Another is that in order to figure out your own design style, it's worthwhile to look at others' work. What are you drawn to and why? It's not about imitation - it's about inspiration.
For those of you who are as interested in etymology as I am, the word inspiration comes from the Latin roots in + spirare ("to breathe"). Inspiration, then, has a lot to do with life - a sort of reminder, I like to think, that we are beings with souls, capable of appreciating beauty and of making beautiful things.
Looking at a lovely thing can be daunting, it's true. There's the temptation to think, "I could never do that." But wasn't it Thomas Aquinas who said that a difficult task becomes easy when you see someone else do it? It's a call for experts to be generous and share their wisdom. But it's also a reminder that we should ask questions, be attentive, and never stop learning. Because inspiration, ultimately, leads to perfection.
Here are a few man-made objects that inspire me.
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| Taken with my camera phone on a recent field trip to Chapters to judge books by their covers. I realized that I'm drawn to textured surfaces, simple colour chemes, and luxurious details like embossing and foil stamped letters. And, of course, intriguing titles. |
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| "Time, sun-baked time, time that keeps on slipping, slipping, elusive time, time like the stone Romanesque eyes peering from behind a clump of leaves, the startled pagan looking toward a transformed future. Art historians refer to this recurrent motif of the face in the leaves as 'the green man.'" ~ Frances Mayes, A Year in the World |
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