I can't do this without music...
The first thing I do every morning before shuffling out to the studio is queue up my Ipod. I remove the old tunes I can't possibly listen to one more time and then spend unreasonable amounts of time on ITunes looking for replacements. This morning I thought I should try making art without the Ipod crutch, and I couldn't do it, lasted maybe 5 minutes, maybe. I thought silence might possibly settle me down, allow me focus, get me in the right mood for, yes I'm afraid so, more cup/mug making. But no, it was just too quiet and there was nothing to sing along with, it just didn't feel right. It seems I gotta have Motown or I can't be a potter. Much more destructive addictions/crutches out there I suppose, so I am not upset.
Anyway, Van Morrison runs through my brain via my ears. I don't remember the song title, but the refrain in the chorus is; " gotta get through January, gotta get through February..." It was like my mantra this morning, couldn't stop singing it. I guess I am more concerned about getting through the winter financially than I thought. No shows, no art markets, just a lot of wind and tax bills coming down the pike. I do make it through every year but I always wonder afterwards how I did it. I would take notes, but every year is slightly different. The last couple of winters I had a big show in Scottsdale, this year I am on the waiting list and have just decided to do an Albuquerque show instead. Hmmm, not as warm or as fun, but 1/10th the distance. Darn, I was kinda looking forward to my annual trek across the Mogollon rim, not this year...But mostly I wanted to go and make up for last year's bad-fish-tacos-stuck-in-hotel-room-for-two-days fiasco, guess not.
But no matter the year or season , one constant for me is the music. If I am going to get through January and February, I gotta have some tunes. I started to wonder why this is so, why can't I make tableware without Aretha Franklin in the background? Are there some benefits to listening and playing music vis-a-vis art-making that I am not conscious of but intuitively know that I need?
Having a handy professional musician playing Jackson Browne in the other room, I asked my husband what he thought music did for his brain. Without skipping a beat he replied, " it engages both hemispheres" Hmmm, good answer I thought. After 40 years, I guess he should know. But does listening to music deliver the same benefits as playing music. Not quite, not really as it turns out. Neuroscientists have found that while listening to music can calm nerves, decrease stress, and even release dopamine, playing music is like a full-body workout with "fireworks" going off simultaneously in all areas. Nevertheless, there is something going on here, something that makes it easier for me to make art when there is an accompanying melody. I feel more focused, happier, all dressed up and ready to go.
Interesting to note that in the last 1.5 years I have begun to sing in a band. The Girls Garage Band is just that, all women, all mid-life, all mostly beginners playing in a garage...
So maybe I'm just looking for new material to cover when I have the IPod cranked up, but I don't think so. Some days I make art while I sing, and some days I sing while I make art. It goes back and forth, somehow mysteriously encouraging each other across the hemispheres.
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