Inspiration From Artist to Artist

If you know me, you know that part of what excites me as a creative is figuring out ways to bring my art to diverse audiences. Why? I’m a writer, after all, so why not just focus on the written word? As individuals, we like to interact with art in different ways on any given day. I follow my moods to figure out which type of art I’m craving, and I’m sure you do too. I love to read, for example, but I also love to watch movies and live theater productions and listen to music. How many times have you read a book and then watched the movie based on the book? Or the other way around? The two things complement each other, but each medium brings new perspectives and reactions to the work.

I also find it intriguing to see how artists draw inspiration from each other. A songwriter may get his inspiration from a famous painting, or a sculptor may get her inspiration from watching an actor move around on stage.

So in my own career, I have teamed up with artists from other mediums to not only inspire and excite me, but to help me expose my writing to people who don’t prefer to read. I have a theater performance based on my book Dancing in Combat Boots that I have done as a one-woman show, but also with other actresses. I do a concert with singer Colleen Crosson in which I read selections from this blog and she pairs them with fitting songs. As far as we know, that concept is pretty unique and has, so far, been very well accepted.

I am now also offering video versions of some of your favorite posts from this blog. I’ve taken the exact post and recorded it. Why? Because when we hear a piece of writing spoken aloud, we experience it in a different way than when we read it on the page.

I invite you to visit my YouTube channel and check out those videos, including the newest one, “How to Banish Envy.” See if the message strikes you differently this time.

And take note of the animation at the start of the videos, done by my videographer son, and the original music provided by my friend Mark Sloniker. I thought I knew nothing about choosing music for a video, but when Mark allowed me access to several of his songs, I found the perfect 8-second selection. How fun is that?

If you’re feeling in a bit of a rut with your work, maybe it’s time to mix things up. Get out there and interact with other artists and see what you can learn. You’ll quickly discover that, regardless of our mediums, artists are more alike than we are different, but our unique approaches can sometimes fuel the thinking of someone else.

And if you like the videos, please share them with friends. I’m hoping that with the popularity of video, more and more artists and creatives will stumble on my humble “bursts of brilliance” and feel inspired to do their best work. Thank you!