Inspiration Series - Part 2

When I was in college, I would often venture up to the Toledo Art Museum to study. My favorite place was the gallery that housed a massive mobile by Alexander Calder. I loved watching it move. Years later, my son remarked that he liked mobiles because they were dancing sculptures. I like that description.

One of my favorite mobile artists is Mark Leary of Mobilosity. He creates amazing mobiles out of his Bend, Oregon studio. Here is Mark's answer to my question.

What inspires you?

I’ve always been fascinated by stuff that moves.

When I settled down in the mountains of Bend, Oregon, where the high desert air is constantly twisting and twirling, I think I finally found the perfect muse to inspire my creativity… and that took shape with mountain biking and mobile making.

As an avid (okay, obsessive) mountain biker, there are few things I dig more than pedaling deep into the mountains on some choice singletrack and watching the world (and my place in it) transform.

In my graduate studies, I explored our relationship to and with place, particularly the place of nature. I’m totally captivated with the way we interact with the places we inhabit and pass through and how – when we “bump into the world” – we create meaning/focus/purpose in our lives.

And, it’s that interaction with nature (usually as I’m zipping down a trail on my bike) that really inspires my designs – wresting form out of pure metal to realize feathers layering on a wing, leaves rustling in the wind, or bubbles rising into the air.

As I see the branches of a tree moving in a breeze, I’m mesmerized. A bird in flight, totally hypnotized. A ripple in the canal behind my house, spellbound.

See, I live by a semi-humorous "little things please little minds" mantra. Keep it simple. Keep it real.

In that vein, I’ve been inspired to keep my “process” as basic and fundamental as possible.
That means all my mobiles are hand cut, shaped, sanded, primed, painted, and assembled one at a time. I don’t use templates, or mass production, and regretfully I don’t employ a team of elves. It's just me in my humble little shop with Buddy the Cat enjoying good tunes and paint fumes while creating fun art.

The resulting creations range from works of peaceful simplicity, featuring repetitive shapes spinning hypnotically on an air current, to whimsical jumbles of bright colors and bouncy motion that vibrate with energy and joy.

In the end, I just feel pretty dang lucky to be able to create art for people to enjoy. That’s pretty cool.

Mark's wonderful work can be found at http://www.etsy.com/shop/mobilosity

Thanks so much, Mark.

Inspiration

I had an incredible art teacher in elementary school and junior high. He taught me how to open my eyes and take in my surroundings. He would often say, "Inspiration can be found anytime, you just have to open your eyes". Ever since then, I have been fascinated by what inspires artists to create. I decided to ask some of my favorite artists a simple question, What inspires you?

Today, the spotlight is on Chris Zielski and her Copper Leaf Studios. Chris does incredible work in copper. I love the colors she uses in her art - wonderful blues and rich reds. I am fortunate to own one of her pieces.

What inspires you?

I am inspired by colors, textures, lines and shapes, and how they all interconnect. A lot of my work is about balance and integration. Sometimes working on a design is like an engineering puzzle, when different elements must work together and integrate to become a new whole. On a concrete level, things like twists in branches and cracks in a sidewalk often inspire lines and shapes in my work. I've used photos of lightening to get just the right edge to a piece of cut copper, and my copper maps are inspired by the shape of different shorelines and rivers.

Chris' artwork can be found at http://www.etsy.com/shop/CopperLeafStudios

Thanks for sharing, Chris!

In The News

I woke up this morning to discover one of my necklaces featured in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The necklace, Hula, is at the bottom of the picture. What a lovely way to start the day.

Talking to Myself

There are days, in fact most days, the bulk of the conversations I carry on are with myself. Sounds crazy but true.

Working from home, especially when home is a farm without neighbors close by, makes it really easy to be a hermit. I actually don't mind it most of the time. I have hours undisturbed to work on my jewelry. There are days when the ideas are flowing and time will sail by. I will mutter to myself if things aren't working well or if I misplaced a tool. (Jewelry tools disappear just like the scissors or tape when you are wrapping Christmas presents. You know they are there, you just can't see them. Or is this something that only happens to me? See, there I go again....) I will remark if something turns out better than planned. The cat, Jack, who seems to enjoy watching me in my creative endeavors from his perch on the chair next to the work table will often lift his head as to say, "Are you talking to me?"

I find this talking to myself humorous. It reminds me of a conversation I had with a customer at my first show. He was an older gentleman who had worked in business. He was giving me tips on how to make my business successful. His key tip - staff meetings. Well, when you are a business of one, I guess that means you have to talk to yourself. That reminds me, I need to hold a staff meeting....

Play Ball

One of the great loves of my life (family, friends, being creative are at the top of the list) is the game of baseball. My love affair started when I was a kid. Daily in the summer, a pick up game could be found in the backyard of the Morrison's house. The rules were simple - everyone got to play. Kids of all ages could be found there and girls were included. It was magical.

My love affair continued as I got older. A childhood friend was drafted by the Dodgers when we graduated from high school. I took great delight in that since I once caught one of his hits in the outfield in the Morrison's field. In college, I would watch my school's team and was impressed by one of the pitchers. He went out to have an outstanding career in the major leagues. It was fun to think I saw him before he was famous.

My pro team has always been the Cleveland Indians. They have broken my heart more times than I care to count but I am loyal. There is nothing better than sitting in the bleachers at Jacob's Field (sorry, it will never be Progressive to me) on a warm, sunny afternoon. It is to me heaven. I often joke that my religion is baseball.

Today is Opening Day. One of my favorite days of the year. The day of optimism and hope. For us Indians fans, today IS next year.

Play Ball........

Spring Has Sprung

The last remaining bits of snow have finally melted. The ground is starting to turn green, and the tree branches have noticeable buds. Sweet peas have been planted. The birds are singing, and the teens are once again flocking to the barn. After enduring a cruel winter, it is finally spring. At least for now...who knows what tomorrow will bring...

Turquoise Love

When I was about five or six, my mother gave me a turquoise ring that had been hers as a child. The ring looked like a flower - sterling silver petals with a green turquoise stone in the center. I remember thinking it was the prettiest thing I had ever seen. I guess my love affair with turquoise began then.

I love the organic quality of turquoise. The veining gives it character. I like seeing it used in different ways. I recently had a bride contact me about a turquoise necklace I had in my shop. She thought it would be perfect with her wedding dress. The thought of a white wedding dress and that turquoise necklace makes me smile. That is the perfect untraditional use for the stone.

I have been playing a lot with turquoise of late. I am drawn to the color especially after dealing with the white of winter. I like the way turquoise works with other stones. I also like to let it be the star every now and then. My favorite piece so far is this cuff bracelet I call O'Keefe.