Recently, I was commiserating with an artist friend who also prefers to work on multiple projects at one time.
She said she spends time each day on many different things, but feels like it's taking forever to bring anything to completion.
I said, "Right! It's like herding turtles. The turtles and I are all headed somewhere. We're just not getting there very fast."
The up side is that at this pace the turtles (my projects) don't go astray very quickly either.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Monday, July 3, 2006
NEW SONG: The Moon and Sun MORE!
And what did I do today? I played through all my songs for the Dolphin's Daughters CD and ended up writing two more verses for "Moon and Sun".
MOON AND SUN
Words traditional, with additional lyrics and music by Kay Pere
The New Moon rises with the Sun.
Her waxing half the midday shows.
The Full Moon climbs at sunset hour.
And waning half the midnight knows.
Moon and Sun, the great romance,
Spinning high then bowing low.
Love's ancient luminescent dance,
Shine upon us here below.
A woman rises with the sun.
Her work half done when midday shows.
She climbs the stairs at sunset hour,
And candlelight the midnight knows.
Moon and Sun, the great romance,
Spinning high then bowing low.
Love's ancient luminescent dance,
Shine upon us here below.
A child is born like rising sun.
He seems half grown as midday shows.
His colors climb at sunset hour,
And quiet rest the midnight knows.
Moon and Sun, the great romance,
Spinning high then bowing low.
Love's ancient luminescent dance,
Shine upon us here below.
COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing
MOON AND SUN
Words traditional, with additional lyrics and music by Kay Pere
The New Moon rises with the Sun.
Her waxing half the midday shows.
The Full Moon climbs at sunset hour.
And waning half the midnight knows.
Moon and Sun, the great romance,
Spinning high then bowing low.
Love's ancient luminescent dance,
Shine upon us here below.
A woman rises with the sun.
Her work half done when midday shows.
She climbs the stairs at sunset hour,
And candlelight the midnight knows.
Moon and Sun, the great romance,
Spinning high then bowing low.
Love's ancient luminescent dance,
Shine upon us here below.
A child is born like rising sun.
He seems half grown as midday shows.
His colors climb at sunset hour,
And quiet rest the midnight knows.
Moon and Sun, the great romance,
Spinning high then bowing low.
Love's ancient luminescent dance,
Shine upon us here below.
COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing
NEW SONG: The Moon and Sun
Yesterday, someone asked me what I had done all day and I replied, "not much," until I remember that I had written a song. Hows that for art becoming a routine part of everyday life?!
The words for the first part are a very old traditional rhyme describing where the moon is seen in the sky as it moves through it's phases. I've written the melody and harmonized it so it can be song either as a solo, an echo song, or a round, building as you go with audience participation.
The second part is a contrasting chorus, my own words and music. (I really need to figure out how to create simple rough recordings of new songs to post online) This will be on the Dolphin's Daughters CD.
THE MOON AND SUN
Words traditional, with additional lyrics and music by Kay Pere
The New Moon rises with the Sun.
Her waxing half the midday shows.
The Full Moon climbs at sunset hour.
And waning half the midnight knows.
Moon and Sun, the great romance,
Spinning high then bowing low.
Love's ancient luminescent dance,
Shine upon us here below.
COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing
The words for the first part are a very old traditional rhyme describing where the moon is seen in the sky as it moves through it's phases. I've written the melody and harmonized it so it can be song either as a solo, an echo song, or a round, building as you go with audience participation.
The second part is a contrasting chorus, my own words and music. (I really need to figure out how to create simple rough recordings of new songs to post online) This will be on the Dolphin's Daughters CD.
THE MOON AND SUN
Words traditional, with additional lyrics and music by Kay Pere
The New Moon rises with the Sun.
Her waxing half the midday shows.
The Full Moon climbs at sunset hour.
And waning half the midnight knows.
Moon and Sun, the great romance,
Spinning high then bowing low.
Love's ancient luminescent dance,
Shine upon us here below.
COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing
Thursday, April 27, 2006
PROLIFERATION: A Beneficent Boss
Today I'm engaged in repetitive work, printing out packaging, assembling, and sitting at the computer for hours to work on graphics. I enjoy all this, up to a point. I have to use distraction and bribery to get myself through this last phase of the creative process when it requires assembly line work or being chained to a computer for hours.
