How to kiss up to your muse

A creative friend emailed this article to me, written by Danielle LaPorte. After I read this fabulous article, I went on to read a few more, all very compelling...

The Muse of love, art, cash, strategy, worship, desire, wellness, beauty, business plans.

Don't you adore her? Do you...adore her? Actively? Adore.

Muses simply must be adored. They're as grandiose as they are generous. They like to be respected. If you meet them half way, they'll give you the moon, the breakthrough concept, the stroke of...genius. Dis' your muse and she's likely to stop dropping by. She's righteous. Genius is like that.

As Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love) puts it in her freshly legendary TED Talk, we've made "a huge error in believing that creative genius comes from the Self," rather than a greater source outside of us. Can you hear the Muses saying, "Yeah baby. Got that right. You say it sister."

There are a zillion starry ideas floating in the milky way and they need you as much as you need them. Genius is looking for a vehicle. You gotta pimp your ride.

HOW TO DO RIGHT BY THE MUSE

1. Drop everything when she shows up.
In an interview with Neil Young, Charlie Rose asks Neil about following his muse. (You won't hear this in the clip below.)

Charlie: "So if you get an idea at say, a dinner party, if you hear a tune or a lyric, do you excuse yourself form the party?"
Neil: "Of course. You never know when she'll (The Muse) come again. I'm responsible to her."

When you feel an idea comin' on, excuse yourself. Pull over to the side of the road. Get lost in the creative flow. Be late. Barge in. (Eccentricity makes Muses especially horny.)

2. Have your tools ready.
Master-writer Anne Lamott, keeps 3×4 white note cards and pens in every purse and drawer and vehicle to capture thoughts that float out as quickly as they float in. If I leave home without my kraft Moleskine and blue medium point PaperMate pens, I feel discombobulated, like I might miss my train. Keep a notepad by your night stand. Leave yourself a voice mail. Don't assume that the best ideas will come back to you.

3. Go looking for her.
You know where she likes to party: the art gallery, by the lake, on your morning run, when the stereo is cranked and the lights are low, in the stillness of a church or forest, when you first wake up. Set the stage and chances are she'll take to it.

4. Engage her.
She's busy, for sure, but The Muse LOVES it when you actually play with her. When she drops an idea in your bucket you can ask her what the hell she's thinking. You can ask her what chapter should come next, or where to look for funding. She could yammer 'til dawn and before you know it, you've mapped out your magnum opus.

5. Do what she tells you to do.
Ignore your muse at your own peril. She doesn't always have it right, or maybe we don't always hear her clearly, but the more you heed her wisdom, the faster you get to drive on the Creative Awesomeness Highway. You and The Muse in the diamond lane. Godspeed.

All text in this post is Copyright Danielle LaPorte.

Yellow Bloom, Mexico, COPYRIGHT 2009 JonesMoore

Pour yourself like a fountain.

Flow into the knowledge that

what you are seeking

Finishes at the start, and with ending,

begins.

--Rainer Maria Rilke

(thanks to Donna at Layers for this! What a great quote to start off the week.) Copyright for text belongs to Rilke.

'Mining' older work is a great way to get out of a creative rut...

365: day 81 Experiments, originally uploaded by jomoma58.

I recently pulled out a bunch of older and unfinished pieces, in a desperate attempt to get ready for the annual Edmonds Art Studio Tour. It's been difficult to start any new work over the summer, with an 'almost 13 and bored' kid at home–SO, I have tried re-working some pieces that I formerly disliked, or work that just never came to fruition. Guess what? Paying attention to discarded pieces can really lead to unclogging the creative process. What is there to lose?? A piece that's already in the 'iffy' drawer? With nothing to lose, the inhibitions seem go go out the window. I've been having a great time with these art pieces (about 8 in all), throwing on more wax, text, metallic pigment rubs and even a found object or two. Try it!

I have to give credit to my daughter for the photo of the purple door. She hand-altered this photo that she took in Mexico. The sunflower photo was taken by me, and then hand altered, as well.

The pieces shown are still in progress...I'll post the finished art soon!

Autumn Diptych

Autumn Diptych, originally uploaded by jomoma58.

