Feast for the Eyes, Fuel for the Mind: Inspiring Art Books to Spark Your Creativity
Indoor Inspiration
Finding inspiration can feel daunting as winter blues linger and the world outside turns grey. But fear not, creative thinker, dive into a visual feast from the comfort of your own home with these 9 stunning art books. From gorgeous illustrations to captivating photography, these tomes will ignite your creative fire, fuel your artistic journey, and be the perfect eye-feasting experience.
Eye-Feasting
I first heard the term eye-feasting spoken by Tania Willis. She's a fantastic illustrator known for her quirky map-making skills and being part of The Good Ship Illustration. Eye-feasting is all about going out into the world to see new things and be inspired by differences. This is an essential exercise in keeping an artist's mind curious. Books also play a significant role in inspiration gathering with the added bonus that they can be enjoyed from the comfort of your home.
Coffee Table Books
The phrase eye-feasting has been at the forefront of my mind as at certain times of the year, mainly when the air is cold, and clouds blanket the sky in muted tones, the impetus to venture outside for inspiration can be lacking. As such, it would be fun to share some sumptuous eye-feasting that can be done from the comfort of your own home and coffee table books are a perfect place to start.
Books and magazines are where I love to cast my eyes when they've been looking at screens for too long. Agitation takes hold, and I know I need to ditch the scrolling for gentle eye strolling in the soft, matte paper pages of a beautiful book. The variety of incredible art, intricate illustration, stunning design, and mesmerising photography make books the perfect creative resource you can return to time and time again.
Book Nook
My sideboard always has a stack of books on it. Delores, the decoy duck, keeps watch over them, and a well-appointed chair tucked next to the sideboard completes the book nook. It takes up a tiny footprint in my home, but having a dedicated spot for reading feels special. A National Trust Wool Trow is a must to ensure a warm and cosy read. These blankets are snug, fluffy, affordable, made in the UK and come in various colours. My book nook also has its own gallery wall of art to complete the look.
Delores is currently nesting on the following:
Spring Cannot be Cancelled, David Hockney in Normandy
by Martin Gayford and David Hockney
A small book packed with beautiful drawings, paintings and wise words that can be dipped into as and when.
Pattern Design
by Elizabeth Wilhide
This book is a bible for past and present pattern design that is an absolute must for wannabe pattern designers.
Floret Farm's Cut Flower Garden
by Erin Benzakein and Julie Chai
A gift from my sister bursting with floral loveliness and garden inspiration.
Case Study Houses
by Elizabeth A. T. Smith
Encompassing my all-time favourite era in history for design and architecture, this book is pure escapism into the genera of mid-century modern. It's also an insight into a fascinating study conducted in post-war America, where contemporary architects were tasked with designing low-cost, experimental modern homes. Much of the mid-century modern vernacular we know today comes from the Case Study homes, which fascinates me.
The Kew Gardens Flowering Plants Colour Book
by Royal Botanical Gardens Kew
A gift for Little Bird, with delightful illustrations and a pleasure to look through for floral inspiration.
Barbie, Four Decades of Fashion, Fantasy, and Fun
by Marco Tosa
It's pink and lovely and so splendidly Kitsch; what more can I say, except if you come across a copy (and Barbie is your thing), snap it up because I'm not sure it's still in print.
Brian Grimwood, The Man Who Changed the Look of British Illustration
by Black Dog Publishing
Chosen by Little Bird when she was pretty small from the bookshop of a lovely art gallery in Henley (sadly no longer there) because it's full of curious and colourful drawings.
Kurt Jackson's Botanical Landscapes
by Kurt Jackson
I bought this book from one of my favourite shops, Heaton Cooper Studio in Grasmere. Every time I go, I treat myself to a book, and this one jumped out at me for its mass of botanical and landscape richness held within its pages.
100 Masterpieces from the Vitra Design Museum
by Vitra Design Museum
An incredible catalogue of 20th-century furniture design at its best. The shapes, materials, colours and compositions of the examples within this book are genuinely fascinating and capture a remarkable century for forward-thinking modern design.
Visual Arts & Design
Design roots indeed run deep for me and will always be a primary source of inspiration within my art practice today. My love for interior design was kindled long before I became an artist. It's a love I'm once again embracing. Art and interior design are so closely linked it's no surprise I'm drawn to both.
It's fun to share some of my favourite books with you. I hope you find them interesting and even spark your curiosity to dive deeper into them. I'd love to hear about your go-to books for art and design inspiration. Please tell me your favourites in the comments below.
Would you like to see some BRIGHT paper goods?
The shop is bursting with beautiful new Ali Copy Cards. Extend your analogue eye-feasting time with the restful activity of handwriting a lovely card to your best friend. It's always such a treat to receive a handwritten card.
Journal Notes
Here are a few handy links to the artist, illustrators and designers and things mentioned in this blog and where to buy some of the books. I've listed the books available from shops I know and would buy from myself. A couple of the books were second-hand to me or from bookshops that are no longer in existence. The links were accurate at the date this blog was published.
Tania Willis, National Trust Wool Trow, Spring Cannot be Cancelled by Martin Gayford and David Hockney, Pattern Design by Elizabeth Wilhide, Floret Farm's Cut Flower Garden by Erin Benzakein and Julie Chai, Case Study Houses by Elizabeth A. T. Smith, The Kew Gardens Flowering Plants Colour Book by Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, Heaton Cooper Studio