Bob Dylan has been called "The Picasso of Music" and some critics have said that the song 'Black Diamond Bay' illustrates this perfectly. (I haven't quite figured that out, so maybe someone can enlighten me.) Bob began painting and sketching at some point and seems to enjoy it immensely. Of course critics have been terribly unkind, as they have been with his acting, but I can't imagine Bob desiring a show at the Museum of Modern Art or a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. We try new things, it seems natural to me.
Picasso at age 55, took up poetry. 'I have abandoned sculpture, engraving, and painting to dedicate myself entirely to song.' - Picasso, April 1936
As early as 1905, Picasso was an avid photographer, but his moody, romantic photographs were not considered important, and his friends advised him to give up that 'hobby' and just concentrate on painting. Boxes of photography equipment and negatives of photographs he took were tossed out on the curb after his death in 1973. Luckily, a ragpicker found these items and sold them to a flea market vendor in a nearby village who knew their worth.
I am always surprised when someone tells me that they have 'no creativity at all' and I feel they haven't really explored all of the paths open to them. (Maybe they judge their efforts too harshly or are impatient with themselves?) Do we let the negative opinions or silence of others stop us? Some people are incapable of complimenting or encouraging others, especially if deep down, they feel their own creativity is limited. It takes courage for a lot of people to get started, to keep moving forward.
The daughter of Pablo, Paloma is the Picasso of jewelry design. Paloma's maternal grandfather was Emile Gilot, a chemist and perfumer in Grasse, France. She learned about scents early, and had always wanted her own fragrance. Her perfume, Paloma Picasso, reflects her own scattered, affluent life. An elegant and sophisticated chypre scent, it reminds me of Mariella Burani perfume in some ways (reviewed here on January 24th) Paloma wanted her perfume to be just like she was, and said it was a "fragrance for a strong woman like myself."
"Up on the white veranda
She wears a necktie and a Panama hat.
Her passport shows a face
From another time and place
She looks nothin' like that.
And all the remnants of her recent past
Are scattered in the wild wind.
She walks across the marble floor
Where a voice from the gambling room is callin' her to come on in.
She smiles, walks the other way
As the last ship sails and the moon fades away
From Black Diamond Bay."
--Bob Dylan
