Caught in the Tuna Net » inspiraton

Inspiration picks o’ the day

Nanobot — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:08:48 +0000

I thought, “What the heck, might as well share some fun stuff I’ve rolled across today.” I mean, when I’m out of inspiration, I use StumbleUpon to browse the Net. It works.

Without further ado:

Totally brilliant composition.

http://designcollector.net/anka-zhuravleva

And Union Hardware in Bethesda actually did Starry Night into a mural–using knobs they sell.

http://www.styleture.com/2011/11/09/starry-night-mural/

And in the new homes division:

Hobitat. What will these crazy Welsh do next? http://smeshki.com/interesting/375-kschata-na-hobitite-v-uels-15-snimki.html

Need something to go with that Hobitat? This isn’t it. This is all flash on his site, but the classic sculpture, paintings and drawings from this artist is truly dope. He’s so talented it’s totally depressing.

http://www.richardmacdonald.com/

But I do like this:

Sort of goes with the floating tea party.

And to finish up, incredibly sarcastic e-cards: http://www.someecards.com/

Art Geek Alert! Robert Genn Newsletter

Nanobot — Sun, 15 May 2011 17:59:18 +0000

Salome with the Head of John the Baptist oil painting 1630-1635 by Guido Reni

We were having an extended art-geek session today and my stepmom, Irene, put me onto an art newsletter, starting with this article on Guido Reni, at Painters’ Keys. Robert Genn does a bi-weekly newsletter and short blog entry, and it looks like it’s entirely worth looking at—whether you work in digital media or traditional.

More Philosophy of Art

Nanobot — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 15:09:30 +0000

I recently said in other conversations:

Daniel Burnham, notable American architect, was quoted after his death as saying, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably will not themselves be realized.”

Burham designed Washington Union Station, where I work, and was the genius behind the national mall in Washington…amongst many other grandly realized city plans.

This led to an amusing discussion of undead wise men and weird inventions…

Well, nobody said in what direction that inspiration had to go! Or–as is often asked–what constitutes greatness? The idea is not to dream of what you can’t do, but what you can do. And ‘plans’ means to me keeping your feet on the ground and staying fed and sane, while exploring the realm of the possible, one’s inner greatness.

It is so very easy to crush one’s spirit right out of existence; I am seeing it in my father-in-law, who asks to die every day–and he’s not especially moribund.

I love what Masha Holl, a writer friend, has said about the Art and the Craft being the point of a writer’s journey. That’s definitely the Word on the subject. I have come to this wisdom myself fairly late.

It is possible (that word!) that the point of all this is less the finished product at the end of the project and more what you know yourself to be as a result of having done it: having the discipline and strength to continue with your long-term project (art, writing, weight loss, music…) which adds up in the end to self-respect.

Getting Your Muse to Speak

Nanobot — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:29:41 +0000

The Captive Water Fae

I was writing to a younger friend who is trying to wrestle inspiration to the ground and get it to spit out a story that is hanging around. We’ve chatted about various issues over the year; amongst them is the on-again, off-again nature of her muse. Myself, I struggled through a ten-year dry spell, and did Julia Cameron’s course twice–lots of good tools there.
But this is what I figured out this morning about getting it jump-started, and I wanted to share:

I was thinking about your story-work this morning earlier and I thought perhaps you might like to take a different tack, one that lets you have more of a dialog with your Self (your muse, if you like).

Start with the thing that your heart goes to right off, the elf & the human together, yes? Then ask questions and wait for a reply (or a picture, which is a reply).

Example (not telling you what should happen, just trying to show what it might feel like):

Your muse: My elf and my human are sitting together in a sunny place.

You: What does it look like?

They’re on a stone bench in front of an old, old building, looking out over the overgrown ruins of high-tech city.

Why is it overgrown and in ruins?

They found it together while looking for something.

What were they looking for?

The human has a map in his hand.

Were they there because of the map?

Yes…

…and so forth.

It’s like playing interactive fiction with yourself. Just wait on the answers patiently. If the muse dodges, it’s because you’re supposed to follow it and go in a different direction. Eventually, it will get to telling you stories on its own, or showing you movies in your head—and then you have to write fast enough to keep up with them!

If you keep editing before you get the pictures or story out, you’re telling your muse that you don’t like what it’s saying and it will shut up.

If you consciously decide you want to go in a certain direction for…well, an ego reason, say (like wanting to be unique), and that’s not the story it has for you, it will shut up.

You have to trust it to tell you a story and let it have its head. Follow it. It won’t lead you astray, no matter how weird or mundane the stuff that comes out. What comes out is what you need to hear or be doing.

After all, your muse is not different from you. It’s still you, just a part that has learned to be quiet. Unfortunately, you have silenced the gatekeeper to your soul. You have to undo that in order to truly live.

And I gotta say, this is all related to the issues of trying to fit into a mold that isn’t yours, as opposed to seeing what kind of unique creature you really are. You won’t be all that weird or unsociable or unlovable if you let go and grow the way your supposed to. (If you were really *wrong* inside, you’d already be having major psychological problems and breaks—so I’m not worried.) In fact, you might be a little miffed that you’re really pretty normal, sane, and well-adjusted. Be glad for that!