The Muse Delivers

  Y'all are familiar with The Muse, right? The bringer of those divinely inspired little flashes of inspiration and artful insight? I have yet to discover the formula, the magic spell that will conjure her up; she comes and goes at will, airily regardless of the prayers and pleas of this lowly artist...

  I've had a piece on my mind, a piece of mail art owed to a lady in Greece who sent me a lovely hand made card painted with Greek blue grass. And I've wanted to send her something uniquely Arizona in return. So I scratch my head, mentally calling out to The Muse for ideas. I putz around in the studio, scratch my head some more, waving psychic arms, calling - Hello? He-llo-o? Are you there? Yo! I need some help down here...Hello? Aloof as always, she peeks into the studio, snorts under her breath, and promptly leaves again, trailing clouds of fantasy film, collage papers and artsy fiber. Fickle wench. Durn.

  But this morning I figured out a piece of her puzzle. She can't give me any help as long as I'm standing around scratching my head. Nor will she do something for me that I can figure out on my own. She shows her face and participates only once I've put paint to paper, once I've actively engaged the creative process and started working. Duh (visualize forehead smacking here).

  Here's the piece I finally made for Katerina. It's an Arizona sunset with blooming agaves, paddle cactus, and Venus in the evening sky.

   Scanning the painting muted the colors somewhat; they're actually quite vibrant - paynes gray, cadmium yellow and primary magenta on a 4"x6" substrate of 300 lb. watercolor paper. I tried something new and applied the acrylics with a dead credit card. The Muse hollered, Yes! so I guess she had as much fun as I did. I like the technique. Alot. The detail work was done with a deep blue copic marker (brush tip). Ordinarily, watercolor paper would absorb a copic marker - it will run and get all fuzzy looking (bad fuzzy looking) but, with a layer of acrylic paint under it, the marker worked out fine. I wanted to try painting detail with the card, but played it safe instead. Next time. Venus against the night sky is a teensy dot done with a Krylon silver paint pen. 

  This is the envelope it's traveling to Greece in, made from the cover of an old Arizona Highways magazine. I think she'll be pleased.

   So that's the key. Conversations with The Muse occur only, I mean, ONLY when I quit hollering for help and scratching my head. She comes out to play when I do, where paint meets paper and where creativity flows, unhurried, without coercion or force. I need to make a placard for the studio to remind me of that little piece of insight. Something like "Just Paint!" or maybe "Put the Paint on the Paper! Best Regards, The Muse."

  Thanks for visiting; come again soon.

 

Comments

[Kris (HTGRS)]

Oh, it's beautiful! Hooooome! You suck yet again!

[sharon]

*tick*tock*tick*tock* two more days! thanks for the props kris!

[Jennifer]

your mail art is gorgeous! and I know what you mean about the Muse; I think sometimes she's sitting there, laughing at me, too... (mostly because if I cleaned my studio, I'd have plenty of inspiration of my own.) Glad you had a good time last weekend at Frenzy Stamper! (by the way, where IS the saguaro cactus in that gorgeous green and gold photo??)

[sharon]

thanks for kudos on the mail art jennifer! i'm working up a couple of mail art classes, and will post them on the left sidebar as soon as they're ready.

i'm beginning to suspect that we all have an...interesting...relationship with the muse. lol! mine likes the studio to be a little messier than i do, a constant source of conflict.

i must confess, with apologies and no small amount of chagrin, that the fabled last saguaro isn't in the photo, it's off to the right about a tenth of a mile, just over the rim of the mesa...we blew by it at 75 mph and couldn't get a clear shot...this photo was shot from the rest area at sunset point looking across the highway, and i posted it more to illustrate the scenery in the vicinity of the saguaro, hoping with all my heart that people would not strain their eyes trying to find it...my bad. i also considered putting an arrow with text next to the power tower saying, "not the saguaro..." lol!

kris is hovering over my shoulder bouncing around like a puppy as i write, saying, "she likes the mail art? cool! does she want to get some mail art? i'll send her some! huh? huh? get her address! i'll send her some!" so, if you'd like, we'd LOVE to send you some art! just drop me an email with your address, and you'll be hearing from both of us!

good to see you again last weekend! our paths have crossed several times, and i'm happy to have spent time with you.

great blog you have! i love-love the photography and your pages, especially that little wild girl!

thanks for leaving comments! hope our paths cross again soon...