Inspiration

Books have always held a deep fascination for me from being very young. Whatever I have been doing in life - managing systems, training, child raising, cooking, sewing - and of course art making - I have always wanted to discover how other people have approached these challenges. This is a random photo of part of my book collection. They look a bit scruffy and jumbled up but that's because they are not "coffee table" books - these are part of a collection that works, helps, guides and inspires. It's funny though; it doesn't matter how much we use the work of others for "inspiration" we are always brought back to ourselves. We can't avoid it. A lump of clay in my hand will always feel slightly different to one in the hand of Moore, or Picasso or Hepworth. It's a mystery this business of making art. Yet still we are desperate to know - how did they do that?