PLAYING MUSIC TO ENHANCE OUR CREATIVE PRACTICE

While listening to the singing during my sister's choir concert earlier this month, it was the harmony of voices that captured my attention the most: the blending of the 45 or so Tenor, Bass, Alto and Sopranos, accompanied by a pianist and, at times, by a young cellist. The cello added a richness to the music, an element I didn't realize was missing until I heard the passion of its tones. 

Together these added up to some powerful expressions, seemingly so simple when combined, yet very dynamic, creating music that resonated with me, touching my soul, allowing me to be focused on the present moment.

If only were that easy to create harmony in our visual art. Yet I know this choir spent a few months learning the pieces and practicing for their concert. And they perhaps struggled at times, just as visual artists do with our compositions. Sometimes creating art comes together quickly, other times it can take months before it's ready to present to the world. 

I realized during the performance that I had gotten away from playing music while I create my fibre art. And yet the playing of music can be an instrument to help us express our vision. It adds to our concentration, and stimulates both the left and right hemispheres of the brain. It has the power to enhance our creative practice. 

This was a topic I researched while pursuing a certificate in the expressive arts therapies several years back. 

The style of music we play is what matters when we are creating. Rock music, for example, stirs up passions and energy which could be reflected in our art through striking colour, large brush strokes, or strong contrasts. Salsa encourages movement and dance in our creations, impressionistic music invites a free-flow style, drumming can lead us to mimic the rhythm and repetition, while big band music and country can stir up memories which we then reflect in our art. Music without vocals is best so we are not distracted by the lyrics.

Below is a sample of just one playlist I like to listen to while working on my art, intended to enhance creativity by focusing on right brain activities.

       

Music has the ability to relax the mind, leaving us open to visual expressions and focus. It enhances our self-expression, our capacity to learn, and helps us clarify thoughts and feelings. Google The Mozart Effect if you'd like more information and to find out more about studies that have been done about music and creativity. 

In the meantime, I'd love to hear what music you listen to and find enhances your creative practice.

Related Posts:

Sketching Hands through Stitch

Creating Art from Music

Why Silence is Power in Art

Music (and Harry Potter Magic) to Enhance Creativity

SKETCHING HANDS THROUGH STITCH

Our hands tell our stories. They carry the marks of a lifetime: smooth, rough, gnarled, wrinkled, calloused. They are unique to each of us. 

I was fortunate to create a stitched art piece of my friend Bev's hands. She has beautiful lines and marks on her hands, the imprints and scores of a pianist, and it was these marks she noticed first on the finished artwork.

Each of those marks reflect her musical passion: her years of training, the challenges, the successes and the highlights, the daily practices, the challenges and goals she has set for herself.

The making of this art piece was not without its struggles. I visited her in her studio to photograph her hands while she played the piano, ending up with some 60 or 70 photos. After sorting through these I narrowed it down to just a few. I wanted something that showed the movement of her fingers on the keyboard, and did not want it to look posed. One picture stood out for this.

I then transferred the image from the photograph to fabric and began stitching, but wasn't happy with the results. I chose a different fabric and starting stitching again. But this too wasn't working. It wasn't in harmony with Bev's musical side. I knew that choosing another fabric was not the answer. I had to come at this picture from a different perspective, find something with a different tune. The trouble was, I didn't know yet what that new tune should be. And so I put aside this project to ponder some more, hoping a solution would arrive.

After a few weeks, a different composition came to mind: I printed out the original photograph (8x10), and gelled a sheet of gampi paper (a Japanese paper, translucent with a free-form ethereal pattern) on top, giving the photograph a more airy look. I then stitched through the photograph and gampi paper, using black and white thread to play up the piano keys, and a combination of flesh toned threads to outline Bev's hands and fingers, and to accentuate the details of the knuckles, veins and muscles. 

This look achieved what I was looking for: to reflect her spiritual side, her wisdom, her drive, her explorations in music. The final consideration was the emotional reaction I thought Bev would have to the piece, and judging by her reaction when I presented this art piece to her, the combination of papers and stitches achieved my goal. She has referred to it as a "contemplative and deeply personal rendering". 

There is something about hands...

Hands reflect who we are, our personality, they give clues about our lifestyle, our age, our interests. Some people notice the fingernails first, especially if they are polished with colour. Others notice muscular hands, bony, arthritic, calloused, smooth. We notice the shapes of our fingers, size of our hands. We notice if they are clenched or open, pointing or gesticulating. We notice lifelines, veins and age spots.

I did a study a few years ago on the hands of creative women over the age of 75, my mother's included, and wrote a page about each. And I gave the women a copy - they were delighted, delighted with the veins, wrinkles, and shapes I captured, and preserved, through stitch. 

CREATING ART FROM MUSIC

Synaesthesia is defined as:

"a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway."  

