Exploring Inspiration – Damn Exciting

March 22, 2012      Author : Eric Hopkins and Peter Ralston    Category: Art      0 Comment(s)

For artists Eric Hopkins and Peter Ralston, island exploration by air and sea inspires the soul, bringing beauty and meaning to the experience of their work.  We are thrilled, honored, and humbled to share excerpts of Eric’s writings from 2010 and Peter’s responses - fascinating musings providing joyful insights into how these artist-explorers see, feel, and “re-present” the world of Maine islands.  Enjoy the third in the Exploring Inspiration series of seven, “Damn Exciting”:

Eric
I’m an explorer...looking for nothing in particular except for what catches my fancy and drives me wild at any given moment. From the plane moving across the Planet’s surface 2000 ft. high at 100 mph my perception of the home planet changes. From town to town to city to fields, farm and forests everything seems more connected. Man’s marks are everywhere superimposed upon a strong backdrop of a rugged planet. There’s a sense of power, time, change and eternity WAY beyond my insignificant being, yet I know I count. I’m so connected to all these places and people and things and trees. It’s overwhelming. I’m driven to create from it and don’t know quite how. I see constant connection between pyros, cutouts, glass, painting, drawing, and photos.




Peter 
Exploration is what makes it all so damn exciting to me. I’ve often thought of what I do as a photographer as being a lot like fishing. Like my fishing friends I have spent many long hours, usually alone, often with nothing to show for a lot of work but a sense of having been there and having tried, going over the same ground again and again, often disappointed, occasionally coming back with a worthy catch to show for the endless investment of what Melville referred to in Moby Dick as "Time, Strength, Cash and Patience."

Like the good fishermen, I've had to know my territory and respect the rules, be ready to take a few calculated risks when it felt right, look people in the eye, keep the gear as simple as possible, get out early & come in late, watch the sky and, above all, respect the people and place where I work.

As we all know, it’s all about being “there.”



Next, in “Nurtured Spirits”, Eric and Peter reflect on how edges of land and moments help take care of one’s soul, while images tell unlimited stories without any words at all.
www.erichopkins.com
www.ralstongallery.com

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