Over the years I've used photography to gather images which inspire me in various ways, quite often it will be some detail of texture and colour which will draw me in or give me some kind of feeling that I want to explore further through writing, drawing and design.

I've just recently bought my first DSLR camera after a long, long time of only having the use of the camera on my phone, so it's pretty amazing! I had a very basic compact digital camera years ago and I did take a lot of photos with this which I still have saved on disc. I think an awful lot were of rocks! I'll get back to them at some stage for design ideas. That's the thing, there are so many small details to inspire it can almost be overwhelming to figure out what to follow through on and that's where intuition comes in.

If you've read my previous post, 'On Authenticity', then you'll know that whether it's with work or any other part of my life I've learned to trust my intuition. If I start questioning or trying to use logic (too much.. there are times that call for logic!) then my interest in a subject disappears pretty fast. I've found that there are certain things which really draw me in and I nearly always have to feel some strong personal connection with them. The main one is Westsandwick in Yell (one of Shetlands North isles), where my Mam grew up and where we spent all of our holidays when I was young, it was like a second home. I did a whole project on the house there which I may do a separate blog on at some point.

I also like how you can see the history of people in the landscape where areas of land used in different ways has become overgrown and the shapes softened over time. I have a particular love of boat noosts (safe places either built upon or dug into the earth to offer a sort of cocoon of safety for boats pulled up above the tide line). Some of these are still in use, others are long forgotten and occasionally you'll find the remains of a boat still there, disintegrating into the ground. I love these places! As well as photos I tend to gather fragments, bits and pieces that when looked at and held later will remind me of the feel of that particular noost.

I could go on about how much I love boat noosts and old boats! I've actually come back to this subject for the weave designs I'm working on at the moment, the theme could honestly keep me going for the rest of my life! So, as I feel I have been somewhat unfocused in this post and may have rambled a bit I think I'll leave it there for now. If you haven't already then have a look at the link to my gallery page (below). At the moment it's just a few photos from around Shetland which I have from the last couple of years, I'll add more as I get used to my new camera.

Thanks for reading!

Inspiration