Inspiration

A Journey Through Asia

During August 2009 Ivan Vanya captured on film 24hrs of travel through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Video captured with a Canon 5D Mark II with soundtrack by Yann Tiersen.

Beautiful work with some familiar scenes -- the opening scene is of the restaurant on top of the Banyan tree Bangkok. On a calm evening this has to one of the most inspiring places to have dinner and drinks.

Inspiration: Yao Lu

Yao Lu - Viewing the City's Places of Interest in Springtime
Yao Lu - Viewing the City's Places of Interest in Springtime

Chinese artist Yao Lu's pictures of traditional Chinese landscapes, mountains shrouded in mist, are created by digitally manipulating photographs of mounds of rubbish. His work lying somewhere between painting and photography, expresses the changes affecting the environment in China as it undergoes rampant urbanization and faces numerous ecological threats.

Wisdom

wisdom book

Inspired by the idea that one of the greatest gifts one generation can pass to another is the wisdom it has gained from experience, the Wisdom project, produced with cooperation from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, seeks to create a record of a multicultural group of people who have all made their mark in the world.

Reintroduced to me by monoscope. The trailer is inspiring and worth your time.

The website (with trailer) and book.

Inspiration: Papercraft Couture

Papercraft Couture

Clothes and jewelry made of paper. I'm blown away by the futuristic vision proposed in this series of wonderfully creative work from Alexandra Zaharova & IlyaPlotnikov of studioDoberman in Moscow.

Inspiration: Simon Peplow

simon peplow bike illustration

... lives within a delicately constructed vortex, he spends the majority of his days situated in the corpus callosum region of his noggin. Characters are fundamental to his work, described by some as whimsical, cute and sinister in equal measures. He just wishes they were his friends.

Whimsical character driven illustration by UK based artist Simon Peplow. An avid cyclist, evident in this inspiration series of illustrations, Simon has worked for a variety of national and international clients some of which include, Plan B, Sidewalk, The Illustrated Ape and Stranger Magazine(UK), Lodown (Germany), Modart (Switzerland) and The Artists Guide (New York),Mother Agency (New York), Teen Vogue(US), H&M, Pointer Footwear, C07 T-shirts, and Suburban Bliss Clothing.

Mike Edel "Turn the Lights on Bright"

Music Video for the artist Mike Edel. A gentle and inspirational start to the week. Shot in Victoria BC, what a wonderful place to ride it looks to be.

Inspiration: Hiromi Uehara

Hiromi Uehara Trio - Love & Laughter performed on Japanese TV in 2005

I've watched this performance eight times now as much for her exuberance as her mastery of her art. We should all have fun like this everyday.

Hiromi Uehara is a composer and pianist born in Hamamatsu, Japan. She is known for her virtuosic technique, energetic live performances and blend of musical genres in her compositions.

Hiromi Chronicles Her World Travels On Her First Solo Piano Recording:

"I really wanted the record to be a kind of travel journal," she says. "I've traveled so much in the last few years that I've started to wonder exactly where is the place that I'm supposed to be. Traveling takes so much out of you. It can be exhausting. But as soon as I go on the stage and I see people who are very happy because of what I'm doing, it just erases all of the struggles and the craziness that can come with all the traveling, and it really fulfills me."
To Hiromi's way of thinking, music is something much more than just notes on a scale or a series of black and white keys. Rather, it is a naturally occurring phenomenon to be plucked out of the air, a vibration to be captured and re-transmitted to receptive ears and open hearts. "Some places have such a special vibe," she says. "Sometimes a melody emerges in and around a place without me having to think about it at all. I can just walk down the street and I hear it. I'm always thinking about composing, and always trying to find what parts of the world around me can be musical. Sometimes it just comes to me in a beautiful moment."

In an in-depth interview with Anil Prasad of Innerviews Hiromi gives some insight into her creative process:

What insight can you give me into your creative process?
I try to compose every single day. I've been keeping a musical diary and writing about what's happening in the day since I was six years old. When I was small, I was writing more childish stuff, and they weren't really compositions, but I've always had the habit. Now, when I decide the direction of a project, I focus on what ideas can fit the context. I start by going through my personal library of ideas that I've written down and try to sum up the ones that may fit and try to make sense of them.

What tend to be the biggest challenges you face in that process?
Sometimes a song can take a long time to compose because I am determined to have each piece make sense. It's not good if a song sounds like a collection of parts. I try to have each piece tell a story, even if it's done through many different parts. They all have to fit together. I sometimes rewrite things over and over again until they work as a whole. Also, I try very hard to consider every musician in the band and figure out how I can highlight a section on the album that speaks to their strengths. I know the musicians in my band so well now that I feel I've really improved in this area.

Selected discography:

Another Mind (2003)
Brain (2004)
Spiral (2006)
Time Control (2007)
Place to Be (2009)
Duet: Chick & Hiromi (2009)

Follow the related links in the video above to find more of performances on Youtube.

Hiromi Uehara

Inspiration: Odani Motohiko

Odani Motohiko

Odani Motohiko, born 1972 in Kyoto, is best known for his visions of the future premised on "mutation" and "transformation" of the body in sculpture, film and photography.

Since appearing on the scene as one of a new generation of artists with sculptural roots, Odani Motohiko has continued to create works of monstrous beauty that excite painful sensations in the viewer. This year, a decade after his debut, this artist also renowned for the sheer diversity of his work, which encompasses video and photography as well as three-dimensional forms, will once again begin to channel his energies seriously into sculpture.
"Looking back," Odani says, "I think that having been churning out sculpture like there was no tomorrow, I eventually found myself in a dilemma over the number of resources I actually had to draw on within myself and the direction my output was taking, and as familiarity began to breed contempt with sculpture, I backed off a little and incorporated various other media. At some level though I've always felt a need to return to sculpture, and for the past three years I've been sharpening up my act again in readiness, both technically and mentally." ART iT 17 Fall/Winter 2007

How I See It: Sketches, Drawings, and Paintings by HRH Princess Sirivannavari

Themes of self, emotion, thought, and the outside world from the perspective of HRH Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana through the most extensive collection of her drawings and paintings.

How I See It was an exhibition held at the Thailand Design and Creative Center from October 21st to December 20th, 2009. The art was exceptional of course but what really caught my interest was the thought process and beliefs of the artist; all of which were organized around five different themes.