Cross-pollination.  That's really what it is.  The wonderful way that experiencing good art inspires and excites one's own attempts.  I honestly can't stress highly enough how important it is to me to feed my soul by going to as many art / music shows as I possibly can.  Today's was a world-class offering; my great friend Erika Le Roux gives monthly concerts over the summer, often with friends, and today she had roped in the amazing tenor John Treleaven and the wonderful clarinettist Ates Yilmaz.  What they gave us, with open hearts, was music of the highest order, and so much excitement and inspiration that it almost overflowed inside me.   Later (much later; it has to be admitted that these concerts are always followed by long, wine-fuelled lunches during which every subject under the sun is discussed in detail) I returned home and in a blaze of happiness grabbed my paintbrush and had a huge amount of fun (two paintings finished, and another started).   What amused me was that the inspiration didn't stop there; the photo above is one of a series I took of the plate I'd grabbed to use as a palette.  I LIKE this!