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Description
So I did not follow the rules well at all with the grid pieces, but it fits in the area, so that's good.

Clockwise from top left and around to middle:

Aviation - not only did I sort of go into this in school, but a lot of the stylings related to aviation, themes of innovation, and general dorkery end up in a lot of my work, be it sewing, jewelry making, writing, or photography

Film Noir - You can almost see from the lack of color or muted tones in the stuff I picked that film noir is an aesthetic I like a lot. Even beyond that, I like a lot of the themes in hardboiled books and movies, and the figure of the femme fatale is something I'm somewhat obsessed with.

Indie Video/Computer Games That No One's Heard Of - I love art games, and those don't tend to be commercially successful. I want an experience when I play a game, not just shooting at things, and well, I sort of work in gaming and am very inspired by the things that small groups of visionaries can do. Game pictured is The Path, but games like Ico and Shadow of the Colossus are also ones that fall into this (as a rare somewhat commercially successful example).

Androgyny - In thought, in appearance. I like seeing men and women break out of their supposed roles.

Virginia Woolf - I didn't read anything of hers until college, but when I did it was like finding a soulmate that just happened to have died before you were born. Not a perfect woman or writer by any means, but one that really spoke to me.

Tim Gunn and Project Runway - Probably the thing that pushed me from just altering clothes to beginning to make my own when I got into costuming. Whenever I mess something up, I'm always reminding myself to "make it work!". Tim moreso than any of the judges was always someone I thought had sound advice.

Retrofuturism - Janelle Monae's "The Archandroid" album is the newest concept album I can think of that does that sort of science fiction, which has always been my favorite. Even if I'm fond of the gritty dystopian future cultures, I still want them to be beautiful in a way. Art is technology and technology is art (even if the whole white Apple Products type of art sort of leaves me feeling cold).

Wong Kar Wai - A filmmaker that combines a lot of retrofuturism, period (20th century typically), and human themes that always get to me (though 2046 was his most futuristic and the weakest of his works, imo). One of the few filmmakers that can take melodrama and make it high art instead of cheese.

Final Fantasy VII - Well, most of the franchise is an influence, but that one in particular really hooked me and sort of refuses to let me leave completely. Is the video game equivalent of my favorite films and books as far as themes, has some of the most iconic character designs (something which I think the newer games are starting to get crazy about... Aeris's pink dress is 1000x more recognizable than anything you'd see in FFXII with its over-ornate I don't know what). Sure, it's not always aged well, and some people think it's the BEGINNING OF THE END in the series, but it was my first, and still my favorite.

David Bowie - His music, his theatricality, his genderbending... sometimes it's just good to sit back and think, "what would David Bowie do?"

Tori Amos - Taught me that chick music could rock, be angry, be sexy, be powerful, be political, be personal, and that pianos can in fact make more noise than a guitar in the right hands.

Audrey Hepburn - Beauty is fleeting, but class is forever. She also needed to be in more comedic roles, "Charade" was so much better than "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Also, she taught me that skinny gangly girls can be sexy if they know what they're doing.

John Hughes Films - Particularly those with Molly Ringwald. Not all of them age well, but there's nothing that will lift a dark mood better than seeing one of these. Maybe not everyone's coming of age, but certainly mine.

Neal Stephenson - Introduced me to cyberpunk, nanotechnology, and that really, you can go on in exposition as long as you're REALLY excited about what you're talking about and are self-aware about it.

Description
So I did not follow the rules well at all with the grid pieces, but it fits in the area, so that's good.

Clockwise from top left and around to middle:

Aviation - not only did I sort of go into this in school, but a lot of the stylings related to aviation, themes of innovation, and general dorkery end up in a lot of my work, be it sewing, jewelry making, writing, or photography

Film Noir - You can almost see from the lack of color or muted tones in the stuff I picked that film noir is an aesthetic I like a lot. Even beyond that, I like a lot of the themes in hardboiled books and movies, and the figure of the femme fatale is something I'm somewhat obsessed with.

Indie Video/Computer Games That No One's Heard Of - I love art games, and those don't tend to be commercially successful. I want an experience when I play a game, not just shooting at things, and well, I sort of work in gaming and am very inspired by the things that small groups of visionaries can do. Game pictured is The Path, but games like Ico and Shadow of the Colossus are also ones that fall into this (as a rare somewhat commercially successful example).

Androgyny - In thought, in appearance. I like seeing men and women break out of their supposed roles.

Virginia Woolf - I didn't read anything of hers until college, but when I did it was like finding a soulmate that just happened to have died before you were born. Not a perfect woman or writer by any means, but one that really spoke to me.

Tim Gunn and Project Runway - Probably the thing that pushed me from just altering clothes to beginning to make my own when I got into costuming. Whenever I mess something up, I'm always reminding myself to "make it work!". Tim moreso than any of the judges was always someone I thought had sound advice.

Retrofuturism - Janelle Monae's "The Archandroid" album is the newest concept album I can think of that does that sort of science fiction, which has always been my favorite. Even if I'm fond of the gritty dystopian future cultures, I still want them to be beautiful in a way. Art is technology and technology is art (even if the whole white Apple Products type of art sort of leaves me feeling cold).

Wong Kar Wai - A filmmaker that combines a lot of retrofuturism, period (20th century typically), and human themes that always get to me (though 2046 was his most futuristic and the weakest of his works, imo). One of the few filmmakers that can take melodrama and make it high art instead of cheese.

Final Fantasy VII - Well, most of the franchise is an influence, but that one in particular really hooked me and sort of refuses to let me leave completely. Is the video game equivalent of my favorite films and books as far as themes, has some of the most iconic character designs (something which I think the newer games are starting to get crazy about... Aeris's pink dress is 1000x more recognizable than anything you'd see in FFXII with its over-ornate I don't know what). Sure, it's not always aged well, and some people think it's the BEGINNING OF THE END in the series, but it was my first, and still my favorite.

David Bowie - His music, his theatricality, his genderbending... sometimes it's just good to sit back and think, "what would David Bowie do?"

Tori Amos - Taught me that chick music could rock, be angry, be sexy, be powerful, be political, be personal, and that pianos can in fact make more noise than a guitar in the right hands.

Audrey Hepburn - Beauty is fleeting, but class is forever. She also needed to be in more comedic roles, "Charade" was so much better than "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Also, she taught me that skinny gangly girls can be sexy if they know what they're doing.

John Hughes Films - Particularly those with Molly Ringwald. Not all of them age well, but there's nothing that will lift a dark mood better than seeing one of these. Maybe not everyone's coming of age, but certainly mine.

Neal Stephenson - Introduced me to cyberpunk, nanotechnology, and that really, you can go on in exposition as long as you're REALLY excited about what you're talking about and are self-aware about it.