Brushstrokes of Inspiration: A Look Into the Artists Who Move Me 👩🏻🎨
- Kimberly Cobb
- May 14
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 19
If you've ever seen one of my oversized florals or dreamy desert landscapes and wondered where the spark came from, you’re about to get a little peek behind the curtain. While my artistic journey has been shaped by my own experiments and endless hours of playing with color, two legendary creatives have had an undeniable influence on how I see the world — and how I try to translate it into art.
Let’s start with Claude Monet. Oh, Monet. The king of impressionism and the master of capturing light and emotion with the softest flicks of the brush.
When I look at his Water Lilies, it feels like I'm floating — like I’ve been invited into a moment that’s both fleeting and eternal. His garden at Giverny? Dreamy doesn’t even begin to cover it. I love how his work reminds me that beauty can live in a blur. It doesn’t need sharp edges or precision to be powerful. Monet had this way of painting feelings — and that’s something I try to carry with me in every piece I create. Whether it's a hazy cactus glowing under a desert sky or a misty sunrise on canvas, his approach to movement and mood is always in the back of my mind.
Then there’s Georgia O’Keeffe — the bold, the brilliant, the flower whisperer. Her close-up floral work grips me, in every sense of the word.
She had such a fearless way of zooming in, of showing us details we’d normally overlook. It’s almost like she was saying, “Hey, slow down. Look closer. There’s magic here.” And boy, was she right. Her confidence in scale and her command of color still give me chills. There’s a softness in her petals, but also a strength — and that duality is something I deeply resonate with as both a woman and a painter. She didn’t shy away from the feminine, she celebrated it.
When I’m in my studio, surrounded by canvases and coated in splashes of paint, I often think of Monet’s reflections and O’Keeffe’s flowers. I think of how they gave the world permission to see differently — and in doing so, they gave artists like me the freedom to do the same.
So, next time you’re looking at one of my pieces, maybe you’ll catch a little glimpse of Monet’s mist or O’Keeffe’s petals.
And maybe, just maybe, you’ll feel what I felt when I first fell in love with their work: wonder, stillness, and the urge to keep creating!
