May 2024

Thanks for checking out my monthly newsletter. Also a big thanks for those of you who checked out my display at Artomatic DC! Even a month goes by quickly, so I’ll try keeping these short.

I’ll give a bit of space to the concept of the muse. Muses are something fun to believe in, ever since the days of Ancient Greece. There were nine named muses, all female, which makes sense if you’re “birthing” an idea. They are thought to provide creative people with inspiration for their works. They can be an easy answer when people ask “Where do you get your ideas?” Our brains are still rife with mysteries to us, even in this age of AI mimicry and dissection of all things human. Whenever a memory or song lyric or visual triggers just the right neuron synapse, it can certainly feel like the concept came from “outside” of one’s self. It’s like the muse giving the artist a jump scare, but instead it’s a “jump delight.”

Being an artist of the rendering sort, I’m fortunate to have visual inspiration everywhere, so I’ve never had to wait for Calliope to finish her lunch break. That said, my current work-in-progress is still too in-progress, so here’s a watercolor from the Before Times. With no discredit meant to mythical beings, my inspiration came from a grainy black-and-white photo. The passenger bones are my own addition. In a loose sense, I think in terms of Latin America’s Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). And maybe the cowboy gaucho driver sees the skeleton as his muse.

I hope you’ll check out my more current offerings next month.