Inspiration Secret! (but it's not really a secret. LOL!) May 27 2016
How do you get inspired when you are trying to create something?
If you've ever played soothing music to help put a baby to sleep, or upbeat music to get you up and moving when you work out or clean up, you are already doing it, too!
Simply put, music is a great inspiration for activities, especially creative ones. Even my quilting gets better with the right music to accompany my efforts.
I listen to whatever strikes my fancy and my tastes vary greatly. I've used music for inspiration for as long as I can remember, but it wasn't until college art classes that it made more sense to me than ever before.
One of my professors suggested listening to music that matched the colors I used in painting. Soft and soothing for blue, loud and brassy for red and yellow, nature sounds for green, soft flowing spiritual music for white and purple, and downbeat for dull or dark colors, etc. (It also helps to match the music to the mood you're trying to capture, but that's another subject we won't cover at this time.)
Guess what - it worked! The watercolor painting I entered into the senior art exhibit actually took top prize, much to my surprise. It was simply flowing shapes in bright purple, green and gold, which are Mardi Gras colors.
Another professor admired my painting and said, "The shapes and colors all flow together in tune. It just sings!" The college even bought the painting from me for $475, a huge amount of money to an 80's college kid (and it still is). Sad to say, I let the painting go without getting a photograph of it. Oh well .....
It still works like a charm!
Today I apply this same technique to my quilting. The embroidered quilt on my frame at present has wispy and feminine curliques with a lot of movement.
My music of choice for this quilt is softly flowing and sparkling Tschaikovski pieces like Swan Lake, Nutcracker Suite and Violin Concerto in D major.
The hard part is to stick to the quilting and resist dancing my hands and arms through the air like twinkling fairies and butterflies. But if I do, I hope no one sees me or they'll think I'm totally off my rocker!
How about you - what do you use for inspiration? Leave a comment below and tell us what you find most helpful to stimulate your own sewing and quilting. We want to know!
###