Exploring Inspiration – Nurtured Spirits

April 16, 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 fourth in the Exploring Inspiration series of seven, “Nurtured Spirits”:

Eric
This land—this island—is about joy and spirit and beauty. It’s about close connection to the very heart of my soul. It’s a deep-rooted sense of place on shallow soil growing out of volcanic rocks. It’s about consistent and constant change. It’s about boundaries with no bounds—a close connection with the rest of the universe and the forces and powers and rhythms of nature. It’s about nurture, too. This land—space—spirit—nurtures me. And sometimes I like to think I help nurture it a little bit when I plant a new tree or cut something back or make room for something to grow. It’s a place of awakening and discovery. A place of memory, seasons, and cycles. A place of retreat. … It’s a place where I can focus on the little goldfinch delicately balanced on top of the purple thistle right in front of me or the early morning light bouncing off the distant lobster boat down the Muscle Ridge Channel—and beyond and over the horizon. It’s all about edges as the tide and wind and light and seasons turn and the water grows thick and brittle with the winter winds and thick and flowing with fish and shrimp and seaweed and lobsters as summer heats up the water and vaporizes into the sky . . . I feel it’s the birthplace of my spirit.





Peter 
Artists are often asked to prepare “statements,” about their work…something I’ve always tried to avoid. My photographs are my statement. I don’t pretend or aspire to be terribly intellectual about what I do. I just poke around the nooks and crannies of this coast, always with my camera. That’s about it. I’m not overly concerned about what I’m doing being considered “fine art.” As far as I’m concerned, I’m just storytelling. These are the places I’ve been and people I’ve met, and sometimes there’s metaphor if you know what to look for.


Next, in “Island World”, Eric and Peter reflect on Earth as an island in space, views reveal the world’s wondrous possibilities, and how exploring and creating within a unique oasis inspires art.

www.erichopkins.com
www.ralstongallery.com

 

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