Finding Your Artistic Muse

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“Moose, Opus 1”
Those who know me know that painting landscapes on location in nature is one of my greatest passions. The Grand View television show features my experiences on location in the national parks. What many people don’t know about me is that I also have a deep passion for painting wildlife. I have returned from time to time to visit my artistic muse as I paint animals, and this week, sketches that I made when I hiked and painted in the Teton National Park inspired me. As I searched through my sketchbooks, my senses filled with the memories of that trip, and I recalled the feelings of awe that I felt when I personally encountered so many magnificent animals that exist in America. Those memories served as my source of inspiration as I painted, “Moose, Opus1.”

Finding one’s muse refers to the unintentional and unplanned burst of inspiration that beckons us to create. Many artists say the experience of finding their muse moves through them like the “breath of god.” They do not feel in control the process, but they feel compelled to “go with it” while they are transported beyond their own abilities to see and express their experience on canvas, paper, sound, or movement. The muse seems to be the connection between the inner soul or the unconscious mind and the artist who creates with paints, pens, musical instruments, or dance.

When you cannot find your muse, it feels like you can’t seem to get started with your work or that you just can’t get it right. You can work on a project for hours, and then, wipe it all off, or toss it into a pile of paintings in your garage. You know that you want to create, but you can’t imagine what to paint. There can be a great sense of frustration and unhappiness as an artist struggles to find his way back to feeling inspired again. Often artists will look for inspiration by searching outside of themselves and will look through pictures in books and magazines. Musicians spend hours exercising their connection with the keyboard hoping to hear a pattern, beat, or melody that inspires their creativity. The following ideas may help you to connect creatively within yourself in preparation for your muse’s return.

#1: Ask yourself, “Why did I want to be in artist in the first place?” When you create, you choose many paths, and occasionally you may find yourself feeling lost. Being in touch with why you began creating art is the first step in finding the way to your artistic muse.

#2: Take a long and relaxing walk. Do something that is physically active to clear your mind. It will calm any frustrations, and give you time to have fresh ideas or new approaches that may come to mind when you are away from your studio.

#3: Don’t do anything at all! Don’t even look or think about your painting, Inspiration will come to you when the time is right. Instead, watch TV, go out with friends, or go to bed. Just do something to separate yourself from your art. Sit back and enjoy being creative in other ways.

#4: Think of a book or movie that moves you to feel your emotions and paint a picture about something in the story that touches you. Every great work of art is inspired by connecting to life in some way.

#5: Listen to some inspirational or unusual music. I prefer tribal music, Classical music or movie soundtracks. Few things are as artistically stimulating as a great symphony by Beethoven. Let the music guide your art. Allow yourself to let loose and go with the sounds. Leonardo daVinci felt that he painted better when he listened to music.

#6: And go outside of yourself for ideas and inspiration. Browse through books to see and experience other artists’ work. Sometimes, we are so concerned that all of our work has to be original, and we forget that other artists have had huge breakthroughs after losing their muses, too. Visit a museum or surf the internet to see what other artists are creating, because it can be insightful, inspiring, and can connect us with the ups and downs that others in our special group of human beings known as artists experience.

If you are interested in experiencing a breakthrough weekend that will take your art to the next level, visit our new website at http://www.thegrandview.com/, and you can download my FREE BOOK where I share “Everything I know About Painting.”I hope that we can build a community of artists that can share information with each other.If you know of any artists that might appreciate being included, let them know about this blog.

I hope to offer more painting tips as this conversation continues. If you have questions that you would like me to answer, please don’t hesitate to email me anytime.

I welcome your feedback. Stefan_Baumann@yahoo.com