This last phase of the creative process* is called PROLIFERATION. It involves reproduction, packaging, and marketing a creative work.
This last phase of the creative process is the most neglected among artist and musicians. We create because we like to make something new out of ideas and raw materials. Many of us also create because we hope the things we make will be meaningful or at least entertaining to others. But no one will encounter our work unless it's given legs of its own to venture beyond the confines of the studio.
As an artist/musician/writer/educator, I work for myself, by myself, most of the day. I'm learning to be sensitive to the needs of my creative process, while running a small business.
I'm the business manager, but I'm also the art department, marketing consultant, accountant, admin support, public relations, product development, travel agent, computer tech, database manager, licensing/legal, print shop, mail room, purchasing agent, inventory control, and cafeteria chef, all rolled into one. As business manager I'm required to be financially responsible, organized, plan ahead and follow through even when it isn't any fun.
Managing my creative side, really allowing time for it to manage me, requires a completely different set of skills.
Creative work in it's earliest stages has to be play or it just doesn't happen. When I sit down at the piano to write or slice off a fresh slab of clay to sculpt, I don't know what I'm going to end up with, if anything. Results are far from guaranteed. It's all about enjoying the process, following it where it leads. I start with raw materials, a stretch of time and an image or a concept or a feeling or nothing at all. Things progress spontaneously rather than sequentially.
Sometimes, after several hours of intense effort, all I have is a better idea of where I might be going and a pile of pages covered with scribbled words, or used up materials that have to be tossed out. Sometimes the results are so unexpected that I feel as if they've arrived by divine providence.
Creative play/work doesn't follow a typical business model.
A good boss for a creative person plans for spontaneity by not packing the schedule too tightly. A good boss for a creative person arranges for abundant materials to be on hand and easy to find. A good boss for a creative person shields the artist from concerns about finances and marketability while the artist is developing something new.
A good boss for a creative person actually realizes that the artist is the employer, not the other way around.
Am I the kind of boss I enjoy working for? A Beneficent Boss?
That depends.
I try to be a good boss. When I'm working intently, I try to remember to give myself breaks to get up and stretch, get some food and take care of other necessities. I try to see that I work in a studio, not an office. I try to stay focused on deeper motivations: to be happy, to make a difference in the world, and hopefully have something for paying the bills.
Unfortunately, there are times when I'm a slave driver. The slave driver insists on doing one more thing, then another and another, before I'm allowed to stop for lunch. The slave driver forgets about the artist's need for unscheduled time and makes too many commitments. The slave driver is all about practical applications and marketability, all the time. The slave driver demands that the work space is perfectly picked up and the To-Do List is completely crossed off before the artist is allowed to play.
The slave driver boss threatens to take possession of the artist's successful creations by setting expectations for the artist to produce the same work over and over.
The artist is not a factory worker.
Today, I'm an artist working the assembly line of proliferation. I'm bridging the gap between creating in seclusion and putting a tiny piece of art into the hands of someone who will enjoy it.
I'm pretending not to be doing something repetitious. I'm distracting myself by writing this little essay while packaging materials come out of the printer by the dozens.
Is this efficient? For me it is.
In a little while, I'll rent a couple of sappy movies and pile a plate with snacks, then sit down to finish the hands-on work. There'll be a break to teach a couple of voice lessons early in the evening. Then it's back to the assembly shop for a couple hours to meet a deadline coming up this weekend.
If I do this, the good boss has promised me some uninterrupted time to write songs, play with clay and dig in the garden. Just as soon as this big push is all over. I'm trusting the good boss to follow through.
:-), Kay
http://www.kaypere.com
* For more on the phases of the creative process [Creation, Realization, and Proliferation] see Bill Pere's articles at:
http://www.billpere.com/Songwriter_Tools.htm
COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing
This last phase of the creative process* is called PROLIFERATION. It involves reproduction, packaging, and marketing a creative work.
This last phase of the creative process is the most neglected among artist and musicians. We create because we like to make something new out of ideas and raw materials. Many of us also create because we hope the things we make will be meaningful or at least entertaining to others. But no one will encounter our work unless it's given legs of its own to venture beyond the confines of the studio.
