When your muse plays hide & seek

…..I guess that’s being a bit dramatic, huh? My Muse is not lost; sometimes I just get in a funk and cannot find him. As most of you know, about 95% of my art is inspired by Lee DeWyze. Some people can argue that a true artist can work on anything, at any time. If this is true, then I guess I am not a “real” artist. Trust me, I have tried to do subjects that are not lee related. Those turn out ok, but there is nothing there for me; I am not attached to them. I know that is hard for some people to understand, but it is what it is. 

That being said, with my “Muse” being a touring, busy musician; he is busy. I have never been a needy person, but when life gets too busy for me to draw, or I don’t see posts and tweets about Lee creating…I can’t. I need to hear the new music, I need to explore new lyrics that spark new images in my head. 

 

For the last month or so, between my busy life and not being as active on social media, I have felt myself falling into a creative black hole. When this happens, it actually makes me sad. I have done a few sketches in the meantime, including a self-portrait, but I wasn’t feeling them. they didn't take me to that happy place. 

 

This Past weekend I watched the movie “Big Eyes”, the story of Walter & Margaret Keane.

It was about the famous “Big Eye” paintings in the 60's that became famous by an artist named Walter Keane; however it turns out that Walter never painting them. As a matter of fact,he was not an artist at all. His wife, Margaret Keane had been painting them for over 10 years and keeping this inside. I can not imagine how she must have felt! To have work that means something to you and no one knows where is actually came from. There is a scene in the movie where she talks about what her “Big Eyed” children mean to her. I was so moved by her because that is how I feel about my Lee art. They are not just sketches to me, they come from somewhere special. True Inspiration. You may think you have been inspired, but you don’t realize what that actually means until it finally hits you. 

A few of my favorite quotes from the movie that struck a cord with me are: 

Margaret: "People buy art because it touches them. Walter: You’re living in fairy tale land. People buy art because it’s in [the stores and in vogue]. They don’t get to discover it."

Margaret: "Why are you lying? You are taking credit for something you didn’t do. These children are a part of my soul"

"You don’t know what it’s like to put your emotions out"

Watching this movie sort of nudged me a bit to want to get back into the sketchbook. 

 

Last night, my husband went out for a mountain bike ride and I decided that enough was enough. If I could not think of visuals for lyrics, I was going to go straight to the source of my inspiration and do a portrait of Lee himself. We all know I am not the best at drawing faces… I have had some trouble in the past… 

I decided to put on my headphones, listen to Lee 's music and do a portrait. I took it so seriously too! Usually I just sketch with a No. 2 pencil and use my fat fingers to smudge. This time I broke out the sketching pencils and blending sticks I bought once and never used. Boy did that make a difference! 

I have never been one to toot my own horn. Actually, I do not even think my art is THAT good. I often feel that the praise is coming in merely because of the fact that the subject is a song someone likes, or just because they are Lee DeWyze fans,. Etc. Know what I mean? I know they like it, but there is always that doubt in my mind. And faces? Forget about it. My main style has always been no faces... You know, let the gestures set the tone and emotion....

 But Mostly because I am just not good at it. For instance, I recently did a sketch for one of Lee DeWyze’s new songs; “Give me something” For the life of me, I could not do the people’s mouths. So, I just left it as is. I know I’ll never finish it…. 

 

Well this time, I actually drew a face! I decided to draw a picture of Lee that was taken and posted by Vox concert series. 

I was so proud of it! I mean, it actually LOOKS like Lee. I've come a long way from my first portrait where he looks like he was stung by 100 bees. Haha. When Mark came home, I lifted up my sketchbook beaming with pride like a little kid. I was like “look what I did!!!!!!”  I can honestly say that although I have other sketches that are my favorites, this is the one I am the most proud of. I still have lots of room for improvement obviously... But still! 

 

Thank you Lee DeWyze, as always for giving me the inspiration I need simply by just doing your thing. 

Lee DeWyze is currently on tour! Go to his website for a venue near you! Get out there and see for yourself how amazing his man is!!! 

 http://leedewyzeofficial.com

-Jenn 

 

 

An artist's muse...

