Save/As #002 : A Weekly Creative Boost from the Artists I Love

When my creativity hits a wall, I look for inspiration in the work of the artists I love. For years, every time I see something that grabs my attention online, I right-click on the image and "Save As" into an ever-growing folder titled INSPIRATION. Now, as a means of keeping all of our creative juices flowing, I will randomly select ten images from my folder every week and share them here with you. I encourage you to follow the links to see more of each artist's work - there is always much more inspiration to be discovered!

Untitled Illustration | 2016
^ David Alvarez ^

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Untitled (Styrofoam Cups) | 2008
^ Tara Donovan ^
_{^{Photo by Dennis Cowley}}

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Arboreal Office | 2014
^ Robert Gonsalves ^

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Thorncrown Chapel | 1980
^ E. Fay Jones ^

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CICLOTRAMA 80 ( Aglomeração ) | 2017
^ Janaina Mello Ladini ^

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Untitled 21 (Through Looking) | 2016
^ Rebecca Reeve ^

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Samorost Video Game | 2003
^ Jakub Dvorský - Amanita Design ^

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Corona | 2016
^ Matthew Simmonds ^

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Indefinite Vase | 2016
^ Studio E.O ^

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The Continuous Monument: On the Rocky Coast | 1969
^ Superstudio ^

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To "Save" a file implies keeping it as you found it. To "Save As" is to change it, to re-make it, to find something new that wasn't there before. There is an important distinction between plagiarizing someone else's work, and using it to unlock something in your own mind. In this section I will use the above images to unlock my creativity and see what comes out.

Every week, I will challenge myself to fill an entire page of my sketchbook with stream-of-consciousness ideas inspired by the images above. I challenge you to do the same! Feel free to share your thoughts and sketches in the comments below. My sketches will be quick and messy, and mostly futile, but every once in a while I hope a new and exciting idea finds its way onto the page.

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Thorncrown Chapel (detail) by E. Fay Jones

This week I was most inspired by the details of E. Fay Jones's Thorncrown Chapel. As an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright, E. Fay Jones learned the importance of creating a cohesive architectural style down to the finest details. In my opinion, one of his most innovative additions to the field of architecture is his structural details. In Thorncrown Chapel, he devised an ingenious technique that takes advantage of the material qualities of both wood and steel. At the point where each pair of wooden joists intersects, he used a steel brace to connect the wooden arms and leave the center point open (as seen in the image above). This way the entire building appears especially light and airy. In this week's sketches, I attempted to employ a similar structural detail to connect wood and steel in various furniture designs. Since steel can be water-jet or bent into specific curvatures without losing its structural stability, I devised some connection details that allow the wood pieces to follow complex curves with the help of steel connectors.

If there's an artist/architect/designer whose work you find particularly inspiring, feel free to share their work in the comments below for consideration in future posts. Please do not share your own work, only the work of people who inspire you. Thanks for reading this edition of Save/As! Please resteem to share this resource with your fellow creative Steemians.

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