Finding Art inspiration is a constant challenge.

Wherever I go I’m always looking for new things to paint and draw. I’ve learnt that finding art inspiration is not  a case of sitting and waiting for it to appear. It’s capturing the ideas when they come. Art inspiration is elusive. Which is why I always have my phone ready to take pictures and make notes.

On a day out in London, the taxi passed this bicycle.

Chained up against the railings and looking very neglected. It’s​ lost its saddle, has a flat tyre and was covered in rust.  Everything about it speaks of abandonment. I was inspired and…

Snapped this photograph in passing.

It’s not the first time I’ve found inspiration from an abandoned bike.

I’m fascinated by abandoned bicycles in general It’s not unusual to see neglected bikes in cities or in rural areas, although this one in a tree is particularly unusual.

I often wonder what happened to them?

Why leave a bike chained to railings?

Did the owners decide they no longer needed them? Too lazy to dispose of them properly, they just leave them locked up. Chained to a railing on a lamppost somewhere.

Or perhaps it was because something happened?

May be a good thing or maybe it was a bad. We have no way of knowing but it’s fun speculating. I like to think they’ve been abandoned because something better came along. Perhaps a ticket to a new life  or a chance to travel the world? Or the owner fell in love and had to catch a train to go with them. Who knows?

Which is why I find them such a good source of inspiration.

This one is called “Neglected” and here’s the finished painting.

You can see how it was painted in this time lapse video of its creation.

If you enjoyed the video, you can see more videos of work being created over on my Youtube channel