Blog Love

Time again for me to show some love to one of my favorite blogs. I had intended this to be a regular feature but you know how that goes, right? I have quite a few favorites and I will admit that quite a few are art, craft and jewelry related. This one is in that group. The Photographic Aspect is the blog of Mark Alan Meader and if you are a fan of nature photography then this man's photos will blow you away. Mark is lucky enough to live in San Diego which has some beautiful coastline within easy access but he is also able to move around the whole of the Southwest of the States. This area of the States is a photographers dream (well, in my opinion) because of the beautiful desert landscapes and mountains which Mark has the perfect eye for. One of the things I love about his photographs is that he doesn't always "see" in color. Sometimes black and white is the perfect medium for his landscapes. Saying that, the photo below is one of my all-time favorites.



I could sit and look at that photo all day. With every new photo Mark posts on his blog he tells the story behind the photo, even if just to tell us readers about waiting for the right light. Make sure you stop by and check out all of his posts and photos and if you love them as much as I do then you can always stop by his Etsy shop here. I dream of having that photo above hanging in my apartment, till that day comes I'm going to be visiting Mark's blog and shop and look in awe and of course enjoy the stories behind them.

Where Do You Find Inspiration?

Everyone will have a different answer and I'm always interested to find where people get their inspiration from. I was reading an article about this subject but it covered the topic of wire work and design. The author's suggestion was to look at buildings with ironwork which makes perfect sense. I'm sure there are people who live in the country and have the landscape around to give them ideas. There are people who paint or photograph what is around them. I have to admit that I don't really know what inspires me, silly as that may sound. When I come up with a design sometimes its just sitting with a bunch of bead or jumprings in from of me and hoping for the best. Other times it might just suddenly come to me what I should do with that awesome focal bead that has been sitting there for ever. Then there are the other times when I'm out and I see something that gives me an idea for a design.



One thing I do love to do is look around for inspiration. Whether it is from nature, like the first photo (Zion, Utah, USA) or from something manmade like the bridges and buildings in the second photo (Tyne Bridges, Newcastle, England). It might be the colors or the shapes that give you the ideas to come up with a design. So what inspires you to make what you do? or do you have many different inspirations? I'd love to hear what inspires you.