21.5.06

A-muse-ing



From the Oxford Dictionary - Muse - a woman who is the inspiration for a creative artist...

Marieke's comment about Audrey Tautou got me thinking about the concept of muses. I guess that Audrey is the "muse" of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who directed her in "Amelie" and "A Very Long Engagement." Also, she seems to fascinate a lot of creative women who are around our age - I've noticed in memes when favorite movies are listed, Amelie inevitably appears somewhere. As muses go, I think that Audrey Tautou is a great one, she is luminously beautiful, seems to have a great sense of style, and more importantly, a great sense of humour. I think that being a muse would be a wonderful occupation! I hate that when you're going through customs, and you have to write your occupation on that little card - I don't want to put my day job (boring) and I feel weird writing "Artist." But "muse", that would be cool!

I also got to thinking, who is my muse? Do I have a muse? Who do I think about when I'm making my books? Who inspires what I create? Does a muse have to be a woman? The conclusion that I came to is, well...maybe my muse is someone like Audrey Tautou. I can imagine her as Amelie - she is riding her bike down a cobblestoned street somewhere in Paris, she rides past one of those beautiful streetlamps and parks her bike at a charming cafe. She sits down, peruses the menu with one raised eyebrow, but finally orders what she has everytime, a cafe au lait and a chocolate crossiant. While she is waiting for her order, she reaches into an adorable handbag, pulls out one of my books opens it and begins sketching the street life around her and writing little notes....

OK, maybe that was a little scary - perhaps there is a fine line between thinking someone is your muse, and being a stalker! I didn't realize that I had that little fantasy in my head! But, I'd like to pose a question - who is your muse, and how does he/she inspire you?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Audrey Tatou would be a muse! I am reading a biography on Jackie O and she is definitely a style icon. Some sort of muse? I just saw Ballet Russes. A documentary about the old Ballet Russes dancers. 90 year olds and full of "esprit"! Very inspiring...

Anonymous said...

Yes, I bought it to use it - just need new ink tape for it. Mine is quite small but very heavy indeed for its size! I like the old lettering and the way the letters are just not perfectly in one line. Maybe you can find some help on the internet? If you plan to use it?

trudi said...

I like Jackie O too, I think she's a great style icon! I have a couple of outfits that I think are very "Jackie O" and I have the big sunglasses too! The Ballet Russes docu sounds fantastic!

As for the typewriter, I will get the model number and check it out online. Not sure if I will be able to use it - it's a real old cluncker!

Anonymous said...

great post! I agree, she is a great muse. But why stick to one? I have several in different fields, and in some way all of the bloging girls I visit are muses or helps to inspire!

trudi said...

That's true Hanna, there are lots of sources of inspiration out there, and blogs/bloggers are a great one!

Anonymous said...

was it you that i emailed about the movie delicatessen? by jean pierre?! haha! i dont remember... this is off the topic but we had a dvd player that whenever we played jean pierre's movie, the commentary always played... that is why someone gave it to us (cuz he is a jean pierre fan too) but we forgot and ramel and me were mad at eachother cuz we couldnt turn it off (i was saying he wasnt doing it right and vice versa) haha... and so we gave it to my mom who never will watch a jean pierre movie... hahaha

okay but about a muse... what a thought provoking post... i agree that some of these blogs are very inspiring... so i wonder if there is just one person.... sometimes i wonder if it IS EVEN A PERSON... sometimes just dreaming is what gets me inspired... i wonder if this even makes sense...

thanks for this post... now i will be thinking of a better answer all day :)

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