Inspiration and Influences

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Shortly after the tragic supermarket events that occurred in Boulder, Colorado, I found it necessary to release some frustration, sadness and anger.  Sitting down in front of an easel, I painted.  It wasn’t the usual session, meaning that I lost track of time, painted without thinking about it, and blasted music from the speakers which were nearby.  Afterward, I felt better, and I suppose it’s the same feeling for others who would approach something difficult by choosing to work out or jog.  In that sense, it’s actually a release of pent-up energy which allows one to cope with things beyond her/his control.  For myself, being able to handle a situation while creating is a cathartic and healing experience.  It hasn’t changed the horrible events that unfolded, or what the families of the victims continue to face, but it was helpful to me.  Each person handles things differently. It was the events of that day that also influenced me to paint as I did.

As I’ve written many times during the nine years and counting that this blog has been going, I find the art of creating begins with inspiration and/or influence.  For myself, it’s a spark, a drop in my lap from the sky moment, or something I’ve planned for a while; it’s always initiated with something…music, reading, history, observing, nature, memories, travel, research, etc. I daydream.  It happens with something as simple as making dinner reservations, or going grocery shopping.  My imagination is easily stirred, and often takes off faster than I can keep up with it.  I always view it as therapeutic, too.  If a person has a story floating around in one’s head, the need to release 90,000+ words is pretty great.  Once those words escape, the intense feeling of accomplishment is unexplainable. However, authors, songwriters, and visual artists (all artists) understand the feeling.  Also, those who create are always influenced or inspired by something and/or someone, whether they admit it or not.

Reading posts that I’ve shared here over the years (and there is a lot of material), reflects the eclectic person that I am.  I shared several times how my book, Williamsburg Hill (published in 2018), came to be written with folklore playing the greatest role in its telling, even though historical fiction was the goal. I’ve written about visiting wild horse sanctuaries, among other research, to complete my novel, Daniel’s Esperanza (published in 2014).  Short stories were written about/around, and included lost love in Italy, and tossing coins in Trevi Fountain for wishes to come true (O Mio Babbino Caro, 7/29/2013); cowboys (multiple times, including Cowboy Ridge and Honor, 1/27/2016); witches  and a woman who was exiled (The Witch of County Down, 5/19/2016), ghosts (multiple times) and a woman trapped in time at a diner (The House at the End of the Road, 12/17/2020); a precipice (Precipice, 7/17/2019) which included a song by Taylor Swift (credit given) and was also not completely fiction; stardust (Stardust, 4/6/2017) and the backstory to a book that’s in the works about finding a lost love in Scotland; the history in short story form of Madame X (Madame X, 6/11/2015); a young man with disabilities being infatuated with a strange and selfish woman (Hang the Moon, Molly Byrd, 11/17/2014); ghosts and history regarding the Trail of Tears (Old Wauhatchie, 7/17/2014); a woman reflecting on her past and her grandmother (She Heard Her Heart, 3/17/2014); a dream sequence (Dance of the Blessed Spirits, 11/19/2013); a madwoman who was a former dancer (La Folie, 9/25/2013); a character encountering an historical figure through a time portal in London (Charing Cross, 4/9/2013); a new take on Jack the Ripper (Jack, 7/19/2012); a woman recovering from divorce (Boxed Life, 5/22/2012); a woman who was nothing but invisible her entire life (Invisible, 1/27/2014); and a man battling a storm and memories of his grandfather (Old Norse Gale, 3/1/2015), plus much more.

I’ve written about living in a haunted house, a wonderful amusement park of my childhood, fairytales, nostalgia, and dreams, soldiers going to war, Boxing Day, the weddings of my daughters, my dogs, my grandmother, music and a radio station of my youth, and poetry. Whimsy and the imagery of antique perfume bottles bearing the scent of past users, a man called to serve in WWII leaving a beautiful note and piece of jewelry for his wife - all words mentioned in Just in Case Uncle Sam Should Take Me (11/26/2012).  A couple of posts that were very personal for me include Overcoming Obstacles (4/20/2018), and Gratitude (2/13/2020). 

Words, places, and characters' names throughout this blog and/or my books: Dorothy, Barbara, Evelyn and Frederic, sweet tea, vintage, St. Louis, Grace, Daniel, antiques, historical fiction, fiction, short stories, New Mexico, Chicago, Jack, Cherokee Nation, Chief Wauhatchie, Native Americans, folk stories, folklore, history, suffragists, 19^th Amendment, photography, art, books, writing, pen pals, painting, cemeteries, travels, Ava, Gitta, Fiona, Ireland, Italy, John Singer Sargent, Paris, Molly Byrd, Harold Brown, angels, memories, Sophia, Penelope, collectibles, Billy and Junie, Sally, Rose and Robert, Edinburgh, snow, winter, Erastus, imagination, hockey, Dan Fogelberg, Eagles (band and birds), Gordon Lightfoot, bandits, Caledonia, William, sorceress, river, Wales, nomadic, horses, gypsies, Vikings, the Edmund Fitzgerald, old Irish cottage, Flanders Fields, Alaska, Nat King Cole…etc., on and on and on.  Coming up for air now. 

Nine years plus is a lot of ground to cover, and a lot of material. In no way have I summed up the total in this post either; it’s simply what I’ve noticed as I skimmed through everything. In doing so, I’ve discovered that some of my characters share the same name.  It wasn’t intentional, but just as in real life people do share the same names so I’ll give myself a pass for it.  

One last thing. If a person has been influenced or inspired by something and/or someone in creating his/her art, it’s kindness in acknowledging it and rewarding it.  Especially so if that person has found great success.  Just think of all the struggling artists who would benefit from that shout-out.  As always, many thanks to the loyal readers, and to the ones who drop in every now and then.