Inspiration for MAKING IT HOME

On my ‘artwork’ tab you can read about my cover painting of the silver clock – where I found inspiration and how I ‘made it’ my own (clue: I didn’t buy it).

You don’t need to paint to be a happy writer, of course, and it is an appreciation of art that helps your writing more than anything…

Art as kindling

If you attend any of my courses, you’ll know that I talk of paintings as kindling for your creative writing – each term I include a session in which I provide a wide choice of paintings, and we then choose a couple of favourites each to work from. For me, sometimes the art becomes a hanger for what’s already underway: I have characters up and running, but something in a painting causes me to link the portrait with my own creation. On occasions a painting helps my own plotting, and it has nothing to do with the ‘story’ the artist was telling in their work.

“Karin and Kersti” by Carl Larsson, 1898, Sweden. I loved the playfulness of this picture. The young woman became for me my untameable Dorothy with her young William.

Georg Achen’s “The Dream Window” at Liselund Castle, 1903. This picture of the maid looking out became an anchor picture as I considered my Bessie, dreaming of her Norman and the life she thought she could never have!

During each term I would have times of pondering, as I tried to imagine ways of linking a picture or theme with my ongoing narrative. ‘As the Sky Catches Fire’ (inspired by that painting ‘Midsummer Eve Bonfire on Skagen Beach’) was a case in point – how was I going to bring that into my collection, or would it just be a short story, with nothing to do with the project?

If you’ve read MAKING IT HOME you’ll know the answer to that!

Do you see the children who appear to be playing too close to the flames? That was the part of the painting that caught my imagination.

In the autumn term we’ll have a new session looking at paintings and finding what ignites our own storytelling (or memories, for life writing). If you are not one of my writers, I hope this approach will provide you with stories of your own… Please do get in touch and let me know if it does.