Nostalgia by Sound

Often when I am creating, I am mentally trying to get back to a time when art was pure joy for me. It was such an important part of my childhood. It was right up there with playing Barbies or riding my bike. My earliest memories involve me drawing picture after picture of unicorns and horses (I was obsessed!). And when I wasn't drawing, I was constructing makeshift dolls out of cardboard and crayons. Glitter, glue, and scissors were my tools of choice when designing masks or other fanciful artifacts of my imagination. My world was a great big craft box, and I just couldn't get enough.

So is it any wonder that music really helps me to get back to that place in time? It is an essential element to my creative process. Often when I am painting, I play music that tells a story or has a special association for me. Here are some of the standards on my playlist:

Tracy Chapman - Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution

Fiona Apple - First Taste

David Gray - Say Hello Wave Goodbye

Basia - Until You Come Back to Me

As you can see, I tend to lean more toward the ballads. So if you ever come over for a visit and hear me belting one of these songs from my upstairs studio, you can probably guess I've got a paint brush in my hand and a canvas in front of me with a big, goofy grin on my face.

"Music is an outburst of the soul."
- Frederick Delius