As an artist/musician/writer/educator, I work for myself, by myself, most of the day. I'm learning to be sensitive to the needs of my creative process, while running a small business.
I'm the business manager, but I'm also the art department, marketing consultant, accountant, admin support, public relations, product development, travel agent, computer tech, database manager, licensing/legal, print shop, mail room, purchasing agent, inventory control, and cafeteria chef, all rolled into one. As business manager I'm required to be financially responsible, organized, plan ahead and follow through even when it isn't any fun.
Managing my creative side, really allowing time for it to manage me, requires a completely different set of skills.
Creative work in it's earliest stages has to be play or it just doesn't happen. When I sit down at the piano to write or slice off a fresh slab of clay to sculpt, I don't know what I'm going to end up with, if anything. Results are far from guaranteed. It's all about enjoying the process, following it where it leads. I start with raw materials, a stretch of time and an image or a concept or a feeling or nothing at all. Things progress spontaneously rather than sequentially.
Sometimes, after several hours of intense effort, all I have is a better idea of where I might be going and a pile of pages covered with scribbled words, or used up materials that have to be tossed out. Sometimes the results are so unexpected that I feel as if they've arrived by divine providence.
Creative play/work doesn't follow a typical business model.
A good boss for a creative person plans for spontaneity by not packing the schedule too tightly. A good boss for a creative person arranges for abundant materials to be on hand and easy to find. A good boss for a creative person shields the artist from concerns about finances and marketability while the artist is developing something new.
A good boss for a creative person actually realizes that the artist is the employer, not the other way around.
Am I the kind of boss I enjoy working for? A Beneficent Boss?
That depends.
I try to be a good boss. When I'm working intently, I try to remember to give myself breaks to get up and stretch, get some food and take care of other necessities. I try to see that I work in a studio, not an office. I try to stay focused on deeper motivations: to be happy, to make a difference in the world, and hopefully have something for paying the bills.
Unfortunately, there are times when I'm a slave driver. The slave driver insists on doing one more thing, then another and another, before I'm allowed to stop for lunch. The slave driver forgets about the artist's need for unscheduled time and makes too many commitments. The slave driver is all about practical applications and marketability, all the time. The slave driver demands that the work space is perfectly picked up and the To-Do List is completely crossed off before the artist is allowed to play.
The slave driver boss threatens to take possession of the artist's successful creations by setting expectations for the artist to produce the same work over and over.
The artist is not a factory worker.
Today, I'm an artist working the assembly line of proliferation. I'm bridging the gap between creating in seclusion and putting a tiny piece of art into the hands of someone who will enjoy it.
I'm pretending not to be doing something repetitious. I'm distracting myself by writing this little essay while packaging materials come out of the printer by the dozens.
Is this efficient? For me it is.
In a little while, I'll rent a couple of sappy movies and pile a plate with snacks, then sit down to finish the hands-on work. There'll be a break to teach a couple of voice lessons early in the evening. Then it's back to the assembly shop for a couple hours to meet a deadline coming up this weekend.
If I do this, the good boss has promised me some uninterrupted time to write songs, play with clay and dig in the garden. Just as soon as this big push is all over. I'm trusting the good boss to follow through.
:-), Kay
http://www.kaypere.com
* For more on the phases of the creative process [Creation, Realization, and Proliferation] see Bill Pere's articles at:
http://www.billpere.com/Songwriter_Tools.htm
COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing
Monday, April 17, 2006
HEART&SPIRAL: Why Title Everything?
I thought it might be good to provide some explanation about the titles I'm using in this blog.
I'm not a person who's content to do only one thing. So I've come up with names for the different aspects of my creative/artistic/musical life. Makes more sense to me that way. Helps me to keep straight on what I'm doing at any given moment, but might be confusing for others without some sort of Rosetta stone to help decipher.
People ask me what I do. Here's the breakdown.
HEART&SPIRAL: This is name for that swirly logo thing made out of my initials. It's also an over arching concept of creative flow, spiritual journey toward center, etc. And it's the name of my band. Everything else I do, no matter how it's named, falls under HEART&SPIRAL.
SOUND KRAYONS MUSIC: This is my teaching studio. I offer voice instruction and coaching, workshops, song writing and performance coaching, music theory and piano instruction.
