An A-musing Tale

In 2010, when I began my ARTbundance coach training, one of the exercises I did involved meeting my muse, developing a dialog and creating a representation of her.  I really was skeptical, so you can imagine my surprise when my muse came through loud and clear!  And not only via dialog, but with a perfect picture of her in my mind.

The only collage I had done up to that time had been a vision board.  I hadn’t drawn since I was 17; had never used a paintbrush or watercolors.  I don’t think it was coincidence that, soon after meeting her I not only created collages, but also dabbled in mixed media for the first time and created a large altered art Vision window as my final project.  Over the past year I’ve been exploring mixed media and art journaling as well.

Discovering and communicating with your Muse can be life altering and liberating in so many ways!  It’s having a short cut and direct line to the wisdom we all hold within ourselves.  It acquaints us with our intuition; that deep inner knowing that so many of us have learned to ignore; in a way that is gentle, non-threatening and uplifting.  Our Muses can bypass all the conditioning and the old, worn out negative beliefs that might be chanting in our subconscious minds.

It’s been simple, for me, to connect with Calliope.  I find a place of calm within myself, focus my mind and then open the conversation.  I could do this wholly in my imagination, but find that I really prefer the written word.  I write letters, or notes, sharing my issues or questions and then wait for an answer.  I don’t judge or doubt.  I simply write down the words that come to me.  And I am always amazed at the answers!

I’d like to introduce you to her!  Her name in Latin means “beautiful voice”.  She is here to nurture my creativity, to en-courage me, to whisper ‘you can do it!’ in my ear when I’m full of doubts, to remind me to ‘keep it in kindergarten’ when I over complicate things, and to foster my ability to heal – myself and others – through my creativity.

The Calliope that you see here was created using a paper doll template and a vintage graphic.  She has affirmations written over the majority of her body.  Her dress is a combination of paper, fibers and beads.  The lace is hand colored.  She has an Angel sitting on her shoulder (as stubborn as I’ve been in discovering my creativity, she’s needed an Angel all her own!).  She has a brad on her throat (5^th Chakra) symbolizing turquoise, a hand of light on her abdomen and points of light on her hands.

I later discovered that turquoise is believed to have the properties of wisdom, serenity, wholeness, self expression, creativity; symbolizes a time to be honest with yourself and is a reminder to share your vision and walk your talk!  The hand of light represented on her abdomen is said to carry energy assisting in healing and spiritual growth. Wow!!

Are you in touch with your muse?   I'd love to hear about her and how she affects your creativity, if you're willing to share in the comments!  If you haven't yet introduced yourself to your muse, is it something that you could see yourself doing - or do you think that I'm more than a little bit crazy and 'woo-woo'?  I invite you to share that too!  For now, I need to chat with Calliope about my latest project and the block that I've run into...