Enjoying A Slower Approach to Inspiration

The online database of images and stuff is MASSIVE. A quick search with the right key words can give you instant imagery under the guise of inspiration for your project. But is this quick fix harming our creativity?

What happens if we slow down this crazy over consumption madness and choose the slower ride instead? If the inspiration is being fed in at a slower rate, will we have more time and space to really work on an idea?

Your cabinet of curiosity

If you were a wealthy person living in Europe in the 16th-17th century, it was fashionable to have a cabinet of curiosity or wunderkammer (wonder-room in German - sounds more fun).

These rooms full of artefacts and man-made marvels served as a physical collection of knowledge and travel.

Nowadays we keep things on our bookshelves and notice boards or in our camera roll to serve as reminders of memories or information learnt.

Treat yourself to a good old rummage through your cabinet of curiosity to gather some slower paced inspiration. What would your cabinet say about the world?

What do you read? What do you collect? Who do you look up to in your industry? What makes your heart sing without you understanding why? What do you have on your desk? What music do you listen to? What's in your notebook or sketchbook? Who's work do you admire?

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Here's another post about slowing down and enjoying some 'idle time'.

I share more ideas on my monthly Round Up. Click HERE, sign over your email address and enjoy monthly inspiration from me.

A Year Without Instagram

Yes, I'm talking about this again.

It's been over a year since I moved away from Instagram and started to think about more creative ways to share my work. I've learnt a lot over the last 12 months and I thought I'd share a couple of things with you.

What surprised me

Networking without Instagram

In September, I went to a Bee Inspired networking event in Manchester. I was surprised to see how many people were still using Instagram as the main way to stay in contact with someone new. It did get a bit awkward when I mentioned that I had deleted the app and I did wonder if I was missing out on an important connection. I started to think about how else I could stay in touch with people, LinkedIn? Business cards? Could I invent something new?

Invitations

In April, I received an email from Catherine Booth (a very talented illustrator and someone I've worked on projects with in the past), inviting me to the opening of her solo exhibition in Manchester. As Catherine had reached out directly, it felt very meaningful. I hopped straight on the train and met her there. If Catherine had just posted her event on Instagram, I would've missed it. I felt honoured and very excited and the exhibition was beautiful. Whenever I want to send invitations, I think of how this interaction made me feel.

What I did instead of using social media

Showing up somewhere else

I decided to put more attention into my website, my newsletter and my blog and I started a drawing journal to encourage me to draw everyday too. I still use Pinterest to collect ideas and it's brought in more traffic to my website than any other platform has so far. I feel much closer to those in my newsletter community and by sharing what's inspired my studio practice each month, I can consume inspiration a lot more slowly and intentionally too.

A Shift To Analog

I started to feel a need to keep my important memories and photos somewhere special and outside of my camera roll of nonsense, so I bought a photo album and got some photos printed. I could've just set my personal Instagram account to private and used that, this feels more tangible and personal to me.

What are your thoughts on Instagram and social media? How would you connect with someone new at a networking event without using social media? Are business cards a thing of the past? Do you still use Pinterest?!

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More tasty bits:

This TED Talk by Dino Ambrosi is eye opening. I really thought hard about the point he makes when he asks how much would we be willing to pay monthly to use social media channels - How loyal are we to these sites?

Also loved the thoughts behind this Anti-social media policy by Lush

The Allendale Tar Bar'l Event

Wanting to try something new by way of welcoming the new year, we left the comfort of a family member's cosy living room, put on our hats and coats then set out into the night (and the drizzle), heading for the Northumbrian village of Allendale.

It's not really clear where the tradition of the Allendale Tar Bar'l came from and there are plenty of stories that have been considered over the last 160 years or more that this celebration has been taking place. All sorts of theories from warding off evil spirits to carol singer's being left in the dark due to strong winds. But today, it stands as a good excuse to celebrate together and to enjoy the tradition, if nothing else. Scaring off some evil spirits would be great too though.

Allendale is quite a small village and you can see why the locals would look forward to this celebration, it's the biggest event in their cultural calendar and who wouldn't love the excuse to have some fun and light a massive bonfire in their town square!

We found ourselves stood amongst the fun between locals and some who had travelled from as far as London and even overseas.

Huddled together in the strong smell of lighter fluid and the hope that the rain would stay off for at least another hour or so, the crowd became giddy and excited when a brass band started to play and the local men started to collect their barrels (supplied by a local whiskey distillery).

45 men born in the Allen valley use their inherited status to lift the burning barrels of tar over their heads and begin the march around the village to the beat of the brass band. Suspense builds as the procession reaches the village centre. The men gather around and tip the contents of their barrels onto the awaiting bonfire. The bonfire lights up with a roar as the crowd encourages it. Laughter, giddiness and cold shivers ran through everyone and we all shouted together to welcome the new year.

Part of the tradition at the Allendale Tar Bar'l is that only men can become guisers. Only one woman has ever taken part, Miss Vesta Peart. She was allowed to carry one of the barrels in the 1950's as a thank you for creating a large amount of costumes for the event. Some of these costumes are still worn today... some have taken a more modern approach as we watched Super Mario, some Oompa-Loompas and a ballerina run past!

*A few notes if you're hoping to attend a future event:

-We were dowsed in hot ashes due to the wind - don't wear your brand new coat (like I did) it will smell like fire and possibly get burn holes in it from embers.

-There's a strict no parking rule in the village during the event, there's plenty of free parking on the road leading up to the village but be prepared to walk a distance and it would be a good idea to take a torch.

-The local pubs get packed out, there's public toilets near the town square

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We found the event online, Visit Northumberland have a great article HERE

and This Is Northumberland magazine have a beautiful article with stunning photos by Callum Thompson HERE.

(I would highly recommend treating yourself to a copy of This Is Northumberland magazine if you're heading up north this year or if you'd like to learn more about northern folklore- or even just enjoy nature photography).

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