Letting real life events inspire your art.

One of the most important things I have been taught over the years is to just look around you for inspiration. The smallest thing can inspire you to come up with the most beautiful pieces of art. Look at a leaf on a sidewalk. The colors, the shapes, the textures, any variable can contribute to inspiring you. Sometimes even a feeling can inspire you.
Just two weeks ago, my grandfather passed away. My family has been grieving in different ways, and my way of grieving has been through my artwork. One thing I have recently been focused on is my photography, and this event has inspired me even more. My mother had received a rose from the spray on his casket, and each of his grandchildren (including me) had recieved a carnation.
After the service we came home, and had our flowers in a vase and I needed to take pictures as memories were flooding my mind of my grandfather. In some of the pictures, I have the flowers laying across a notebook, which is actually my sketchbook/journal filled with these memories, so it has hidden meaning.