My Backyard Pond (And Why It Inspires My Art)
Every morning starts the same way, before emails, work, & the never-ending list of things I should be doing, I find myself sitting by my backyard pond.
Some mornings it's just me, a cup of tea, and the sound of birds waking up for the day. Other mornings the blue jays have decided that screaming is a perfectly acceptable way to greet the sunrise. Sometimes I'm watering the plants around the pond before the heat of the day settles in. Sometimes I'm eating breakfast and simply enjoying the view.
No matter what, I always take a few minutes to sit.
Then I do it all over again when I get home from work.
The second my workday ends, I head outside. Five or ten minutes by the pond is often all it takes to leave the stress of the day behind. The sound of moving water has become my reset button. Feeding the koi is easily my favorite part. They may be shy, but every day they come a little closer.
Our fish have had a rough year.
We experienced a devastating fish loss over the winter, and we suspect a bird helped itself to a few pond residents as well. Because of that, the koi are still cautious around people. They aren't quite ready to eat from my hand, but they inch closer every day.
I can't wait for the day I can finally capture underwater footage of them confidently swimming up for food.
The pond is where I gather my thoughts.
It's where I brainstorm new art ideas, sketch designs, carve printing blocks, sort through buckets of rocks, and occasionally lose track of time completely.
If you've ever gone rock hunting, you know exactly what I mean. A day at the beach or a walk down a dirt road somehow turns into five buckets of rocks waiting to be cleaned and sorted. More than once I've found myself sitting by the pond rediscovering a Petoskey stone I forgot I had collected months ago.
But the truth is, the pond inspires far more than just my artwork.
It inspires the way I see the world.
When you spend time outside every day, you start noticing things. The bee moving between flowers, butterfly floating, the spider web glistening in the morning sun. Maybe a tiny leafhopper smaller than your fingernail and a bird taking a bath.
The longer I sit outside, the more I realize how much beauty exists in the details.
Even the algae looks kind of cool sometimes.
As an artist, that's one of the greatest gifts my pond has given me. It constantly reminds me to slow down and actually look at the world around me. Inspiration isn't something I have to chase anymore. It's already there.
The fish naturally make their way into my artwork. Koi have become one of my favorite subjects to draw and paint. Looking back, I can trace much of my artistic growth through them. I experimented with color, movement, and style while drawing fish over and over again until I eventually found the artistic voice that feels most like me.
It's funny how things come full circle.
What started as a backyard pond slowly became a source of creativity, confidence, and inspiration.
The pond has changed me in other ways too. It taught me that I'm stronger than I thought I was.
My partner and I built this pond ourselves. Every rock. Every shovel full of dirt. Every step of the process. We dug the entire thing by hand because apparently we thought that sounded like a reasonable project.
Looking back, it feels a little crazy.
But standing beside it now fills me with an incredible amount of pride.
We built this with our own two hands and now it's become my favorite place on earth. When people ask where I get inspiration for my art, they often expect some complicated answer but the truth is much simpler.
Most of it comes from sitting beside a pond, listening to water, watching fish, and paying attention to the little things. Nature has a way of reminding us that wonder still exists.
Sometimes all we have to do is slow down long enough to notice it.
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Spending time beside a pond encourages observation and mindfulness. Watching fish, plants, insects, and changing light creates endless inspiration for artists, photographers, writers, and anyone looking to reconnect with nature.
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Nature offers constantly changing colors, textures, patterns, and wildlife that spark new ideas. Time outdoors also helps many artists slow down, recharge, and approach creative projects with fresh perspective.
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A backyard pond creates a peaceful outdoor space, attracts birds and pollinators, supports wildlife, and provides a relaxing place to unwind. For many people, it also becomes a source of inspiration and a daily ritual for reconnecting with nature.
