Be the artist… and the muse.

The muse of yesteryear.

Throughout history, there are well-known legends that romanticize the notion of the artist and his muse: the beautiful or iconic women who were wives, lovers, or objects of desire for generations of well-known and unknown artists. Artists would seek out and develop relationships with women who were willing to sacrifice their lives so that they could complete their greatest work. Often these women were artists themselves, who ultimately sacrificed their work for the sake of the artist who claimed them.

The muse we know.

Some of the more well-known examples include Leonardo da Vinci’s muse, the Florentine noblewoman, Lisa Gherardini, who served as the inspiration for the Mona Lisa; Pablo Picasso’s muse, Dora Maar, a gifted photographer, poet, and painter, whose career suffered in the artist’s shadow; Claude Monet’s partner, Alice Hoschedé, who was featured in many of his paintings; author Henry James muse, novelist Constance Fenimore Woolson, who was the inspiration for the protagonist of his novella “The Portrait of a Lady,” and, of course, Auguste Rodin’s source of inspiration, sculptor Camille Claudel, who participated in the creation of Rodin’s sculptures.

The original meaning of muse comes from the stories of the Muses — nine Greek goddesses, each one presiding over an art form. The modern muse is merely the source of inspiration.

Becoming your own muse — a partial list to point the way:

• Be in the moment, be present with whatever inspires you, and use all your senses to experience each moment fully.Go on field trips or artist’s dates. Alone or with other creative people who inspire you. 
• Take walks. In your neighborhood, in the city or retail district, in nature. Vary your experience and pay attention to everything you see, smell, touch, and hear.
• Tour art museums and galleries. Try spending time focusing on one exhibit or artist each time you visit. Or compare and contrast in a more comprehensive tour.  
• Enroll in creative classes and workshops that spark your creative passion.
• Stalk… errr, follow an artist that inspires you online. Check into Patreon and become a patron of an artist who intrigues you.
• Visit your local historical society. Some pretty cool discoveries. Writers, I think this is a can’t miss. 
• Commit to experiencing more music and/or theatre. 
• Dive into literature that moves you or maybe just makes you think.
• Completely immerse yourself in the work and lives of other creative beings — authors, painters, dancers, musicians, inventors, sculptors, architects, and so on, and so on.