Inspiration is a stimulating method of creative motivation. To be inspired is to dream and to want to change the world in some small way.

All creatives fondly remember moments they felt really inspired as art students. Especially discovery of another artist, whose work directly inspires their own. It’s a rewarding part of the creative process. In my case, inspiration is derived from all walks of life. It’s based on a methodology of eclecticism. Sometimes my inspiration is quite literal in the form of an object or an environment and how it makes me feel. Other times it might be reading a manuscript printed by a 1960’s typewriter. Step forward… William S. Burroughs.

The purpose of allocating a page of this website to inspiration, is to acknowledge its role as a critical part of the creative process. It’s also to share an image that currently inspires me, together with a short explanatory description. I intended it to be a slowly evolving showcase that I would update and replace from time to time. Not dissimilar to Eno Goldfinger’s carefully curated wall of art at his home in 2 Willow road, Hampstead.

However I love this image and Marti so much, I have decided to leave it here permanently. It’s a digital reproduction of a gelatin silver print of 2 ceramic jugs thrown by NZ potter Barry Brickell and photographed by my dearly departed friend Marti Freidlander. Marti was an incredibly talented NZ photographer with a unique eye and charisma and highly decorated in New Zealand. I think of Marti as a true artist and admire her greatly. Not just for her extreme talent and passion as a photographer, but because she was incredibly generous, brave and thoughtful, with a zest for life that made her fun and charismatic to be around. I suspect this image was taken circa 1974. I can somehow sense this, even though there is very little to date the photograph.

I love the tactile quality of the jugs and the suggestion of a finished work still in progress. The slightly forward tool drawer suggesting a craftsman of refined skill and knowledge. A craftsman who has mastered their craft and able to assemble an art form with their own two hands. The light passing through the glass window pane provides a suitable sensitivity, which gives the jugs a sense of provenance and title. The angle of the interlocking handles makes them appear almost entwined. It inspires me to learn to throw pottery and I smile when imagining the conversation on that day between Marti and Barry.

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