This is a favorite piece of mine, called "Autumn Diptych". Many processes went into this piece. I first printed some photos I took, of pond surfaces, onto inkjet poplin fabric. I then bleached them out. I applied some oil pastels to bring 'back' some of the color. Then I fused them onto cradled hardboard with clear encaustic medium, and continued to add tar paper, white encaustic paint, wire and some chicken bones I found in the parking lot. I really pushed myself on this one (to abandon old ideas), and I love the results! The 'process' was the most important part of this piece. I would love to revisit the state of mind I was in while doing this piece...easier said than done, though. (Mmmm...maybe I should call this "Pond Diptych" instead.)

The birth of a shrine...

This is another clipboard shrine in the works. These shrine/assemblage pieces are like jigsaw puzzles...I just have to be patient with the process of trial and error (i.e. fitting the right pieces together). I did the base and niche (made from an old book) last January, and I'm just getting around to placing objects on the shrine. I found the porcelain figure piece at ArtFest vendor night 3 months later, so one HAS to be patient with the process. It's a good idea to have more than one of these going at the same time...if an object doesn't work on one shrine, then it may work on another. Now, how to attach... 

TED Talk on creativity by Elizabeth Gilbert (author of "Eat, Pray, Love")

Elizabeth's words about the creative process and persistence literally brought tears to my eyes. She sums it all up so wonderfully in just a few minutes. Thank you, Elizabeth.

The Creative Process

This term,"the creative process", is kicked around quite often. It's mysterious, ethereal, fleeting, unattainable, frustrating, joyous, maddening, elusive, bizarre, uplifting. At least it is for me. My 'creative process' still baffles the hell out of me. It's my driving force, and the bane of my existence, my source of balance and joy, my lifeblood, my center. Yet I still can't put my finger on just how this creative process thing happens, and why. Here's how my 'process' happens some of the time (o.k., most of the time):

1) while driving, walking showering (or whatever), I get a flash or picture of something in my head.
2) I search for ten minutes for a sketchbook and a decent pen or pencil so that I can jot and sketch the idea. (Or, I give up, and the it just 'slides' away)
3) I first write about my idea for a while, then make a rudimentary sketch
4) I go back to whatever I was doing, and forget about it
5) some time later, I 'remember' this great idea that I had, and go searching for the sketchbook (one of about eight floating around the house and studio). I usually can't find it.
6) I start playing with some art supplies I have lying around, and 'something' starts to happen.
7) I get interrupted by dogs, kid, or phone. Creative momentum comes to a screeching halt.
8) A couple of days later, I return to the project I started, or some other one that's been collecting dust for a while.
9) Again, interruptions, creative momentum comes to another halt.
10) Finally finish one of the projects that had been 'stewing' for a while. Not in any linear manner. Creative process shaped more like a figure 8, I guess.
11) I run across that sketchbook one day (the one with the great idea from a few weeks/months/years ago). I look at the writing and sketches and wonder to myself: "Gee, why did I not bring this idea (or that idea) to fruition? It's damn good!)
12) I proceed, again, to misplace said sketchbook, along with the other seven I have lying around...somewhere.
13) Start playing with random art supplies, and something starts to 'happen'. Cycle starts all over again.
14) Moral: I guess when I die, my kids can sell those sketchbooks and make a few bucks. No, seriously, I really should keep them all in one place, in an organized fashion (the sketchbooks, not the kids!).
15) Art just happens...

My best friend today...

A very old soul... 365: day 24, originally uploaded by jomoma58.

"So let go, let go,
jump in
oh well whatcha waiting for, just get in
it's all amazing
'cause there's beauty in the breakdown..."
"So let go, let go,
jump in
yeh, it's alright
'cause there's beauty in the breakdown..."

--music by Frou Frou (Garden State soundtrack)

I'm a blank page today.
rain falling, gray
I'll just listen to Garden State for a while.
(Max is my best friend today.)

So here's a bit of the 'darker side' of the creative process, of being an artist. We are all only human...
(Time to shut up and drag out all of my paints.)

Other song lyric faves:
"You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
but if you try sometimes
you just might find
You get what you need."

--Rolling Stones