Inspired – Alison Louise Brookes – Knitwear Creative

There is a painting hanging in our hallway called ‘When I ride a flower bicycle I will have a good future’, by Chinese pop artist and protagonist YuYouhan. As I leave the house every morning it smiles at me and I smile back.

It is a simple, colourful image of an old workers’ bicycle covered in folk-influenced floral patterns.

Maybe it’s the magic of the uncomplicated image.

Maybe it’s about my marriage; it was a wedding present to us and from us.

Maybe it’s the dichotomy of the old and the new Chinas – a dark heart and a bright future.

Maybe it’s a reminder of the years I spent living, working and partying in Asia.

Maybe it’s the recollection of an inspirational and hung-over visit to 50 Moganshan Road, the heart of Shanghai’s modern art scene, where there are more than 100 artists in residence in the former factories and warehouses of the city. Moganshan Road used to be a dead place hidden outside the confines of the rapidly changing society. Now it’s very much alive.

Probably it’s just because it makes me happy.

Whatever it is, I know that it is magical to me and inspires me every day – just as I leave home, when I’m most in need of inspiration.