Influencers and Inspirers: Two Very Different Currents

The other day, I was looking through some recent posts online—just checking in, as we all do from time to time. I was thinking once again about “influencers,” since I’d just finished a book called The Inheritance in which one of the main characters describes herself a “professional influencer.”

I saw intriguing work in many posts –  polished presentations, confident voices, a dizzying array of directions.

    “This is what’s trending.” (Fluid art, neon/glow-in-the-dark painting, and spray painting are trending for their high-energy, modern aesthetic.)

    “This is what’s selling.” (personalized jewelry, crochet plushies, cherry or pastry-themed items)

    “This is what you should be doing right now.” (pets/animals, personal expression, local landmarks, and comforting, soul-soothing settings)

They reach so many of us now, shaping not just what we see, but what we begin to believe matters. And these people actually know how to present those great Instagram reels! (I still struggle with social media).

For a moment, looking at all the posts, I felt that familiar anxiety—a persistent question rising up: Am I behind? But then, almost as quickly, something else surfaced, a different kind of voice. It wasn’t loud or urgent. Just steady and a bit humorous — “Go back to the studio”.

I’ve been thinking about that, and about the difference between two forces that shape our creative lives:

INFLUENCE and INSPIRATION

They sound similar. But they move us in very different ways.

Influence Moves from the Outside In

Influencers show us what’s possible, what we can purchase or emulate.They introduce tools, techniques, materials. They also help us discover artists we might never have found. They can open doors and expand our sense of what art can be if we hop down a new rabbit hole.There’s real value there. But influence often comes with a subtle pressure. It points outward:

     Look here.
    Try this.
    Keep up.

It can make everything feel a little faster, a little more comparative, a little more like a current you’re trying to keep up with. And sometimes, without realizing it, we begin to measure our work against what is most visible—not what is most meaningful.

Inspiration Moves from the Inside Out

An inspirer does something entirely different.

    They don’t tell you what to make.
    They don’t hand you a formula.

Instead, they awaken something. A question. A memory. A deeply personal sense of possibility that feels unmistakably your own.

An inspirer might be:

• a teacher who asks the right question at the right moment
• a line in a poem that won’t leave you alone (one of my favorites)
• a piece of art that moves you before you understand it
• a mistake in the studio that opens an unexpected door

Inspiration doesn’t rush you. It doesn’t compare. It simply says: Begin.

The Artist’s Dilemma

Of course, we live in a new world where visibility matters. We share our work, we learn from each other, we participate in a larger creative conversation. And that’s a good thing. But somewhere along the way, it becomes easy to confuse direction with momentum, to follow what is working, rather than what is calling.

To ask: What should I be making right now that’s good enough to sell? instead of: What is asking to be made through me?

Lately, I’ve been trying to make a small shift, not a rejection of influence—but a rebalancing. When I feel that tightening—that sense of falling behind—I try to pause and ask: Is this influencing me, or inspiring me? “Influence” often leaves me thinking and wandering. Inspiration leaves me wanting to work. Influence fills my head. Inspiration moves my hands.

A Few Reflective Questions

If you’re in the studio—or on your way there—you might ask yourself:

• Who are your inspirers right now?
• What kind of work makes you want to begin, not compare?
• When do you feel most like yourself as an artist?

These aren’t questions with quick answers. And that last one is the most important.

We may be living in a world shaped by influencers and constant sharing, but inspiration is still ours to trust. It hasn’t gone anywhere.

Read these lines by Mary Oliver (one of my Inspirers) and see if they inspire you to explore what “grace” might look like through the artwork that you do – that is inspiration!

As artists, we have a unique way of working with ideas that can’t be seen or delivered by Influencers.. We can take an abstract word like “grace” as Inspiration—a feeling, a question, a memory—and give it form. That translation is where some of the most personal and meaningful work begins.

I hope you find extraordinary inspiration today in a world that needs more beauty.

Thanks for reading!
~~ Lyn