Seren
It was Mike that got me to thinking about my own tastes in music. I love all music…gospel, rock, R&B, rap, country…whatever. It all has value to me and I own a bit of everything. I like to listen to music in the car…but I also like to listen to music in the studio. (Now, not at much as books on CD, but that’s in another post.)
Lately I have been exploring not only how my artwork is impacted by the music I’m listening to, but also the visual representation of music via my original artwork. Sometimes music leads me toward creating a piece that is the literal manifestation of the lyrics, as I understand them…so a song like Dead or Alive, by Guns and Roses inspired me to find a man with a guitar on his back…red fire burning him up from the lower edge of the piece; a black burnished background supporting a purposefully black and white image.
Sometimes music impacts my art in a non-literal way. Music taints my moods and therefore changes the arc of my art. When I say “arc”…I mean my creative process is an arc or expression…I start low and inside myself, crescendo into a burst of activity, color and layout…and taper off into finished piece of work. Trying to identify what I’m feeling, what I want to express is always the first step and I’ve found that music alters that initial search and therefore, my entire project. When I started working today I was really excited about my zine and being done with the first round of printing for issue #2.
I wanted to capture some of the excitement and came into the studio with the intention of working the covers for Issue #3…but I put in a CD by Trisha Yearwood. She’s a country singer and sings a lot of sad songs, but the first one on this particular album is fun, fun fun. It’s a kick-ass hillbilly rock tune thatI love to sing along with it. I belted that one out while cleaning off my art desk…but as the CD played on I found my mind wandering.
I thought about my chat with a friend at a coffee house in downtown Minneapolis. I remember the pain in his voice as he told me he’d fallen out of love with his wife and he was getting a divorce. I remember looking away from him because I didn’t want my lack of surprise to be noticed. The sky was red and moody, the squat buildings of downtown were dark and ugly…and there was Trisha’s voice crooning in the background. I pulled this post card together in about 8 minutes…just recreating my thoughts and feelings about that moment on paper….and when it was done. I felt better and I realize that the post card is that moment with Kyle blended with Trisha Yearwood’s music blended, filtered through me and pasted on watercolor paper! Its a work in progress...but is the beginning to a piece that I didn't really know was in me.
I am still playing with the whole music/art thing…but if you think you want to swap some art…listen to your favorite album. Let the music be your muse…and send me a post card. I will send you something of mine in return. I know this is just the beginning of an interesting journey for me…so, join me and let's see what happens.
Serendipity
P O Box 46035
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
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