Inspiration not Imitation | Creating Your Own Art Work with Karen Bagley
As artists, we get our inspiration from literally everywhere. As creatives, our minds are constantly running, and we often—no, most times—can picture beauty in a scene where others cannot. Creatives as a whole are the most unique beings on the planet because we look at things through eyes no one can even understand until we share it with them.
Being a creative comes with its cons as well. We get so wrapped up in the hustle mindset to make money that we forget to do what we originally signed up to do… CREATE. Before we know it, we find ourselves endlessly scrolling through social media, one in particular—yes, the dreaded Pinterest—looking for “inspiration.” Somewhere along the way inspiration has been confused and is becoming IMITATION. The difference, you ask? One is something you have seen in your mind that you bring to life. The other one you have is—well, let’s call it what it is—a copy or imitation. Something you have seen from an outside source that you literally imitate.
Now please understand we have all had “that” client who has seen something somewhere and asked us to repeat it. So, what do we do… We copy it. Make the client happy, right? Short answer, yes. Long answer, NO!
We have all been guilty of this, myself included. Not only is this further disconnecting us from our creative minds, but we are losing bigger sales because clients want what they see… It’s all they know. What if though, you give them something they have never seen? IMAGINE YOUR SALES THEN! And the ability to reach clients who truly value what’s in that beautiful mind of yours. At what point are we just copying other artists’ work and at what point do we get back in touch with our true creative self?
Well, I am here to help. We tend to put our minds in a creative box, if you will, for multiple reasons. The biggest of which is: Nobody has done this before, so is it really possible that I could possibly do it? Our confidence is shaken so we stick with what we know. Or what we see other photographers supposedly making money with. So, the reasoning part of our brain says “stick with that.” I mean, we already hear it enough that our career isn’t even a career to begin with, so we already feel shaky in ourselves right out of the gate. To that I say a loud “SCREW THAT!” We didn’t become photographers to create the same exact thing as everyone else. We chose this career to show everyone the beauty we see in our own way, what’s in our own mind.
