Inspiration is everywhere

Last spring, a student brought in a beautiful skeleton leaf she found while walking to class.  We both admired it and then the following week she brought in a whole envelope of them that I have kept and used from time to time for inspiration for projects.

When she came back from spring break, she was very excited about her experience using a wood burner and asked if she could explore the technique more in the studio.  Since I have a burner and she is 13, I told her that would be fine by me.

She pulled out one of the leaves and a piece of wood and began creating.  I love her final work. There's wood burning, carving, and a bit of paint.

13 year old

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago and another teen student from the class had collected some skeleton leaves that she wanted to incorporate into a painting.

13 year old

Which in turn, inspired another student in the class to also utilize skeletal leaves.

14 year old

Isn't it wonderful to see three completely different creations all inspired by a found treasure from nature.  It just goes to prove that inspiration is truly everywhere, if only we choose to look for it.