Tribute to Michael Jackson, Journal Page March 8 2010
This is the first of the many small tips I hope will help inspire your collaging…
Many of us wait for that one special moment when the creative muse will strike us with her magic wand and voila! –we’ll suddenly be in the mood for creating the most beautiful, perfect piece of art work ever! For many of us this moment is totally non-existent! In fact, in our busy day-to-day lives, these moments are few and far between. What can we do to get us in the mood for creating? When I feel stuck and want to get into the groove of making art, I put on a selection of my favourite music. Known to reduce stress, aid relaxation, alleviate depression and even improve memory; music is also the perfect muse for motivating creativity. Nothing sparks my imagination like the sound of music.
Now to be more specific here, not any old music will do… the best are the pieces that have played a significant role in what I call the “soundtrack of my life”. This music has shaped me, helped me grow and been part of the emotionally compelling moments of my life. As a child in the 70’s, the music of Joni Mitchell, America, Cat Stevens, James Taylor, Janice Ian and Roberta Flack always stood out for me. Hearing these reflective, melancholy tunes help draw out the painful life lessons I have learned. Moving through my teens into young adulthood, the music of the 80’s brought energy and excitement into my life. Michael Jackson, Madonna, George Michael got me rocking – even today this music still has the ability to recapture the energy of my youth so I can channel it into my work. When I’m most afraid or apprehensive, for some reason, the musical rhythms of Michael Jackson’s “Rock with You” never fails to ignite a creative fire inside me. Then there’s the music that has shaped my consciousness – Jackson (again), Sting, Robbie Robertson, Madonna and Janet Jackson influenced my thinking in profound ways. Their Pop music philosophy got me thinking about the world around me, about social change, about religion and women’s roles in society. Hearing this music makes me want to challenge established boundaries and shape a new world consciousness through my art. Going beyond earthly boundaries musicians such as Enigma, Peter Gabriel and Vangelis have taken me to spaces devilish and divine… to the distant future and far reaches of outer space, and even further beyond the realm of my imagination. When I listen to this music, I feel as though I’m breaking free from the confines of terrestrial space into unknown or taboo territory. It helps my imagination roam and investigate my subject matter more freely. In short when I listen to the music from the different periods of my life I believe anything I choose to do is possible. Like a drug, it frees my emotions, opens my mind and unlocks my memory thus expanding my creative abilities.
So go out there and make a few special musical play lists for yourself: look to the sound track of your own life for inspiration. Remember to select music that brings insight, excitement, energy, a sense of fearlessness and wonder. You’ll find that once you lose yourself in the space that music creates for you, you’ll begin to feel like you’re indeed journeying into the space of your imagination and instead of being a hopeless task, making art will become a blast!
Here are 10 musical selections from my list of favs:
Michael Jackson: “Rock with You”
Janet Jackson: “Rhythm Nation”
Madonna: “Vogue”
Eartha Kitt: “C’est si Bon”
Robbie Robertson: “Somewhere Down the Crazy River”
Sting: “Moon Over Bourbon Street”
K-OS: “Crabbuckit”
Tammy Wynette/KLF: “Justified & Ancient”
Gwen Stefani: “Wind It Up”
Enigma: “Beyond the Invisible”
Does listening to music have a positive affect on your sense of creativity? If you have favourite music you’d like to share, I’d love to hear from you.
This week’s image (above) is a tribute to Michael Jackson. Note: The image of Michael was taken by photographer Claude Vanheye.
I think you’re so right about music affecting us and being such a large part of our lives. I think it’s something I should put more thought into because right now most of the music I listen to is just for background noise, something I think I’ve done unconsciously since the kids are not around any more and I’m home alone a lot. Although my music is mostly soothing and relaxing for me while I go about my daily activities I’d like to try some different kinds to see how that would effect my work habits. Thanks for making me think about this.
Hi Wendy, Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. Glad to hear you’re considering mixing things up with the music you listen to. At first, I too, played only soft background music to soothe my creative spirit; I listened to a lot of New Age stuff. Then when I was going through a bout of depression several years ago and wanted to motivate myself to create art, I read, I think in one of Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way books along with some other books regarding the brain, that putting on music (from the past) that made you happy could act as a positive mood stimulant. I tried it and found it always works for me like a charm. Recently, I ran across a great BRAVO channel program called The Musical Brain (a CTV documentary) that deals with many intriguing questions concerning music and its effects on the brain — could be interesting to check out. I’d be curious to know what your experimentation with music reveals. Music is so powerful, I especially need to use it after a week’s worth of collaging up a storm when my studio really needs to be cleaned up! 😉 Best, Michelle