Musing On the Muse

Once again, I am faced with the seemingly impassable creative block. As always, it will pass as unexpectedly as it appeared. Meanwhile, I am waiting and waiting and waiting for inspiration to strike. Waiting for the Muse of Visual Art is as futile as waiting for Godot. Why? She does not exist. She never has. I discovered this unfortunate fact, while searching the highways of the gods (the Internet) to call upon her name. These nine sisters were involved in other pursuits; song, music, poetry, theatre, dance, history, astronomy. They had no time for mere painters, sculptors, and architects. Ironically, these artists define Classical Greek civilization as we know it today.

So what's a poor artist to do? We must look to ourselves for inspiration. The methods are as diverse as the artists who use them. I can only describe my process. Working in the field of objet trouve, I become ecstatic when finding a cast-off that screams potential for reinvention.  However, to create that metaphoric “spark of inspiration”, I need two found objects, the 'flint' and the 'iron striker'.  I find that it's a mating of complimentary contrasts.  It reflects the duality of Life; day and night, good and evil.  But inspiration is not enough.  The spark must be kindled to become a creative fire or it becomes the trailing smoke of lost opportunity. And that kindling is intuition. This is what eventually leads to cognitive thought, the message the artist transmits through his art.

Indelible Ink is a classic example of this process.  It's creation began by finding a very weathered piece of wallboard (the flint) at an illegal construction dump site in the woods. Mother Nature had created a beautiful texture that could never be duplicated. Back to the studio. Now what?  My enthusiasm at discovery began to fade.   Then my eyes fell upon the recent gift of a friend; yards of bridal lace from a discarded wedding gown (the striker). The inspirational spark became a whirlwind courtship resulting in a happy marriage of opposites! Intuition led to an unknown continent upon the sea, but serendipity led to its ancient civilizations with 'pearls of wisdom.'