MUSE

Muse

noun

a person or personified force who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist.

We are all creative artists, despite what we may have learnt from the world around us. We all have avenues for expression by the clothes we wear, the music we listen to, the way we approach the world or what sensibilities we exhibit. People working in creative fields tend to have this flow of creative expression turned up a little stronger, their output is higher and so it makes sense we look for particular sources of artistic inspiration and stimulation - often called THE MUSE. Many moons ago the role of the muse was taken by a woman; to encourage and bring forth the work of a male artist. The Muse was never given the accolade the artist himself received. Although this concept is still in existence it has fallen away to modern interpretation of the archetype and for that I give thanks.  

I think everyone could do with having a muse or two, as I mentioned, we are all creative beings so there is beauty and power in taking in the nuances of an individual or thing to in-turn lift us higher and encourage us to express more beauty and meaning into the world. It can become such a journey following a muse - their different seasons will give different visual or language content, it is like watching a great friend grow and all their becoming elements rubbing off on you.  

I was incredibly lucky to ask the brilliant Samantha Wills her thoughts on Muses and if she had one while designing herbohemian-luxejewellery line. Her answer gave great insight into how creative and intelligent she is - she noted that her goal was always to create a commercial jewellery brand so she went straight to her end consumer and let them serve as her Muse - she followed their journey, let them talk to her about what they wanted and what was inspiring them to dress & live a certain way, she then directed that feedback and passion into her creation. This is not at all a case of simply designing to mass market - it is knowing who your market is then opening a dialogue with them, listening to their story and over time watching how they change - Musing.

I have a few muses that I look to for different forms of inspiration. In the spirit of encouraging you all to seek out a Muse, I have included one of mine along with how they inspire me and to what creative medium I let that inspiration flow.

If you spent a few minutes pondering on what makes you light up inside what would you come up with?

Who: Florence Welch

How:Famously known as the front woman of Florence and the Machine, Florence sings and that alone could make her an ever-flowing source of creative brilliance but this woman is so much more. She writes, foremost all her of her lyrics which are so incredibly raw, fervent and personal. She writes beautifully about beautiful things and in equal measure about the dark seasons of life. Her voice is powerful and mesmerising yet when she speaks it is so quiet, gentle and placid - at her recent concert in Sydney she spoke to the crowd about the world we are living in and urged people to never feel overwhelmed about what we can do to change that; she instead reminded even the gentlest of souls that “Hope is an action” and “do good around you and watch that love grow”. Florence has the most incredible ethereal presentation and nature - she is pure magic.

The Flow On: This Muse flows on in a lot of ways but the most evident is in the aesthetic representation of the Maybe At Dawn brand, I draw on all the elements of her dark and romantic nature to present our message to the world. Our instagram feed is a visual representation of the flow. I have also drawn courage from Florence to write - whether it be small poems or prose or in depth journaling. Her use of language has ultimately inspired me to leave beautiful words scattered all over the earth.