Art Beat: Finding inspiration from 2020 to prepare for 2021

Finding inspiration isn’t always easy, especially when it feels like normal life is still on hold.

Even the most prolific painters get stuck and need to take a breather. Sometimes the best thing to do when you’re looking for inspiration is simply stepping back to look at the world around you, whether it’s a walk around the block or scrolling through projects posted by other people online.

I recently interviewed Colleen Wake, a multimedia artist who dabbles in just about every type of creative pursuit. Her eclectic brain reminded me of my own, especially when so told me that she doodled a lot as a kid. She said that she got in trouble for drawing during math class, something I was guilty of countless times.

“My brain is nonstop. I’m always constantly thinking about some kind of project. I would say 99 percent of everything I do artistically is for me,” she said during the interview.

Wake also told me that when she attends the Valley Arts Alliance’s Wearable Art Show with her daughter, they like to draw inspiration from other people’s creations.

“It’s really fun when you see something somebody’s done. It kind of gets you going for next year,” Wake said.

I recently watched “Back to the Future,” a staple of my childhood that I haven’t actually sat down to watch in a few years. Besides being more cartoonishly silly that I remembered, something else stood out to me after this watch through, Doc Brown’s inspiration for the flux capacitor, “what makes time travel possible.”

Of course, I remember basically every line from the first two movies since they were part of the regular lineup of classic movies cycling through my house as I grew up. As with most things, watching familiar movies at different times in my life is more than just nostalgia. Whatever I’m going through in my 19, 25, or 29 year head will latch onto different parts of the movie than they did in the past.

When I was a kid, I really liked the second movie the most since it had more bright colors and cool sci-fi stuff to ogle at. Hoverboards, need I say more?

Watching the first one again evoked a lot of emotions in me, especially during the cozy, clock filled, Rube Goldberg device twirling opening scene in Doc’s house. It was during another classic scene where I felt a sort of new kind of energy tucked in my nostalgic musings.

When Marty meets 1955 Doc, he convinces him he’s the real deal by retelling the story of how he slipped and hit his head, getting an Issac Newton style inspiration, a vision of the Flux Capacitor in his head.

I know that many of us have been saying thank God, we made it 2021, thinking we’re that much closer to an actual end to the current situation. I’m just as eager as the next person for COVID-19 to stop dominating all of our conversations and daily routines, but even with the vaccines rolling out, I think it’s safe to say that “normal life” is still a ways away. Who can say when? Of course, we can all hope it’s within the year or even sooner.

I’m by no means preaching or taking a divisive stance on the matter, just trying to reconcile and brainstorm ways we can keep making the most of what’s available right now since so much of it is outside our control. What we can control is ourselves and how we map out the year from here.

All I’m trying to say is that we spent a year coming up with ways to work around a situation none of us asked for. We created alternative events. We came up with creative ways to connect with our loved ones in spite of social distance.

When I was wrapping up my interview with Wake, I asked her for her advice to others when they’re feeling low in inspiration. She said that getting outside in nature is a good go-to. She also expanded the thought, emphasizing the importance of just getting out every once in a while to see what other people are doing.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, maybe we should look at what’s all been done by others in 2020 to inform our plans for 2021. We can analyze people’s attempts such as alternative events and determine what we think worked and what didn’t work, then try to make these ideas our own.

Also, if an idea hits you in the head, literally and otherwise, be sure to get it down on a piece of paper like Doc Brown, because inspiration can come from anywhere and it’s best to be ready when it does.

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com