I love music. There are songs that for some reason or another go right through me. They can bring me right back to a certain age and what was going on in my life right then…

I am not a musician, I was a very suck-y flute player in high school at best. But there is something about certain songs… and we all have different ones that talk to us. Some songs take me back to being in the backseat of my mom and dads’ car riding to my grandmother’s house. Some take me back to a dance, a sorority function, (read party) or a poignant time in my kids’ lives. I hear it? Yep, I am there again.

One of the strongest songs for me is  “Another Auld Lang Syne” by Dan Folgelberg. I  rarely hear it outside of this time of year, so when the holidays roll around I am sure to hear it typically right around Christmas since the setting of the song is on Christmas Eve. And it is not necessarily the storyline that speaks to me, but rather the feeling of it all. Lyrics and sound all invoking a perfect storm. It takes me back to high school, to young love and to thoughts of the future and to the decisions we all make. That song is tangible to me. I could bite through it.  

That is what I want in my work. A memory. A heartstring pluck.

There are so many times I plan out works (so excited!) and then realize that I am after the wrong thing. A sellable piece. A “pleaser” image. A work that looks like someone else’s work that has become successful. Paintings I create purely for money. Paintings that others will like. But at some point I realize that I don’t like them.

No more.

I have music I need to paint. And I am now in the process of figuring out a new body of work that will create music from me. I know when I look back at these pieces years from now it will remind me of this precise time in my life. So I seek honesty. Honesty in myself and now I have realized that I need to go after the truth in others.

I finally have a resolution for the New Year that I can follow.

So I have music I need to paint. I am sure you do as well. And any feeling or story is legit. Take that music / idea / pain / happiness / beauty / frustration / adventure and put it into words. Then put it into design. Then put it into paint. And please don’t worry about what others will think, feel or be offended by. And please don’t paint for a show. Paint for the music it creates.

My wish for you over these holidays is for you to somehow, someway, create music in 2019.

A huge Thank you to everyone who has supported, encouraged and otherwise gotten me though this very tough year. If you have sent me a note though the blog, thanks!!!  I love hearing from you. If you have taken a workshop with me, I hope to work with you again soon. If you are a client, Don’t cha need another Swann????

A Very Happy New Year and I will be back to blogging in mid-January.  With new music to share…

– with much love, Christine

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