I have viewed the movie Inspirations featuring dancers Louise Lacavalier and Edouard Lock, architect Tadao Ando, as well as artists (the late) Roy Lichtenstein, Dale Chihuly, David Bowie and Nora Narango many, many times. It was important to me to be as engaged with the class even while seeing the same dvd's repeatedly. So I stayed and watched. After I would give out an assignment of a reaction paper to include a paragraph on "what makes you feel creative?"
There always was the gamut of answers from the mundane to extremely personal however after years of asking this same question the overall majority would state that music in one form or another was a large part of the art process.
I recently unearthed the boom box that followed me to class and the sleeve of music, a musical shrine to a moment. While working on an outdoor project of basically grunt work music was just what I needed. The sleeve provided an eclectic mix of music all to be selected while students would be drawing, painting or working on a computer during lab time.
Sound occupies a space in-between intense concentration while making a piece of art regardless of what medium is occupying your visual space. Perhaps it engages and activates both sides of the brain to work at maximum efficiency. Adding rhythm to movement is a beautiful thing.
As I flipped through my book of music I realized that each disk reflected a piece of me, sounds that move me to action, sounds that initiate the flow mode that makes time fly by. Many projects have been made with marks driven by a beat.
I can not say what makes me creative. Justing getting to work does it, as work has become second nature. Beautiful and powerful voices, hip hop to classical, music fills my void creating the space for creativity to flourish. And I ask you now, what makes you creative?