The art of inspiration

I recently had a conversation with an artist who told me he doesn't like to look at work by other artists while he's coming up with his own pieces. He said he didn't want to be influenced by anything anyone else was doing.

To his credit, this artist is talented and original.

He paints. He does graphic design, and he's trying to plan a multimedia piece if he can find the venue for it.

While I see his point, I can't say I agree with him. He says influenced; I say inspired.

You can draw cross-genre inspiration, like how a photo inspires a poem or a flower inspires a designer dress.

But anyone practicing an art or polishing a skill should seek samples of good and bad to learn what's good and bad.

As a writer, I love to read. I love drinking in the sentences and spinning in the plot lines. And I love how reading something by a great writer makes me stretch and reach for that upper level in my own writings.

Looking at other work helps us learn. Cubism and surrealism? Oh, thanks for the example, Salvador. Impressionism and capturing light? Ah, Monet, so that's how it's done.

Maybe he wasn't talking about the masters. Maybe he was talking about his peers.

Even so, I think having an idea of what others around you are doing helps you stay current.

It can pull you out of a pattern you've fallen into. It shakes up your trusted formula. It inspires you to do more, better, different.