Imagination Begins with Color

Where do you find inspiration in your art? Do you have a vivid imagination? Do the ideas come when you sit in front of a blank piece of paper or a blank canvas? That's never worked for me. I look at the blank surface and 9 times out of 10 my mind is blank.
I'm cleaning the studio, unpacking suitcases of supplies, putting everything back in it's place. And the more tidy the table tops become, the less inspired I am to create. My creativity soars in chaos. When people see my studio for the first time, whether in person or in photos, they imagine the possibilities immediately. I imagine it differently. I get an idea first and pull out supplies. Then the play begins and I think of something else I need, so I grab a few more supplies. And the more I play, the more "toys" I add to the table. And before you know it, my 500 sq ft studio with all these table tops is reduced to a tiny area measuring about 5" x 8" and that's where my imagination finds it's home.
So here's my plan for today. I'm putting everything away (stencils, stamps, journals, scrapbook papers, books, adhesives, jewelry, and kits). And then I'm pulling out colorants. Crayons, colored pencils, watercolors, oil pastels, paints, and inks. Next come large sheets of white, heavy paper...almost cardstock weight, in 11 x 17" sheets. Maybe a few pages from an antique ledger, a few sheets of music, an Asian newspaper, a couple of pages from an old phone book, and some white tissue paper for sure!
I'll get spritzer bottles of water, a few sponges, and my own line of rubber stamps. And step one will be to splash some color on a few of those sheets of paper. Maybe I'll try the ink blotting technigue: apply lots of wet colorant to one sheet of paper. Press a second sheet down on top of it, maybe twist it or turn it, maybe just press and smoosh. Then I'll separate the sheets and see what I've got.
Next I'll take my bold image rubber stamps with lots of patterns. I love my line of stamps. (I love all bold image stamps, but because these are my own creation, I have a particular fondness for these specific images.) And I'll spritz them with water, then add watercolor pencils & watercolor crayons scribbled on top, then spritzed again before I stamp. I'm envisioning cheerful backgrounds, chaotic vibrancy, and lots of fun.
And then I'll go dig out some of my stencils and punchinella and dry-wall tape. I'll add some white as I create patterns. And while I'm playing with white accents I'll pull out my Ranger Opaque White Pigment Pen and my white Zig Painty Pen for a bolder line as I doodle and sketch some dots and dashes, swirls and lines.
Maybe these sheets will be cut to fit in the pages of a journal. Maybe they'll become cards, or gift enclosure cards. Maybe they'll be backgrounds for a batch of ATC's or Moo Cards. Masterpieces await. Goodbye clean hands and table tops. Hello imagination and creativity!