Inspirational Art

One of my favourite things is to come home (usually on a Friday evening) with a new pile of library books. We have a wonderful library and there are always new art books and magazines to tempt me, or old favourites to re-read.

I recently discovered an American magazine 'Cloth, Paper, Scissors' which is full of ideas for mixed media artists. Inspired by the work of Kelly Rae Roberts I made the attached art for my daughter, hoping to lift her spirits a little as she had seemed downhearted. I used a map of Europe for my angel's skirt to symbolise my daughter's brave, adventourous spirit in travelling through various parts of the world, and the bellbird (one of our native birds) to symbolise her return home to New Zealand. For some of the text I used excerpts from New Zealand writer, Shonagh Koea's 'Sing to Me, Dreamer', a novel I absolutely love.

My mixed media piece isn't for sale so I hope I'm not contravening any copyright laws. For me, this was a tiptoe into mixed media work, but I loved making this picture and I know I'll be doing more. I'm afraid there's nothing original in my piece but I'm spurred to use my own writing in future. We don't generally give ourselves enough credit for the day-to-day things we achieve - they might not be especially glorious but they're so often done to make others' lives more cheerful and comfortable; I think having a special piece of art to remind us of our unique qualities is a wonderfully uplifting and inspirational idea.