SACRED SHARDS: This is my pottery business. Also includes some mixed media work.
KEYS FOR A CAUSE an organization I founded to unite keyboard playing performing songwriters, coast-to-coast (US) and internationally, to present events and recordings benefiting local social services as an outreach of LUNCH (Local United Network to Combat Hunger).
GAIA LUNA: a sacred space garden being created to celebrate the cycles of earth and moon, and the traditions of women. All this is described in more detail on my website: http://www.kaypere.com/visual_artist_garden.htm
:-), Kay
Friday, March 17, 2006
The Chanteuse & The Recluse
I've been in a deep hibernation this winter. Now, with Spring officially right around the corner it seems like the right time to step back out onto the big stage, maybe on different terms.
I'm a quiet person. A thinker of deep thoughts. A real artsy fartsy kind of geeky music girl. And I'm OK with that.
For a while, I thought I had to be like so many performers who live life on the go, working constantly at self-promotion, seeing the world as one big business opportunity. Nothing wrong with that. Just not my style.
I've realized that my center of gravity is in a completely different place.
For me, the public moments of performance and risk taking will always require a counterbalancing time of cozy contemplation at home. Without this, life begins to spin off center.
I can't deny that both the Chanteuse and the Recluse are part of who I am. I create the things I do because of these counterbalancing forces. And I'm OK with that.
It's taken a while to get to this point.
The downside is that so many people see this whole music/art thing as one big competition, like a sporting event where there always are winners and losers. Many people make their music/art/entertainment/fashion choices based on who they think is going to be a winner rather that what really speaks to them. We are a culture of success by proxy.
It's like during the Olympics when the women skaters were being interviewed after their world class performances. The guy behind the microphone just didn't get it. One skater, who had come in 2nd, was asked on national TV if she was disappointed about "only getting the silver". She had done beautifully, worked for years to get where she was, had just come off the ice after an extreme effort. Her presence at the Olympics made it obvious that she was one of the best skaters in the world. The interviewer's question showed a lack of understanding and respect for what she had accomplished.
He was more interested in whether she'd won than what she'd done.
Typical of our culture right now.
Real life is about doing. It's about not being a spectator. It's about bringing a little bit of beauty out to be shared with others, taking a chance that it will inspire just one person along the way.
Real life is about forming real bonds with real people though conversation. It's not about making heroes out of distant entertainment icons, or comparing ourselves with them. When these entertainers fail to satisfy our needs, we denounce them as losers and move on to the next big thing.
Sadly, the fear of "losing" and appearing foolish keeps a lot of people from getting out and doing the things they were meant to do. We spend our own lives sitting at home in front of the TV when we might have been out discovering what we're capable of creating on our own.
We all lose when this happens.
I've rambled on long enough. I guess this is a pep-talk is for me as much as anyone else. I'm preparing the Chanteuse to emerge from her long hibernation, to discover how she's been changed by the self-prescribed seclusion.
I will take the doing beyond my own front door.
And I will still make time for cozy songwriting and art making. Time to cook another big pot of lentil soup to package up for the freezer. Time to put a log from the old apple tree into the woodstove. Time to clean out the barn and the attic, to make room for this new phase of life.
Quiet doers unite!
COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing
I'm a quiet person. A thinker of deep thoughts. A real artsy fartsy kind of geeky music girl. And I'm OK with that.
For a while, I thought I had to be like so many performers who live life on the go, working constantly at self-promotion, seeing the world as one big business opportunity. Nothing wrong with that. Just not my style.
I've realized that my center of gravity is in a completely different place.
For me, the public moments of performance and risk taking will always require a counterbalancing time of cozy contemplation at home. Without this, life begins to spin off center.
I can't deny that both the Chanteuse and the Recluse are part of who I am. I create the things I do because of these counterbalancing forces. And I'm OK with that.
It's taken a while to get to this point.
The downside is that so many people see this whole music/art thing as one big competition, like a sporting event where there always are winners and losers. Many people make their music/art/entertainment/fashion choices based on who they think is going to be a winner rather that what really speaks to them. We are a culture of success by proxy.