John Lennon had Yoko Ono…Salvador Dali had Gala Dali…Frida Kahlo had Diego Rivera…..Their Muses……

A muse is someone who has such an influence on another that he, she or it becomes the focus and inspiration for that person's work. Whether one’s muse is spiritual, an animal or a person, an artist should be indebted to their muse. Without the inspiration, encouragement, numerous day dreams they give the artist, there would be no art, no poems, no music…. Can you imagine? My favorite Muse story is Frida Kahlo’s. haha, it was unusual and quite dysfunctional… but fate at it’s finest. She first saw Diego Rivera, who was already an accomplished artist when he was painting a mural called “Creation” in her school’s auditorium. She would hide in the back and watch him for hours and became fascinated by him. Without going into their whole history (because I can…), after an accident that left her bedridden for a long time, she began painting, and eventually started showing her work to Diego. She admired him, wanted him to tell her she was talented, worthy of her talent... He encouraged her and worked with her. They not only ended up getting married, but they inspired each other. It is a fascinating story. Have you ever seen the movie “Frida”? If not, I suggest you do… it’s amazing. Actually, while watching this movie one day, it inspired me to apply my Lee art to her bold and colorful style. Lee's raw soulful voice and style just lends itself to this vibe. I started it two years ago. It has yet to be finished or titled…. Someday I will….the border is the design from one of his guitar straps, that alone took weeks...

So, a Muse should be celebrated and the story should be told. Maybe your muse will inspire others? Maybe your muse is so amazing it needs to be seen and heard by everyone…..so go listen to Lee DeWyze's album "Frames" ... You'll feel it too, I promise . 

It is no secret that Lee is my muse. I could write a post every single day trying to explain it… but trust me… you still won’t get it. I really really wish I could explain it to you, but I just can’t. If I had a super hero powers...I'd want to be able to make you feel what I felt.... You'd be wowed....

One does not need to be a famous artist to have a muse, nor does there need to be a romantic aspect to the artist and muse equation. An artist’s bond and connection to their muse is exactly that… a connection. Take mine for instance…. I connect to the lyrics, how he puts them to music, when he performs them...the sound of his voice...it’s almost like the music is a security blanket, it’s comforting. There’s this invisible pull his music has on me…that’s the best way to describe it. Like, if I hear a song… or even think of a song… it’s almost this overwhelming & heavy sense of relief if that makes sense. It’s comfort, happiness and pride. As a fan, I am so proud to hear his music evolve exactly the way he wants to…. Being someone to also creates….. it’s an amazing feeling … so I get it…It makes not only my heart and ears happy… but I am happy for him as well…. Ya know? I guess I should stop here though because I can probably write an entire book about it and still not describe the feeling that makes Lee my muse…..

I’m no where near as great as all of those famous artists listed above and I never will be…. But it’s legit. It’s original work that is genuinely inspired by an amazing songwriter… no fillers….. just pure awe. I did a sketch a while back that best shows you that comfort and contentment  I was talking about...you know when you see the pictures of artists with their muses? This is my version of that... And my favorite sketch out of all of them with a fitting quote...

To you this might be just two people sitting on a sofa...or a fangirl listening to her favorite singer... But it's supposed to represent a performing artist creating the music that inspires the creation of my art...and hopefully that art inspires others...and so on...and so on.... This sketch represents happiness and contentment ...and a continues circle of inspiration. I hope you can see that... 

Now I'm going to watch Frida now...thank you for reading!  

Have a good night! 

-Jenn 

 

Real life vs LeeLand.... What's the diffrence?

 

 

Hello everyone!

So I am still in sketching mode, I am a little behind on my “sketch a day for 2014”but not by much! However, I have had time to do an actual painting… on actual canvas! (not gonna lie… it felt good) This painting “Again” was inspired by one of Lee’s newer songs of the same title

 

 

The background is an actual map that I distressed and mod podged it down on the canvas before painting my image. This painting is a large scale piece… 12” x 36”.  I’m pretty pleased with how it came out. Applying the map & mod podge and waiting to dry bit took a few days…. But the actual painting part only took about 15-20 min. There is still some detail to go back in and do, but it’s finished enough to share with you. I hope you love it, I do!

