Inspiration- What Dreams May Come

  While I believe my whole life serves as inspiration for the arts and crafts I create, there are certain images, books, movies, etc. that resurface time and again. It's not just the beautiful imagery or liberal philosophy, but in some way these things resemble my childhood, my life, my arcadia.

  I wasn't sure where to start, so I thought I might begin with obscure. A movie I watch over and over for the beautiful cinematography is What Dreams May Come. It is also a very classic love story that hit me at the age when such things first start to really matter. In essence it is a classical story line with modern imagery, but it was the oil painting inspired heaven that truly captured me.

  There are some really great scenes when the main character first enters his self-made heaven (before he has fully accepted this new reality). His interaction with the oil paint landscape is full of great texture, brillant colors, and an interesting philosophy for us dreamers and artists.

  If my imagination were to create my heaven (assuming such a thing exists) it would likely be a mixture of Rivendell, Narnia, Ireland, the Redwoods, and the forests and fields from my childhood. I would like to believe I would try to invent tiny faeries, elegant elves, wise ents, singing mermaids, and maybe the white stag or talking wolf. I'd like to think that all my favorite animals would be there, which change continually as I discover more obscure and endangered creatures. I have a particular affinity for hedgehogs and canines of all sorts (wolves, red foxes, dogs). You can imagine the birds, animals, insects and trees I grew up with in the Midwest, but somehow I think Red Pandas might sneak in there too. It would be a place to build tree forts, fly like Peter Pan, talk to the animals and live free to imagine as a child does.

  What would you imagine? What would your ideal "heaven" be like? What would your mind create?