL:
It’s simple! This should be fun and easy. It’s a great thing to do when you have a small block of time and can’t commit to hours in the studio. Whenever you have 15 minutes or so, simply collect or print images and using a glue stick, add them to you book. Don’t think too much, just begin it!

If I’m using digital images, I resize them and create documents with multiple images in Illustrator or Word and then print them out on my inkjet printer. Regular printer paper is ok, but the better the paper, the better the image.

What you need:

SKETCHBOOK: I have tried a gazillion different books - hard covers, spiral bindings, large and small. But what I always come back to is the A5 size (approx 6 x 8” ). The 120gsm paper weight is just right for journaling and pasting. I love the Ryman brand sold in the UK, but I just discovered a great alternative in the US - made by Leda Supply company. You can click on the link below and buy in Amazon.

GLUE STICK: I like the UHU stics below: They are acid free and have good adhesion.
SCISSORS - um, obviously :)

SO WHY BOTHER MAKING JOURNALS?
Again and again, whenever I get stuck, stale or simply bored, I go back to my library of journals that I’ve been creating over the past 25 + years. There is always something that stands out and gets me excited to get painting again. It could be a mark, a color, a shape. It doesn’t matter what it is.

And more importantly, they are documents of my creative journey, my growth. I can read back and have compassion for my younger, tender self - that was unsure, just finding my feet, or having a moment of insight and clarity. Even a breakthrough!

Have I convinced you yet of the value of making Inspiration Journals? If not, I might have to make a mini Ecourse to go even deeper into how it helps get you unstuck!