 

As always, I am constantly searching for the perfect explanation on why I paint/ sketch what I do. I am constantly asked by people (outside the Lee Fandom)…Do you ever paint anything else? Are you obsessed? What is so special about this guy’s music? And the same worry that I am limiting myself as an artist… but only painting things inspired by Lee DeWyze music.  I’d like to try and explain this again to those that don’t get it. First I will tell you that although I can draw, I don’t nessesarily have the “need” to do it unless I am inspired. Having said that, I have also been asked why I do not draw Owen, or things like that? Don’t THEY inspire you? This is the part that is hard to explain…. I love my family more than anything in the world. I have an amazing husband and son… I love them dearly, they always come first … but it’s different. When I think of them , my heart is filled with love, joy and happiness… the wishy washy love kind. They are my world.

But when I am feeling inspired…. That feels totally different…. When I am listening to music, as soon as I hear Lee’s voice and lyrics… it’s almost like a physical reaction that just comes out of nowhere and hits you. All these ideas just start coming to me, it’s like I can see the songs perfectly through closed eyes and I’m just filled with this excitement that it needs to be brought to life ASAP! This feeling is obviously stirred up while listening to the music, but a lot of times It comes to me in the middle of the night, keeping me awake. Trust me, I have NEVER had this happen to me before, so I am fully aware that it sounds over the top, but that's what happens. I'd probably think the same thing if it weren’t actually happening to me.

 

Since it is so important to me to find the right words to describe this, I was talking to Sarah Bates, an AMAZING blogger/ Author. She does the “Teaspoon of Happy” articles for HelloGiggles in Sundays. She always just has the perfect words for anything she is trying to explain to you and has been a huge help to me with a lot of things. (I ADORE her!!, she is amazing.. you should go read her work!!!)

You can read some of her work here: http://hellogiggles.com/dream-dream

 So I asked for her advice. I explained to Sarah the point I was trying to get across and she asked me, “Why is it inspiring? It's whatever stirs you deep within - some echo of a shared emotion or truth? Or just an artist that shares your exact wavelength so you hear their voice in super-surround sound. Almost like channeling…” 

Umm.. YES…. To ALL of that! That is EXACTLY what it feels like… it’s weird and I know I’ll never be able to fully explain it...but that's pretty close . Just to prove and echo what she asked me, I think I told this story before but last summer I could not sleep because I could not stop thinking about an idea for 2 paintings. It got so bad that I actually woke up in the middle of the night, sketched my two ideas & wrote out my notes and went back to bed. In the morning, I saw that Lee had tweeted almost around the same time that he could not sleep and was up writing… ooohhh…. queue the Twilight Zone music… Those two paintings were for “Fire Away” (Which I actually gave the original to Lee) and “You don’t know me”.

 

Last week, Lee was on vacation, so I did a bit of an experiment… I do not know if it was because I know vacation meant he was not writing songs snd creating ,etc… lol.. but I totally went into a creative funk… it was like I could not draw, it was weird, like I had this super power that was taken away… So I spent the week doing sketches of things that were not Lee-related… but ones that have special places in my heart:

1) A portrait of my husband and son: pretty much self explanatory. I love them with all my heart, and capped it off with a song by the Roots. “Lovey love my family”... How fitting ...

2) My cat. Although I am allergic to him…he is a kick ass cat. He thinks he is a dog, he is obsessed with me and I with him… lol… even if you hate cats, trust me… you’d love him….that is him sitting on my sketchbook because he gets jealous

3) “The Drinking Girl” by Edward McCarton- This is a statue that is on display at our local museum. I have been fascinated by it since I was little. No matter what exhibit we are going to see, I always make time to go visit her….

4) Owen on his BMX bike- My son is 6 ½ years old and is a master BMXer. Between his racing and my husband’s racing,that is all we do. We basically live rock star lives with all our travel. Lol…

5) The logo for the Stone Cat Café… my FAVORITE restaurant in the world. Seriously, out of all the nice, expensive and fancy places I’ve ever eaten…. I’ll always choose this tiny, converted old chicken coup. It’s located on Seneca Lake in upstate New York. Not only is the food amazing… it has emotional attachment for me…. It’s a super special place.

