Finding your creative kin

A beautiful sculpture in cedar wood by Ursula von Rydingsvard, an amazing artist I found through watching the Art 21: Art in the 21st Century series by PBS. Finally got to see one in real life in Raleigh after admiring her work for quite some time.

In the last week I have had several adventures in work, in life and in my creative brainstorming. I had a few new ideas that I was taking the time to jot down on a piece of paper.

I knew I had some things that needed to be wrapped up before I began these new ideas, but I wanted to see if there was any work out there akin to what I was thinking. Often the quote is repeated, 'Great artists don't borrow, they steal.' I was not really trying to steal anyone else's idea, but merely to see if there was anyone else out there doing work that I was interested in or was in a similar vein. 

For this process, Google is a very useful tool. I did some searching and some key word typing and found several artists whom I related to and their process and way of working was not something I had considered before. In a moment of new thought for myself, I was able, through the modern miracle known as search engine optimization, to find many artists who felt like "creative kin" to me. Not only that, but stopping by my local book store and looking in my favorite sections opens up a lot of new creative relatives as well.

So, thanks to the internet and books and publications, I have been introduced to some other artists I would otherwise not have come into contact with and I have some new insights into future creative pursuits. Thankful to have found some creative kin out there in the world, in addition to all of the creative kin I have right here in my own home town. Feeling encouraged and a part of a cool family. It's not so lonely being an artist after all.

A Rodin sculpture I saw on a recent visit to the NC Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC. This begs the question, "What are you passionate about? What is your art?"