"Everyday Inspiration"

What is art? What is inspiration? What is simple pleasure? Where can we find these things? And can we recognize them when we see them?

Inspiration is everywhere and art is all around us - if we just open our eyes to it.

Art is in the way that the late day light peaks through my blinds and dances on the walls. It's in the really great latte handcrafted with a swirl of a heart in the foam topping. Inspiration is in a friend who throws on a pair of jeans with a t shirt and a great, bold necklace. It's the community garden nestled among buildings in a tough neighbourhood. Simple pleasure is when you catch a sliver of a glimpse of the ocean through a mass of high rises.

Welcome to the inaugural blog post of Collectively Inspired, a blog dedicated to art in the everyday, born out of the beauty of collective inspiration. The referred to collective is a small group of like minded creative souls: Mari, Tara, Virginia, and me, Kristin. We are all different but what connects us is a love of creativity, art, and simple pleasures - all things that have enriched each of our lives. You'll get to meet my kindred spirits in the coming weeks and experience their own passions and inspirations.

Back to the question of where do you find these things? One of the first places that I look is in my own backyard - the spectacular city of Vancouver, British Columbia. First of all, it's undeniable the incredible beauty. The mountains, rain forests, and ocean are spectacular and I never seem to tire of them nor do I ever take them for granted. Catching a glimpse of the snow capped Lions of the North Shore Mountains never fails to take my breathe away. The rain that we Vancouverites love to hate, actually brings the gift of colour - watery blues and vibrant greens, reflected in the ocean, trees, mountains and sky. It helps make Vancouver, Vancouver!

But it's not just the scenery - there is a cultural diversity here that creates a pretty spectacular mosaic, full of tradition, languages, music, and food. We have citizens from all corners of the world as well as our own First Nations peoples, a wealth of inspiration in themselves and amazing storytellers and artists (just look at a totem pole).

I recently saw the city through fresh eyes when I played host to visiting family who hadn't been to Vancouver in ages. From the lush beauty of the food market on Granville Island, with it's riot of colours on display in the stacked pyramids of strawberries and the buckets of peonies and tulips, to the giant Lego Orca at the convention centre, to the totem poles and old growth forest of Stanley Park, the beauty and inspiration was everywhere. Art was everywhere! And yes, it very obviously inspired this post.

The world that we live in is busy - it moves at break-neck speed, in fact.  Often, when we turn on the news we are inundated with stories of injustice and cruelty. Even more reason to look for and appreciate the beauty in everyday life!

Seeking and finding inspiration, art, beauty and simple pleasures has helped me get through challenging times and increase my overall happiness. And that is why I encourage you to slow down and smell the peonies or enjoy a strawberry!

Join Mari, Tara, Virginia, and I as we begin a creative journey in search of inspiration!

Kristin

P.S. The artwork at the bottom is by BC's own Emily Carr who was often inspired by the beauty of British Columbia and its native peoples. A number of Emily's pieces are on loan currently to a gallery in Germany so that others can share the beauty of her work and find inspiration!
Check out the story on CBC at the attached link:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2012/06/06/carr-emily-documenta-art-contemporary.html