 6) my grandmother's house; the house I grew up in. It's the place I always felt the safest in, it's the place I felt the most "me", similar to the state I'm in when I'm bringing Lee's songs to life, and in the words of Miranda Lambert... It's "the house that built me". 

So since I was in this funk last week… I tried to fill that little void with sketching the things I love in real life. Almost trying to keep me grounded, ya know? I'm fully aware that I let the Lee stuff carry me away a bit. It did help though- They are all things that make me smile.  The sketches came out great I thought… they are embodying everything I love in my life…but again, they invoked that gentle loving feeling in my heart… not that spark of pure inspiration that induces the NEED to create…. Does anyone understand what I mean? Have you ever felt like this about something…. I know I said it before, but I just feel like this is what I have to do…like I am meant to do it. It’s not something that I can make a career with (unless of course I can get paid to ONLY paint Lee art) lol… I just feel I have to do it and when I can’t, it makes me sad and anxious.

I told myself I'd not write a book here, but I'll end with this... Mare actually broke it down to the simplest explanation... That makes so much sense ...(duh Jenn,face palm) the reason the Lee inspired art feels do different is because I'm creating them... I'm turning the music, my thoughts , feelings and daydreams Into something you can see also. I'm giving those things life. Those other sketches , of the things that I love more than anything? Those things already exist, they have a visual that I'm merely copying...as she put it (brilliantly I might add) " It's creation vs copying. Concrete versus abstract. Imagination versus still life. The outside world versus what you alone feel." I love my friends , it feels good to know there are people that just "get it" 

-Jenn 

Danielle's first Lee DeWyze Show!!!

Hello everyone! It's been a while since the last post, but I've been away and also in the process of working on "Stay Away" :-) 

Below are my sister's thoughts on her very first Lee show at the Keswick Theater in PA on Nov 9th....check it out. It's safe to say... She is a fan! 

Ok I know this post is way over due but better late than never right? Let me begin by saying that I love that the show was acoustic. Don't get me wrong I love guitars and drums and all that but there's just something about acoustic that I love. Like it lets you hear every pitch and every tone in a singer's voice that are sometimes hard to recognize with a band. Lee's voice...oh my what can I say. Sexy, sultry, relaxed! I loved the faces he made because you could literally see how his songs affect him emotionally. He's not just a guy that sings he's a guy who feels every lyric as it flows from his lips. Then I got to meet him.....Lee is down to earth, funny and grateful. I've been to many concerts and met many bands and very few are as down to earth as Lee is. I would definitely attend another show!! As a bonus to my LeeDay with my sister I got to see her interact with her.....as I like to call him...her muse! Watching the two of them talk I felt like they've known each other their entire lives! I always say people are brought into your life for a reason, and since my sister has "found" Lee she's been inspired more than I have ever seen! My sister's art and Lee's music...wow every song he sang I saw her paintings in my head and they just mesh together so well. The songs are deep, but it's the passion in his voice that pushes that feeling into your whole body and it takes over! Can't wait for the next show!!! 

-Danielle 

"Muse"

This painting is called “Muse”. It was not based on a song; I just wanted to capture the amazing picture that was taken by one of my awesome Twitter friends, a fabulous Lee Fan, @yoyosassy. (Thank you Yolanda for letting me use your photo!)

**this one is not yet finished. I had too many other ideas that I had to put this one on hold. But just to give you a visual, I have a special wooden frame idea in mind for this one. I’m going to paint each side of the frame with the designs from Lee’s guitar straps. As you can imagine, this will take some time… bare with me. It will be awesome though**

Since this painting was not inspired by a specific song, I had to think of a title for it. Right off the bat, no question about it… I thought “Muse” was the perfect Title. It’s the first thing that popped in my head the first time I even saw the picture.

