Muses were originally the goddesses poets called for help for inspiration. Modern muses no longer need to be splendid goddesses (that helps anyway), but they still have the unmistakable power of being a source of creativity to inspire almost all of an artist's work. Make creativity and openness your core values if you want to be a muse.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Inspire creativity
Step 1. Hang out with artists
Not all artists need a muse, but many painters, photographers, writers, screenwriters and choreographers of all times have found their inspiration in one particular person, who was often an artist herself. You could end up becoming someone's muse, whether or not you do art and if your social circle is mostly made up of diverse creators. Know where writers, artists and musicians in your area are going, visit often and become a regular.
Actress Edie Sedgwick, for example, spent a lot of time in Andy Warhol's studio, The Factory, and they became friends. Warhol was so impressed with her beauty and presence that he created a series of films in her honor and made her his personal idol
Step 2. Have original talking points
While there are examples of muses whose sheer beauty has been an inspiration, Vermeer's anonymous Girl with the Pearl Earring, for example, muses are often as creative as the artists they inspire. A muse is someone who also stimulates the intellect of an artist to suggest creative ideas that others might not really understand. You should encourage the artist to explore their art in depth and not hold it back if you want to be a muse. No topic of discussion should be excluded.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono were inspired by each other because they were on the same page intellectually. They had the same political goals and both believed that art was the best way to reach people and change the world. Their romantic relationship also offered the world music and visual art among the most innovative of their time
Step 3. Don't limit yourself
Rules, restrictions and social norms can be stifles for creativity. It is impossible to have an original thought if you do not push the limits of it. A muse helps the artist to think beyond the benchmarks of everyday life. When an artist is in the company of their muse, social obligations and financial constraints are abolished, because what really matters is to create something new. Help the artist to ease the overwhelming burden of his human condition and explore other dimensions with him, if you want to have muse status.
Many muses throughout history have had a free and carefree spirit that captivated those around them. This was the case with Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe, another couple of muses who lived in tumultuous New York of the 70s. Smith's music and Mapplethorpe's photography radically changed the cultural landscape of the time
Step 4. Be sensual
While anyone can be an inspirer, the classic muse archetype is a beautiful, sensual, feminine mind with an insatiable sexual appetite. Sexual desire can help spur creativity as it lowers inhibitions and charges the body and brain with erotic energy. From Gala and Salvador Dali to Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, countless muses have used their sexuality to panic artists and inspire them to some of their best works. In many cases, the muse is much younger than the artist she inspires.
Step 5. Have an original style
You can be a muse without having a perfect body and a pretty face. Take advantage of it, whatever makes you different. The quest of an artist is to create something the world has never seen, something deeply original. The muse of an artist is not just a model or a pretty woman, but a true source of energy and life. The many muses of Pablo Picasso, for example, including Dora Maar and Marie-Thérèse Walter, allowed him to have another vision of the human body and to share it with the world.
Step 6. Be your own artist
If you create something, you know what it means to harness an idea or feeling and express it through paint, words, dance or whatever. You understand the emptiness of inspiration breakdown and the relief that comes when it goes away and you can create again through an outside inspiration source. When you are familiar with the ups and downs of creativity, you can also help an artist struggling with this problem.
Auguste Rodin's famous muse, sculptor Camille Claudel, inspired the artist with his most accomplished and famous works. The presence of Camille fed Rodin's inspiration, which unfortunately did not go as well to Camille, who did not have the same success as her lover
Method 2 of 2: Be your own muse
Step 1. Unleash your imagination
While having a muse can give your creativity a boost, your art shouldn't depend solely on the influence of others. You can be your own inspiration if you unleash your imagination. What creative ideas can you come up with just by probing the depths of your own mind? Do mental exercises that can help you unleash your creativity.
Turn your life upside down and try something completely new if you lack inspiration. Take dance lessons or switch from painting to photography for a while. Sometimes expressing yourself in another way can spark new creativity
Step 2. Pursue original ideas
Model your art around your most original ideas, instead of going with the flow of thought or judging and rejecting them. Do not feel obligated to follow the patterns imposed by society or by the environment in which you were born. Track all your ideas, even the less good ones, to see where they take you. Be your own muse by being guided by the strangest concepts that come your way.
Step 3. Put more depth into the analysis of your emotions
It's easy to block our creativity by refusing to be overwhelmed by our emotions. But the best artistic works fully display emotion. Exposing your soul allows you to reach your audience in a new and creative way. Rather than trying to temper your emotions to better manage them, allow yourself to live them fully. Try making art when you are under the influence of a strong emotion and see how your desperation, anger, or joy can influence your work.
Step 4. Have a liberated lifestyle
You will be more creative if you think outside the box. When do you find the time to freely express your creativity if you stick to fixed schedules and most of your days are fairly predictable? Give yourself more opportunities to feel uninhibited creative energy instead of constantly following rules.
- Consider ditching a routine job with office hours and finding something that allows you more flexibility, if you don't need a lot of money.
- Hang out with people who appreciate creativity like you, so you don't feel like you're straying into a lifestyle outside of social norms.
Step 5. Interpret your dreams
Are you taking your dreams into account? You can't control them (unless you're a lucid dreamer), but you can tap into the weird and unique regions of your brain by paying more attention to your nighttime scenarios.
- Try to write down your dreams as soon as you wake up. By doing this, you will remember it better and be able to use it as a material for your art.
- Relate what's going on in your dreams to your real-life experiences and emotions and see what you can learn from your dreams.
Step 6. Use your experiences to create
Your romantic relationships, your habits, your encounters, your reactions and observations can all appear in your artistic works. Find original elements in your everyday life. Explore your memories and your past, your personality and preferences and be inspired by your own world view. There is not a single person in the universe who looks like you. Harness what makes you unique and be your own muse.