Patti Smith, for her authenticity, purity, and deeply romantic lens on life from multiple media. Kate Bush, for her wild femininity and ability to express something deep, dark, and surreal about what it is to be a woman in this world. Jeanette Winterson, for her fantastical stories.
And lately, I'm feeling influenced by the food writing of Nigel Slater, and his ability to take something of the everyday and make it both unpretentious and magical at the same time.
I just listened to an interview—Michael Chabon in conversation with Patti Smith. It was great—she's the same artistic spirit that she has always been. She performed a couple of songs live, including "Because the Night," which I remember screaming along with over 40 years ago in Seattle when I saw her there. What an inspiring artist.
I find it interesting when I listen to artists and designers talking about their process and their work, even though I'm not in their league (I'm a costume designer for theatre), I go through the same process in my work as they do. I feel as if we are all connected by our creative work.
I am continuously stunned by the textile works of Judith Martin @judithemartin who is fascinated with time, nature, and contemplation. She is continuously reworking old textiles into ever deeper reflections on life. Plus she is always sharing how she has been influenced by other artists.
I love that musicians are your influence-they are true, tortured soul artists. The other day my father in law and husband were saying how terrible Dylan's voice is and I said, but have you read his lyrics? Literal poetry.
In my own writing, which is primarily non-fiction and short stories, my influences are James Joyce, Sandra Cisneros and David Sedaris (to name a few).
Joyce's lack of quotation marks and other important punctuation is the way I want to write my memoirs because it's a blatant admission that this is my memory and my truth, but not a direct quote.
Sandra Cisneros takes the simple story, based on the complexities of life, and tells it in a way that captures deep emotion without using purple prose. I hate fancy language for the sake of fancy language.
Sedaris has made a career out of writing essays-something all high school teachers teach and all students seem to hate. Regardless of topic, he injects humor and irony and sarcasm. He's my spirit animal.
As for what I create with needle and thread, I'm influenced by what was popular when I went through that transition of little girl to teenager: the late 80s. I once read a quip from Gwen Stefani, in response to Madonna saying that Gwen ripped off her style. Gwen said something to the effect of-I was a teenage girl in the 80s-we were all influenced by Madonna. Amen.
Baz Lurhmann turns a basic story into a broadway production; isn't that the way life is? Don't we all start singing songs in our heads when we're upset, happy, sad....
Here are mine:
Patti Smith, for her authenticity, purity, and deeply romantic lens on life from multiple media. Kate Bush, for her wild femininity and ability to express something deep, dark, and surreal about what it is to be a woman in this world. Jeanette Winterson, for her fantastical stories.
And lately, I'm feeling influenced by the food writing of Nigel Slater, and his ability to take something of the everyday and make it both unpretentious and magical at the same time.
I just listened to an interview—Michael Chabon in conversation with Patti Smith. It was great—she's the same artistic spirit that she has always been. She performed a couple of songs live, including "Because the Night," which I remember screaming along with over 40 years ago in Seattle when I saw her there. What an inspiring artist.
I find it interesting when I listen to artists and designers talking about their process and their work, even though I'm not in their league (I'm a costume designer for theatre), I go through the same process in my work as they do. I feel as if we are all connected by our creative work.
I am continuously stunned by the textile works of Judith Martin @judithemartin who is fascinated with time, nature, and contemplation. She is continuously reworking old textiles into ever deeper reflections on life. Plus she is always sharing how she has been influenced by other artists.
I love that musicians are your influence-they are true, tortured soul artists. The other day my father in law and husband were saying how terrible Dylan's voice is and I said, but have you read his lyrics? Literal poetry.
In my own writing, which is primarily non-fiction and short stories, my influences are James Joyce, Sandra Cisneros and David Sedaris (to name a few).
Joyce's lack of quotation marks and other important punctuation is the way I want to write my memoirs because it's a blatant admission that this is my memory and my truth, but not a direct quote.
Sandra Cisneros takes the simple story, based on the complexities of life, and tells it in a way that captures deep emotion without using purple prose. I hate fancy language for the sake of fancy language.
Sedaris has made a career out of writing essays-something all high school teachers teach and all students seem to hate. Regardless of topic, he injects humor and irony and sarcasm. He's my spirit animal.
As for what I create with needle and thread, I'm influenced by what was popular when I went through that transition of little girl to teenager: the late 80s. I once read a quip from Gwen Stefani, in response to Madonna saying that Gwen ripped off her style. Gwen said something to the effect of-I was a teenage girl in the 80s-we were all influenced by Madonna. Amen.
Baz Lurhmann turns a basic story into a broadway production; isn't that the way life is? Don't we all start singing songs in our heads when we're upset, happy, sad....