What exactly is a Muse? The muse is something or someone that has the ability to excite our creative passion and call forth our creative spirit to create. It is an interesting character. At one level it is a figment of our imagination and doesn’t exist. At another level it is very real and vital to our creative endeavor and without them we are robbed of our creative power (this definition was taken from this site, which has all the different kinds of muse definitions-http://ryuc.info/common/creation_process/muse.htm )– My muse is the later part of this definition. My muse is very real and vital to my creative endeavor. You hear that lee DeWyze? If you ever stopped making music, I’d be robbed of my creative power…haha, so…keep doing your thang….I can not create unless you create (no pressure or anything)

It’s hard to explain exactly how I feel when I paint these, even to other Lee fans because there just aren’t words. The best way to describe it really is this strong, overwhelming unconscious burst of creativity every time I hear his voice. Sounds a bit dramatic, I know…but that is what it is. Having something affect you this strongly is rare. For some reason, I just connect with everything about this music, his voice, the lyrics… something is driving me to paint… so why would I ever want to stop that? Why not roll with it, ya know? Again, I do not expect people to understand it because I still don’t; I just create when my heart tells me to.

I have to admit something though, sometimes it is frustrating because painting these songs truly make me happy… it’s what I want to do….but it’s not like I can paint Lee art as a career. So then I think, what am I doing this for? (The answer is that it’s my outlet, but I mean on a broader spectrum) Haha. People at work ask me all the time “why are you here?” “Why don’t you get a job doing art?” Like I said before… I’m not happy doing art just because I am good at it. I have to FEEL it and right now… this is all I feel and this is what I want to do. It makes me happy, even if it’s a path that leads nowhere. End of story. I hope that at least makes a little bit of sense…

Now… here are the perspectives of my sister as someone just view the art as is and Mare, as a Lee DeWyze fan…(passes the torch…)

 

My sister, Danielle Mazzo:

Muse.....this painting explains my sister and her journey into her own mind. The birds flying from the feather to me is my sisters creativity flying into action...taking off from her once....I wanna paint but...into her OMG I have to paint!!! My sister has always been a great artist to me...because well she'd kick my butt if I didn't say that...jk but since she found her ”muse" she has grown into a phenomenal artist. This muse has given her art structure...heart....feeling!! Muse is not just a painting of a musician's ink....its art taking flight from the perspective of artists both in lyric and on canvas!! Many years my sister and I didn't really know each other as we are two very different people...but since her Muse came along I can finally catch a glimpse into my sister's heart mind and soul. So I guess thanks Lee DeWyze is in order. The more you inspire her the closer we get. Who would've thought a musician could do so much without even knowing it. 

And Mare :

 

 Inspiration..... we all need it. With it comes joy, clarity, creativity..... It comes in many forms for each of us. But for each one of us.... inspiration breathes LIFE into our days. It influences our emotions, our thoughts and our actions....and sometimes it can bring people together. When the sole, original inspiration is so influential, that it creates a circle of creativity... what comes out of that can be amazing. 

Music. It speaks to all of us. It’s a form of communication... and often times, it takes the place of words. With the “right” music.... it speaks to those dusty corners of our soul. It creates stories, pictures, new ways of thinking.... an outlet for the words we can’t find ourselves. Sometimes those notes and words create a visual, a vibe, a feeling, a snapshot of your own world. When you connect to music, it becomes YOUR story.  

During the day, I am a pediatric speech pathologist. I LOVE what I do. I think communication is important. It’s how we connect as human beings. Communication isn’t always speech. It’s a touch, a look, an expression, a feeling, a posture, a drawing, a picture, a painting.......music. Music and writing are a large part of my life. It’s how I express what speech can’t. Words and notes inspire me..... they breathe life into what gets trapped by “thought”. Add to that, someone who can take a feeling of mine, an intangible “thing”... and allow me to see what it looks like.

I’m an extremely hard person to get to know and understand. I have definite walls....Writing for the music and art makes me REALLY look inside myself. I have to be able to let myself FEEL.... dig into my own heart.... and then let people have a glimpse of that. My thoughts, my heart.... It makes my walls come down when I write. Being inspired enough to trust and let go..... I’d say a “muse”  is a very important part of life....

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this one, it started out close to my heart already ... But adding Danielle's & Mare's points of view just set it off.

 Coming up will be my picture book album review of Lee's new album "Frames" I'll be posting the paintings for the each song in the order they appear on the album... Stay tuned! Excited!!!!! 

-Jenn