Inspiration

I was sitting here just now thinking about who inspires me artistically and several people come to mind, one of which is Emmy Tofa. Emmy has this wonderful knack of making a silk purse out of a sow's ear. By that I mean she can make something beautiful out of things that most people would just throw away. I have seen her use other things like tin cans, sardine tins, old nails and hubcaps to create her art. She doesn't model herself after anyone else's style-she carves her own unique artistic path.

Emmy also makes these incredible found paper journals which feature a mish-mash of discarded papers that she finds in her travels. They are wonderfully creative and if you didn't want to use them as a journal, you could pull them apart and use the papers in your own artwork. Anything goes!

I think what I admire most about Emmy is that she is someone who is bold, not only in her artwork, but also in her life. Emmy is not afraid to be who she is-she is spiritual, kind, inventive, resourceful and just outright joyous about being herself. If I am lucky, maybe some of that magic will rub off on me! ;)