{"id":434,"date":"2011-05-28T20:03:46","date_gmt":"2011-05-29T03:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/?p=434"},"modified":"2011-08-13T17:17:19","modified_gmt":"2011-08-14T00:17:19","slug":"finding-the-muse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2011\/writing\/finding-the-muse\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding the Muse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, I went to the 17th annual Painters at Painters celebration of the arts in Campbell River. One of the presentations was called ‘Amusing the muse’, conducted by painters (and sisters) Janice Robertson<\/a> and Suzanne Northcott<\/a>. They gave their thoughts on what the muse meant to them and their work. What they had to say not only applies to art, but also applies to writing and any other artistic expression. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Janice finds her muse in nature. She referred to her love of birds, and because of that, she’s inspired to paint the crow, seagulls and chickens.<\/p>\n

They discussed how the muse doesn’t like comfort. In essence, they said, if you’re always sure, you’re not growing.<\/p>\n

Suzanne talked about the mystery of the muse, that undefinable something that propels you to create, to let something come through you. She talked about having a \"\"<\/a>wild mind, allowing anything to come. She illustrated this beautifully in her piece called A Place in Mind. <\/em><\/p>\n

Brilliance in artistic endeavors often comes when we get out of our own way. I recall hearing a story about Laurence Olivier. He had just come off stage to thunderous applause and a standing ovation (at a time when those were rare). Though he understood he’d done well, he was frustrated as he didn’t know how he got there.<\/p>\n

What he was describing was this organic process, where the artist allows the muse to flow through. There is no time for judgment or concern with what is being produced. He got out of his own way.<\/p>\n

I know I am doing my best work, when I allow my characters to tell me where they want to go and I follow their lead. When I do that, the characters surprise me, as they do the reader.\u00a0 There is a texture then in the work that is not contrived or manipulated. It’s not that I don’t have a plan. I do, but it’s not rigid. If I’m too tight, then my voice can’t get through. And what I’m looking for is purity. A pure voice. When that happens and I follow the muse, it’s magic.<\/p>\n

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Today, I went to the 17th annual Painters at Painters celebration of the arts in Campbell River. One of the presentations was called ‘Amusing the muse’, conducted by painters (and… <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,87,4],"tags":[24,54,94,96,95,8],"class_list":["post-434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-theatre-2","category-writing","tag-characters","tag-finding-the-muse","tag-janice-robertson","tag-laurence-olivier","tag-suzanne-northcotte","tag-write"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LuVB-70","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":765,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2011\/writing\/the-many-paths-of-inspiration\/","url_meta":{"origin":434,"position":0},"title":"The Many Paths of Inspiration","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"29 \u041b\u0438\u0441\u0442\u043e\u043f\u0430\u0434\u0430, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I've written about inspiration before, but I gave it short shrift. 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The Oxford dictionary says: \u201cthe drawing in of breath\u201d, and \u201cthat which is thought to prompt poets etc. and that\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/film-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Stephen-King.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1405,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2013\/writing\/the-art-in-good-writing\/","url_meta":{"origin":434,"position":1},"title":"The Art in Good Writing","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"4 \u0427\u0435\u0440\u0432\u043d\u044f, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Who\u2019d have thought I\u2019d learn what it takes to write well at a Painters' Weekend?\u00a0 It\u2019s one attended by many of the best artists in British Columbia. They come annually to Painters Lodge in Campbell River to demonstrate their technique, show slide presentations and participate in panel discussions. What I\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Painters' Lodge, Campbell River","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/P1030254-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":126,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2011\/writing\/reawakening\/","url_meta":{"origin":434,"position":2},"title":"Reawakening","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"21 \u041b\u044e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u043e, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm in limbo this morning but as the crocuses peek through the snow, I look upon this time as a chance to reflect on where I've been and where I'm going. I have to continue to market my writing, but the muse beckons. It's an entirely different hat I put\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/P1090236-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2254,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2015\/writing\/how-a-fly-inspired-me-to-self-publish\/","url_meta":{"origin":434,"position":3},"title":"How A Fly Inspired Me To Self-Publish","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"21 \u0421\u0435\u0440\u043f\u043d\u044f, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Inspiration comes in many forms. Yesterday, I had coffee with a woman who had bought my book and wanted me to sign it. She's a writer, and from the background she shared with me, an experienced and talented one. The problem she shared was that she was having trouble getting\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Inspired By A Fly","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/fly-photo-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/fly-photo-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/fly-photo-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/fly-photo-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/fly-photo-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2557,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2016\/writing\/writers-gold-found-memories\/","url_meta":{"origin":434,"position":4},"title":"Writers’ Gold Found In Memories","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"31 \u0411\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0437\u043d\u044f, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Drawing On Memories With Easter come and gone, I'm struck by how memories, of what once was, hit me during this time. A few tears were shed as I recalled generations sitting around the table feasting on my mother's delicious cooking, followed by the cracking of coloured eggs and Ukrainian\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Memories","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_6384.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_6384.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_6384.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_6384.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":823,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2012\/writing\/what-is-it-about-the-troubled-artist\/","url_meta":{"origin":434,"position":5},"title":"What Is It About The Troubled Artist?","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"4 \u041b\u044e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u043e, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"A few days ago, I went to see the play, RED, written by John Logan. A winner of six Tony awards in 2010, RED tells the story of Mark Rothko, abstract expressionist painter and contemporary of Jackson Pollock, during the time he got a commission to do a group of\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Mark-Rothko.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}