Some synesthetes see letters and numbers as colours, others may see days of the week as shapes, some taste sounds, yet others see colours or images in music. Many other combinations exist where the senses are cross-linked or merged. And I've become fascinated with this subject.

I am not a synesthete, but I can discern images from some music, like a sixth or kinesthetic sense. It's more than just listening to the music, it's about feeling its vibration and energy, experiencing emotions and sensations. Music may rouse goosebumps or stimulate muscle tension. Breath rate, blood pressure, pulse and skin temperature may change. We may be compelled to move or dance. Pain relief is a possibility. We experience higher energy or a feeling of relaxation. We may see colours or images or movement.

Receptiveness varies from person to person. Images may come based on genre, chords, melody, rhythm, tempo, instruments, vocals, loudness or softness, high and low pitched sounds. 

After coming across several instances of creating art from music, including learning from a friend with synaethesia that she sees each number as a specific colour, I took a class this past spring through Almonte's Mississippi Valley Textile Museum on colour approaches inspired by the senses (other than sight). Later a local pianist shared that she had an artist painting her music while she played at a recital. The abstract pictures, done in gouache, are stunning! 

After deciding to create some pictures based on pieces of music, I discovered that some songs speak to me, others do not. It's all about being tuned to the music, being mindful and turning off all else while listening. And being open to whatever may come up - difficult or positive. The images are not necessarily realistic, but often a level of abstraction.

I then happened upon an ad about an upcoming show at the Atomic Rooster on Bank Street: Tones is an exhibit of art - not just of creating while music plays in the background - but about creating a work of art inspired by the music. And artists are asked to include a YouTube link so the visitor can listen to the music while viewing the work based on that song. 

     Tones (Art Inspired by Music)
     Dates:                November 27 - December 18, 2018
     Opening party:  Tuesday December 4 from 7-10pm. 
     Location:            Atomic Rooster, 303 Bank Street Ottawa

I hope to enter 2 or 3 fibre art pieces in this show. The one piece I have completed so far, the abstract pictured below, is based on Bitter Sweet Symphony by The Verve. 

The colours came to me first, reflecting both harmony and contrast in the music. After painting the background and choosing fabrics to include, shapes began to form in my mind based on the rhythm and repetitions in the music and on the directions in which it was going.  The next layers represented bits of the melody and chords. It was not really a thought process of creating, but rather done at an intuitive level while listening repeatedly to the song. What a great way to get out of our usual grooves of creation. 

I'm looking forward to seeing Tones at the Atomic Rooster and what other artists are creating. Let me know if you'll be putting in a piece or two or visiting the show. 

MUSIC (AND HARRY POTTER MAGIC) TO ENHANCE CREATIVITY

Members of Urban Sketchers Ottawa were thrilled to be invited to a dress rehearsal this past week of Harry's Musical World by the Ottawa Pops Orchestra. About 20 of us attended on Friday afternoon at the start of the long weekend. It was not only a wonderful opportunity to practice sketching people and the orchestra, but to also sketch while listening to the orchestra play music from the Harry Potter movies.

I was spellbound listening to the musicians as they warmed up prior to the rehearsal. The little snippets of melodies, varying keys of music,  flutes, violins, trumpets, trombones, together harmonized with my quick sketches which took on a loose, feathery look. 

Once the full rehearsal started, I would become transfixed with sketching and was no longer consciously aware of the music. Other times when the tempo changed to more powerful score I was transported into listening and forgot to sketch.

But wait, can music really enhance our ability to be creative? You bet! But it's important to choose a style that fits the goals to create and whether you are in the beginning stages or latter stages of a creation.

Music accesses the right, creative side of the brain, and different genres affect our moods in different ways. From high energy music that is stimulating to low energy that promotes relaxation, our bodies sync with the music's tempo and intensity. Repetitions in the pieces can also have an impact, as can the types of instruments being played. 

Some examples: If you want to create from a place of passion & energy, playing rock music will help. Country and big band music help access memories, Jazz and blues stir up strong emotions, and sacred music promotes feelings of peace and grounding. Classical music aids spatial perception, new age music can bring us to a state of relaxed alertness, and salsa is great for creating movement in pieces. Shamanic drumming and Gregorian chanting provide calm and work very well for pulsing and repetitive actions. 

So choose the music that best fits what you are trying to create. Don't choose loud music to do delicate work that needs a slow pace. Rock or heavy metal or salsa when painting on a large canvas with broad brushstrokes may work just fine however. When focus is needed, music without vocals is best so the brain is not distracted by the words.

And if you're not finding suitable music, try humming or playing an instrument to get you into the creative spirit. 

The music of Harry Potter is probably not what I would regularly choose when I want to create, but being able to draw to live music rather than a CD or download is an experience I'm glad I was able to participate in.
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Urban Sketchers Ottawa is a group of sketchers who share sketching opportunities and events around the city. There is no membership fee, and sketchers of all levels are welcome to join. For more information, visit their Facebook page at Urban Sketchers Ottawa.