Finding inspiration

So stiff this morning it’s proving quite difficult to do anything. Graham and I planted about 40 balls of varying sizes of buxus (or box to you I) in our new front garden yesterday. Apart from one major domestic (I wanted them planted a fist apart for that instant immediate wow garden kind of look Graham being more practical and budget aware (otherwise known as a tight ass I think I may have screamed) wanted them planted about 20 feet apart!  Anyway fight over I pointed out that neither Maud or I could live in a house with a front garden as bland and boring and migraine inducing as that so now we are all back to being happy – yay – except we are about another 20 balls short of box so more planting on the weekend – great! I digress what I wanted to focus on is inspiration and finding it. If you are stuck in a rut, you’ve gone thru back issues of magazines, flicked thru a zillion interior books and still haven’t come across a style or colour palette that appeals then take inspiration from some of our greatest artists. If I am stuck then my mini art library is my first port of call. Time and time again I get inspired by Matisse by the heady colours so prevalent in his paintings think bright green, watery cyclamen, lilac, violet, turquoise pretty much the colours of nature. If it works in a painting you can be darn sure it will work in your pad. My signature look as you all know is dark, sludgy inky hues but I am constantly wanting to ramp these up with some pretty intoxicating combinations and Matisse time and time again inspires me to do just that. I came across this very lovely interior (walls painted red so not my thing) and yet I adore and as I was flicking thru my big old art book recently it occurred how very similar the palettes were to the image shown below. To quote Marie Antoinette  "There is nothing new except what has been forgotten," Bravo to that. A beautiful palette especially clever as it feels relaxing even though the walls are painted fiery red. A painting by Matisse very close in hues to the interior above. Again deepest darkest red is juxtaposed with some soft neutrals to balance the impact. I leave you with one more quote for the road which cheers me up no end especially if you run your own business or are thinking of starting one up.  Spoken of course by the fabulous Mr Trump who may have dubious taste but it when it comes to working hard – hats off to him. If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable.