LASOLA LETTERS // ISSUE 005
By Tessa Stirling

Originality.

It’s something we all strive for, chase, and define our work by. We want to create something never seen before. Something unique, one of a kind, purely ours.

For years, I procrastinated creating — not for lack of ideas, but because of how clearly I could trace each idea back to something I’d seen, felt, or absorbed before. The colours, textures, type, shapes — I could pinpoint exactly where the inspiration had come from. And that made me feel like the work wasn’t mine.

My definition of “original” (something completely new, untouched, never seen before) was not only unrealistic, but also paralysing. It was stoping me from making anything at all.

But originality doesn’t mean inventing from scratch. It’s the act of remixing ideas in a way that only you can — through your perspective, your memories, your lens.

Jean-Luc Godard said it best:

“It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to”

Every new idea is just a remix of something that came before and once you accept that, ideas really do start to flow again.

So, instead of avoiding influence, I’ve started paying attention to it. Collecting inspiration everywhere I go. Filtering it through my lens. Letting it shape me and my work. That’s where authenticity lives.

Here are a few ways I’ve taken influence, filtered it through my lens, and turned it into something that feels like mine.

I saw this painting in a restaurant in Portugal. I sat down and used the colour palette to design this print for Turquoise Lane.

This was the drain outside my Paris apartment where I lived last summer. The second I saw it I knew I wanted to use it in my work. It came to life in the packaging design I did for Wish You Well. (Ironic that the inspo came from a 'well')

I walked past this chair in Europe and knew one day I would pull inspiration from it. I ended up creating little fruit tile illustrations for Spicy Dugong's winter collection.

This ceramic table and yellow chair I saw in Morocco, influenced a little collection of square paintings all revolving around the sun.

I came across this box in an antique calligraphy shop in Venice. It's from a vintage Italian brand that use to make nibs for calligraphy pens. I loved the colour palette and composition.

My dad grew up between Mallorca and Menorca in Spain eating Ensaïmada Mallorquina (Mallorcan Spiral Pastry). I had heard about them my whole life, so when I got a taste of one I had to immortalise it into a tile.

I'd dreamt of the different colour combinations of all the umbrellas scattered along Italy's coast. When I started hiking between the towns of Cinque Terre, I couldn't stop taking film photos of all the umbrellas, and of course I had to sit down and paint it too.

I've always been memorised by the shapes left in smoothies when you finish blending. This abstract shape worked perfectly for Wish You Well's 'Granola Bliss Blend'.

I hope this little glimpse into my creative process and how inspiration is gathered and filtered through my lens is a reminder that originality isn’t about being the first, it’s about bringing your own perspective to what already exists.

I'll leave you with one more quote from David Bowie

"The only art I’ll ever study is the stuff that I can steal from"

Chat soon, much love Tess
P.S If you liked this topic, go buy yourself the book Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon.

Written from Cocos Keeling Island // 11 May 2025