I know what you are thinking… that this is not an artwork and that it didn’t take 10 minutes. Technically you are right. This is, in fact, the beginning of the creation of a song. Today, I wrote haphazard lyrics that have yet to be refined and the basic musical direction for a piece that is still in its womb phase. It took longer than ten minutes. Forgive me, throw me a bone, judge not lest ye wisheth to be judged.
In truth, work is such a large part of the word “artwork”. I think this applies to music as well. It is true that inspiration can suddenly appear before us and phenomenal works can come through, but there are also times when pieces must be conjured and lured and courted as if they are shy but stunning. When they finally are tackled and convinced to come forward sometimes they have a great deal more strength. Why on earth do so many people regard ‘work’ as a negative term?
Some say that it is only when alchemists realize that it is the alchemy that is the gold and that literal gold is irrelevant that the literal gold will actually emerge. Sometimes I think the same is true for the creative process around artworks.
Here are some bad photos of my alchemical process. The gold was not yet rendered.