Blog

Door Albert Lammers

As a designer who has spent years working in the Randstad and beyond at many agencies, large and small, I have come across many creative people. What struck me, apart from that experience with colleagues and the artists you read and see about, is that it almost never stops with the one discipline from which you initially know them.

Mister Multitalent
The greatest example of a multi-talent is Leonardo Da Vinci who was gifted in several disciplines. Music was also one of them. He composed and was skilled at playing the flute and lyre, an instrument that has many similarities to the harp. The lyre is small and can be held by pressing it against the hollow between the shoulder and chest. Leonardo seems to have sung beautifully without rehearsing.

Leonardo wouldn't be Leonardo if he hadn't invented and designed an instrument, the Viola Organista. It is a combination of a string instrument and a piano and can finally be heard after 500 years.
I can be brief about his other talents. Who is not familiar with his inventions, which are often masterfully drawn, or his paintings, architecture and sculptures.

Our graphic colleagues often also do something with music, play an instrument and also like to be in the spotlight on stage. Creativity appears to have no limits. The Alpha brain looks for all kinds of possibilities to express itself and looks for ways to solve problems in its own way that has not yet been discovered or implemented. That sounds a bit strange “solving” but that is certainly what happens with creativity. There is a great urge to express oneself where a degree of discipline is required. The road to it has obstacles that must be overcome. You often have to practice, refine and perfect for years to get what you have in your mind to come out well. You certainly recognize the bleeding fingers of the guitarist who initially has no calluses on his fingers and the tips are still soft. Many people have stopped because of the pain and cramps during those initial lessons.

Paul Roberts
A much-played musician from my own past who had two disciplines was Paul Roberts of Sniff 'n the tears. The band's album covers were his paintings. Almost as well painted as photographs and clearly also intended as a cover for the band's album. The work therefore had to have been made during or after the recordings.

He painted a total of 8 covers for their albums and eventually chose to become a painter, his first creative love, and now lives in France.
His style is hyper-realistic and comes back in all his work .

Miles
Another musician who enjoyed painting is Miles Davis. His work is completely different from Roberts's and immediately shows that the music reflects that other love that needs expression. Miles colors and jumps around with his trumpet. It shows that he has Jazz in his genes and can't really express any style other than that so well. He refuses to be pigeonholed in terms of performance and has single-handedly created movements that are still being played to this day. If you look at his paintings you see that Jazz and a theme return. Like this, almost graphic Kandinsky work, of which I cannot find the name.

There is some work by Miles on the net. His own website milesdavis.com displays 62 works and is very varied in style. Unfortunately, little is said about it. Nothing about the size of the pieces, what it was made on or what he painted with.

So many Miles albums have been released that it is impossible to determine whether any of his artwork was used as a cover. Yet many paintings and the like were used where his own work would not have been out of place. Maybe he didn't think it was appropriate or he didn't want to draw attention to his "hobby".

Why
I also have a talent for more than one discipline. Besides my graphic work, I played at North Sea Jazz for four years as a guitarist and can compose a little. And the funny thing is that in music it often doesn't stop at just one instrument. For example, I was able to borrow my uncle's sax for a few months. Blasting along to the radio soon became easy, as did finding scales. Unfortunately, the uncle wanted his sax back after a few months. At home I still have a DX7 IIFD synth that works well with the Apple Logic plug-ins. Photography also appeals to me and I have some series on Flikr. I also update images for Max Koot Studio. That's how I came up with the idea of this blog. You meet them everywhere in this creative world and they are especially noticeable when you are involved in it yourself.

Do you know more and can you point me to a link that points to information about why this is or if you have an idea yourself, I would love to hear it. Respond and leave a message if you know more creatives with multiple disciplines, for example.