Artistic Inspirations & Influences for a working artist

What influences artists? What inspires artists?

Everything! That’s the easy answer but see below for a detailed response where I outline all of the things that are currently influencing and inspiring my artistic practise while I am in Art Residency here in Madrid, Spain.

This blog post covers a few things that are inspiring and influencing me, right now, in my creative work. When I am working on a series of artworks covering a particular theme I carry out a bank of research before I start painting. However, also while working through my creative process I blare out music (sometimes) in the background……so I take influence from this, however it is only a minor influence with the big inspiration being the research I carried out and the viewpoint I developed from the reasearch.

Outside of my artwork, I am always reading, podcasting and visiting interesting sites or museums so again these also have a slight influence on me and my artistic work. See below for all that I am getting up to right now here in Madrid!

Artist Inspiration: What I’m Podcasting > “Death of an Artist”

Hosted by Author, Curator and Broadcaster Kathy Hessel, I’m currently listening to Season 2 of “Death of an Artist” on Spotify. This 6 part series takes an indepth look at the life of husband and wife (and Modern Art duo) Lee Krassner and Jackson Pollock.

Jackson Pollock controlled by Alcohol or controlled by others?

“Death of an Artist” podcast is a tale of hard living by artist Jackson Pollock who was a chronic alcoholic. Many people know about Jackson Pollock, his innovative artwork and style but the story of how he was directed by his wife Lee Krassner is less well known. The control or direction of Pollock by Krassner is whereby she creates a tightly controlled promotional plan for Pollock’s work along with Art Critic Clement Greenberg. The podcast delves in to all Krassner did for her husband and its a gripping story about love, desire, control, life and death. Of course my favourite Art Collector Peggy Guggenheim also gets a look in, with the story of how she supported and patronised living artists, featuring in the podcast too.

I’m fascinated by the lives of artists in the past, particularly the ones that had external influences such as being unstable, having mental health issues or alcohol and drug addictions. Artists with these conditions meant that they lived outside of the norm of general society and as such let no societal norms impact or put boundaries on themselves or their art work. And as such they created greatness - case in point being Jackson Pollock and his action painting through his pouring and dripping technique which was an innovation at the time. With that being said, I consider that most humans are capable of coercion and manipulation with many of us being controlled by others. And ultimately one has to consider whether this is the case with Pollock and Krassner.

Mid-Century Modern

Of huge interest to me is the mid-century modern design aesthetic in art and architecture. In my architectural work I was hugely influenced by the Father of MCM Frank Lloyd Wright. And it is for this reason that I have interest in Jackson Pollock and other artists of this time. Reading or hearing about artists living through this time conjures up images of this classic style within me and I adore the juxtaposition of Pollock drip art being displayed in the clean classic stripped back design of MCM spaces. I digress, to end the point about what I am podcasting and being inspired by, I will say that I highly recommend “Death of an Artist” podcast. Drop me a line in the comments below if you have listened to it and let me know what you think!

Artist Inspiration: What book I’m reading > “Surrender” by Bono

Currently I’m reading Bono’s “Surrender”. However, in this instance, when I say “reading” I actually mean listening to on an eAudioBook. As someone with dyslexia I flit between regular books and eAudioBooks - either way, to me, it’s all reading. I borrowed this book thought the Irish public library service, and kudos to them, it was available straightaway without having to go on the reserve list of which there was a long one when the book was initially published. Narrated by Bono it is really easy to listen to with his mild punctuation. It is a fantastic read that gives great insight into the man and the band U2 (ultimately though, only from Bono’s perspective!).

Of course to be a great songwriter one has to be a great storyteller so it should come of no surprise to hear that this memoir is a great collection of stories for the reader. Interestingly, Bono also creates a concept where each chapter is based on a song of U2 - fairly ingenious to always connect himself as the frontman of the band to the band and their songs as a whole. Is he alluding to a thought that without him there would be no U2, even though it was Larry Mullen who started the process of putting the group together?

Story telling

Bono is fairly famous and well known throughout the world as musicians go, but it is through this memoir we are invited to get to know the man and his background in his own words, Lots has been written about Bono and his Dublin upbringing but in reality it’s only through an individual’s own words do we get to know the true story…..or what they want to reveal of the true story. I think this is why it is so important for all of us to document our own true story and in someways I do this through my website, press interviews, social media posts in which I attempt to give a voice to my art.

My wife Enid has written a blog for well over 10 years and in the long term this will form a really important telling of her story. She encouraged her twin sister to start a blog about a year after she started her own, and Amy her twin sister has said that it was one of the very best things she has done in her life! So to that end, whether you are Bono or someone lesser known(!) keep on telling stories!

A shout out also to the Irish Public Library system who offer such a great service with a range of resources available from them in so many different mediums. The physical walls of libraries have been really broken down through their websites where they make such things as eBooks, eAudiobooks and digital courses available for all (for free!) with only a library card needed to avail of them.

Artist Inspiration: What music I’m listening to > Gurriers

From Bono to Gurriers, I am definitely taking in Irish influences right now!

Currently I’m listening to Gurriers who are fairly new on the Dublin music scene (they formed during the pandemic) and are a band that I was introduced to by my good pal Rodney Paz of House of Hibernia. I love their vibe, and youthful but intelligent confidence that exudes an aura that nothing can stop them. When I listen to Gurriers I am transported to energetic hot sweaty venues and can visualise them belting out their music. To me they are a post punk soundtrack to contemporary Dublin (even their name is pure Dublin) with song writing that could be described as a social commentary.

They are ascending rapidly and are currently on a European concert circuit. With upcoming performances in Germany, Italy, France, Netherlands & Belgium, go see Gurriers live, if you can…….and if you get talking to them, tell them PIGSY sent you!

Artist Inspiration: What I’m visiting > Reina Sofia Museo, Madrid

I’m on an Art Residency here in Madrid and as you might guess there is an abundance of museums, galleries and cultural centres to visit. However, there was something that was number one on my list to visit in Madrid. Can you guess what?!

Picasso’s Guernica!!

I’ve read and researched this Picasso painting for what seems like forever so it was what I visited asap when I arrived in Madrid. It did not disappoint.

And although it was crowded and pretty much elbow room only in the space that Guernica was exhibited, it was really great to see it in real life. In fact the busyness of the crowd all vying to see it (nearly as a collective) added to the vibe and palpable excitement of all of the viewers.

To see a painting created in 1937 having a draw like this in 2024 shows the significace and importance of art for humans no matter what is going on in the world. In fact given that the painting represents the horror and chaos of war it is probably just as significant now (or more so, given the current wars that are still ongoing and the impact they are having on people all over the world) as when it was painted.

Freedom of Expression and Free Speech

And while my artworks don’t tend to be overtly political I think it is important for all artists to be political and if an artist feels like they should paint an anti-war artwork, they should be free to do so. Freedom of expression is an important right and one we should fight for as artists, as should all of mankind.

Art Residency Madrid

As an aside, the fact that I am currently doing an Art Residency means that I can hop on the metro, here in Madrid, and easily get to see art masterpieces like Guernica underlines the importance of seeing the world. Doing Art Residencies gives artists the opportunity to travel beyond their doorstep and opens up the world to them in order to take influence from sights & sounds and develop their artistic work. I encourage all artists to take part in Art Residencies and seize every opportunity that comes their way!