It's like during the Olympics when the women skaters were being interviewed after their world class performances. The guy behind the microphone just didn't get it. One skater, who had come in 2nd, was asked on national TV if she was disappointed about "only getting the silver". She had done beautifully, worked for years to get where she was, had just come off the ice after an extreme effort. Her presence at the Olympics made it obvious that she was one of the best skaters in the world. The interviewer's question showed a lack of understanding and respect for what she had accomplished.
He was more interested in whether she'd won than what she'd done.
Typical of our culture right now.
Real life is about doing. It's about not being a spectator. It's about bringing a little bit of beauty out to be shared with others, taking a chance that it will inspire just one person along the way.
Real life is about forming real bonds with real people though conversation. It's not about making heroes out of distant entertainment icons, or comparing ourselves with them. When these entertainers fail to satisfy our needs, we denounce them as losers and move on to the next big thing.
Sadly, the fear of "losing" and appearing foolish keeps a lot of people from getting out and doing the things they were meant to do. We spend our own lives sitting at home in front of the TV when we might have been out discovering what we're capable of creating on our own.
We all lose when this happens.
I've rambled on long enough. I guess this is a pep-talk is for me as much as anyone else. I'm preparing the Chanteuse to emerge from her long hibernation, to discover how she's been changed by the self-prescribed seclusion.
I will take the doing beyond my own front door.
And I will still make time for cozy songwriting and art making. Time to cook another big pot of lentil soup to package up for the freezer. Time to put a log from the old apple tree into the woodstove. Time to clean out the barn and the attic, to make room for this new phase of life.
Quiet doers unite!
COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing
Monday, December 5, 2005
Love Triangle
Had a realization this morning.
I've always existed in a sort of love triangle between imagination and that thing most people call reality.
I wondered whether it would be best if I became more grounded. My imagination can fill me with worries. Sometimes I lose perspective. Sometimes the world inside my head acts as a shield, keeping me from experiencing the present moment as deeply. Sometimes it closes me up inside walls where only the steady hand of a trusted love can reach in and bring me out.
At other times imagination is a window, a source of creativity feeding countless possibilities. Life becomes hollow without this. Inner vision allows me to shape experiences and be shaped by them. It keeps me open. It brings things into being from nothing but raw materials and focused attention.
Recognizing this love triangle is freeing.
It's all a part of who I am.
I've decided it's OK to love the vividness of life while loving the ideas it inspires just as fiercely. It's OK to keep my imagination close to my heart while looking outside myself for new experiences to fall in love with.
Each creates the other. No need to choose between them.
Circumstances aren't always a matter of choice, but I can choose how my imagination interacts with the circumstances of my life.
I'm grateful that my life is mostly very happy. It's so much more difficult to imagine good outcomes when illness, loss and conflict dominate the landscape. I'm sure these will visit my life again. All part of the human condition. Maybe I can strengthen my inner vision and be a little more prepared for difficulties when they reappear.
COPYRIGHT 2005 - Effusive Muse Publishing
I've always existed in a sort of love triangle between imagination and that thing most people call reality.
I wondered whether it would be best if I became more grounded. My imagination can fill me with worries. Sometimes I lose perspective. Sometimes the world inside my head acts as a shield, keeping me from experiencing the present moment as deeply. Sometimes it closes me up inside walls where only the steady hand of a trusted love can reach in and bring me out.
At other times imagination is a window, a source of creativity feeding countless possibilities. Life becomes hollow without this. Inner vision allows me to shape experiences and be shaped by them. It keeps me open. It brings things into being from nothing but raw materials and focused attention.
Recognizing this love triangle is freeing.
It's all a part of who I am.
I've decided it's OK to love the vividness of life while loving the ideas it inspires just as fiercely. It's OK to keep my imagination close to my heart while looking outside myself for new experiences to fall in love with.
Each creates the other. No need to choose between them.
Circumstances aren't always a matter of choice, but I can choose how my imagination interacts with the circumstances of my life.
I'm grateful that my life is mostly very happy. It's so much more difficult to imagine good outcomes when illness, loss and conflict dominate the landscape. I'm sure these will visit my life again. All part of the human condition. Maybe I can strengthen my inner vision and be a little more prepared for difficulties when they reappear.
COPYRIGHT 2005 - Effusive Muse Publishing
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