Something I tend to think about frequently, is the fact that I cannot make art without music.
Sure, I can paint for maybe 20 minutes without it, all while growing increasingly more irritable, but the truth is that without my favorite kinds of melodies (those that work daily to carry me into the bliss of a flow state and produce things)... I grind to a halt.
I believe this habit of mine started during my middle school years. One of my favorite art teachers during 7th grade, was a beautiful woman from Sweden. I absolutely loved being in her class for so many reasons, not the least because she was kind and believed in our autonomy (which is not something many middle school teachers entrust their students with, in general). For that, she earned our respect. Being the person that she was, with a calm personality and mystical demeanor, she set the stage for an environment in which we would be HIGHLY receptive to her lessons, many of them involving making art with music. This was probably the first time my 12-year-old brain had ever heard the song "Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison, one of her favorite songs, or "These Boots Are Made for Walking" by Nancy Sinatra. If I could conjure paintings from the past, I could present to you about 200 little grubby, oldies-inspired paintings with my fingerprints ALL over them, thanks to my teacher.
But my fascination with music as a complement to my art didn't stop with her instruction. In fact, it continues to grow as the years pass. With each new experience and reincarnation of self, I discover new forms of musical inspiration. These days I'm probably not listening to oldies, but maybe coffee shop jazz, game soundtracks from my favorite videogames, or lofi (which is an incredible for focusing, read about it's wonders here!), or even MORE specifically, lofi for coding. The super-specific niches that exist today are incredible thanks to Youtube, Tiktok, and the forward march of social media.
Today I carefully choose my music to match the piece I am working on. For example, if I would like to make a painting of fairies, or a fantasy illustration, I find music that complements the mood I wish to portray. The careful selection of music with the right elements helps me to strike the right chord in my own work, so that the viewer may hopefully, if only subconsciously, have a similar experience when they view my work. At it's most fundamental though, music allows me to enjoy myself. Ultimately the most important thing when making art is, after all, that one enjoys themselves, and no one is having more fun than me when I am listening to the right music, at the right moment. In those instances, it feels as though I am empowered, inspired, and at peace within myself and with life.
  Since I am such a fan of music used in this way, I constantly have my pawprints all over social media looking for new pieces, and old favorites. Recently, I left a comment on a Youtube channel praising the creator for assembling some fantastic soundtrack music from one of my favorite animated series, Kung Fu Panda. I perused his website and found out that he was a musician in his own right, and we had a small discussion with me joking about how many paintings I had made to "Oogway Ascends". From one creator to another, I felt like we had an understanding of each other even in through this simple interaction, an understanding of the meaning of music as inspiration.
In Middle English, the word "inspiration" can be interpreted as the gift of divine influence, and whether or not you are spiritual or religious, I believe most people can attest to this gift, which is the emotional influence of music in their own lives. They know exactly what you mean when you say this song makes me feel a certain way, or that this song lifts me up, makes me feel down, or brings me to tears. Equally interesting, is another definition of inspiration, as the "drawing in of breath". In a metaphorical way that is exactly what this phenomenon is to us, the drawing in of musical breath, in order to exhale life into the world. It just so happens that I do this with art, but we all exhale life into the world in our own way. So go listen to your favorite music, and with those feelings, go create the world you wish to see :)
Are you like me? Do you also need art to do certain tasks as well? Comment on this post if you wish, I would love to hear your responses!
Also for fun, check out this incredible little experiment that I found by Google Arts and Culture where you can paint with music:Â
https://artsandculture.google....
(Pic by Elice Moore, Unsplash)