By Kate Phillips
Some writers have writing spaces without windows so they aren't distracted when they work. I cannot write under those conditions.
My desk does face a wall, but it's next to a window overlooking the lawn and a few trees. I also have a birdfeeder next to an evergreen tree so I can see not only the birds darting to and from the feeder, but those waiting their turns sitting on nearby branches. In a snow storm, the cardinals and chickadees decorate the tree beautifully for the holiday season.
On the remaining wall space, I have lots of artwork. Mostly framed photos of nature cut from coffee table books or drawings from books I love. I buy second copies of these books, usually used, to cut up so I can enjoy the artwork every day instead of only when I open the books.
I discovered one of my favorite artists, Schim Schimmel, years ago when I stumbled across his notecards in a gift store. They were astonishing nature paintings that juxtaposed water and outer space so you got the feeling that everything is a part of everything else. (Copyrighted artwork so I cannot include pictures with this post.)
My favorite notecard is titled "Arctic Dreams." Three baby seals are lying in the foreground on the ice that seems endless around them. The one in the middle is on its back, flipper in the air almost waving while two adult seals swim in the nearby ragged-edged slash of open water that is painted outer space black complete with the Earth, moon, Saturn, a comet, and a thousand stars. It is, to me, the picture of infinity. When I look at it, I'm transfixed, transported, and entranced.
While the original costs more than I will be able to afford until I write a best seller, I wanted a larger copy of it. I searched for and found a partially battered used copy of Our Home, Too by Schimmel which includes many of his paintings including my favorite four times larger than the notecard. The original painting is 36" x 54". I think if I owned it, I would fall into it like Alice into Wonderland.
Among many others that I feel drawn to are "Conception" which has a large shaft of sunlight illuminating the water/outer space where nine dolphins are swimming surrounded by stars and "Between Two Worlds" with elephants, giraffes, and a rhino roaming the plains of Africa next to a coral reef complete with Clown fish as whales and dolphins swim above them all.
In the introduction to the book, Schimmel writes: "…I found myself wanting to say something about what we were doing to the planet, show people what we were losing. I began to see that everything on this planet is interrelated, that every action we take has far reaching consequences. The concept of planetary interdependency became the central theme permeating my work."
Schimmel's central theme inspires me. I see things differently—twisted, but in a good way.
What art inspires you?
