Artists have a great responsibility for the quality and quantity of their output. But how do they keep pumping out inspirational work month after month and year after year? It can’t be that easy.

Today I saw an exhibition that featured Ai Weiwei’s work. There isn’t enough room in this post to extol the virtues of his considerable talent and contribution to 20th and 21st century art, but I think one little quote on a mug in the giftshop summed it up:

‘To express yourself needs a reason, but expressing yourself is the reason’

And so he did, over many years, in a myriad different ways. Seeing his work today filled my bucket just a little. Every now and then, and I would suggest as often as possible, it’s vital for anyone who wants to engage in a little creativity (and even if one doesn’t), to spend some time replenishing the stocks. It’s hard to keep putting out without ever putting in.

Today was a chance to ponder, be surprised, delighted. It was a time to marvel at the ingenuity and genius of a truly gifted artist. I was awe-struck at the brilliance of the work, and at the solid social conscience behind it. Here is a man who questions, and his curiosity was all over his work.

Replenishing also means we might come away with some ideas. Ken Robinson says creativity is collaborative. Sometimes that collaboration is achieved through contact with the work of those whom we haven’t ever met. An encounter, a thought, an image, can give rise to so many new ideas.

Thanks, Ai Weiwei. Today, I am filled.