Editorial by - Tina Martin-Brown

The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of his own creation.

— Auguste Rodin

Inspiration incites a riot of creativity that must be expressed,

— TMB

“The greatest composer does not sit down to work because he is inspired, but becomes inspired because he is working.

— Ernest Newmanan

The definition of inspiration is as follows: “a divine influence directly and immediately exerted upon the mind or soul. the divine quality of the writings or words of a person so influenced. the act of inspiring; quality“. Which does not truly cover the multitude of feelings, emotions and energy involved in being inspired. Inspiration is one of those words that is more about what it evokes inside the individual instead of the limiting definition above, which does no justice to the act of being truly inspired.

So are you inspired by love, anger, pain, joy, boredom, rainy stormy days, hot sultry nights, bright sunny days, people. places, beauty, mystery? There is such a wide range of what inspires us individually. What inspires you? What puts fire in your soul? Many of Picasso’s most famous paintings were inspired by the pain and angst he saw in the faces of prostitutes and beggars. He was inspired to express the common darkness and mystique he witnessed within his subjects. Reportedly the Mona Lisa stemmed from unrequited love that Da Vinci had for a married woman he knew he could never truly possess. His work is said to be extremely detailed, as if he “drank in her beauty” and put it upon the canvas. Love is said to be the greatest inspiration of all, although hate has its place too.

Many artist say that they must first be inspired before they can begin to work and yet others report that if they begin to work inspiration will come. Inspiration is relative to each individual artist. There are even those who say that the inspiration is like a demon that must be released through expression. Like a caged animal that must be set free before it turns upon its master (the artist) and becomes destructive. For many the art of expression is not so much about inspiration as it is about allowing the creative energy within to be expressed in a healthy, creative way. So came the idea that many artists are tortured souls with creative demons which must be released (expressed) before it destroys the artist completely. So when you feel that need to create does it stay with you until you do or does it fade if you do not “catch” the fire that inspires you?