Drawing on the past for inspiration

Throughout my life I have had advice from multiple sources say “Don’t dwell on the past”, “Thinking about the past is stale energy”, “Be present in the moment” (that last one I love to say while teaching yoga) and other similar saying that imply we need to be looking forward and present to be cutting edge. Yes, in staying present in the moment, you cannot think of the past, or the future, and you are only in that very moment. It’s a singular moment.

As an artist, I always look for inspiration around me. Other artists copy past masters’ works. This is drawing from the past. With art, I find that looking to the past is how I find my inspiration for the future. I think about what it is I use to do, stick figure doodles and big anime-eyed faces. How I used to snap photos at every chance I could get, first with my disposal camera, then a point and shoot, and finally moving on to a DSLR.

So, while processing a recent photo shoot, I got drawn into some past work from 2012 I had done and decided to revisit it. I never released these photos when they originally taken so here, after sitting for two years, I revisited them and made them into the vision I wanted to see today. Needless to say, I recently had my artist/writer/creative block broken and all these ideas keep flowing freely to the forefront of my mind. Now that I am older and more in charge of my mind and time, I get to enjoy making use of the fresh flow of ideas. I have a special story behind one of the models but need to wait to get approval before releasing that as well. For now, enjoy the culmination of work done between me and makeup artist, Rebecca Calim. She is an amazing, and incredibly friendly makeup artist I’ve been honored to work with multiple times!

Look upon the past with a kind heart and an open mind. You will find growth comes from all areas of your life.

As 2014 draws to a close, another cycle begins, and thus I find life constantly challenging and rewarding and no longer stuck in one moment, but able to go through many moments and become the sum of all my parts.