It might be easy to pick out a modern musician for this question, but the first name that popped into my head was Pablo Picasso, so I’ll stick with that.
Funny enough, I actually connect with music the most. Growing up, I’d spend endless hours listening to songs on my computer, my MP3 player, and now on my phone or other devices. But when it comes to art in the traditional sense, Picasso was one of the first names that ever stuck with me.
I first learned about him in 5th grade. His work looked so different — kind of warpy and strange, but also captivating. I remember seeing his paintings in textbooks and learning a bit about his life. There was this story that really stuck with me: Picasso once drew something on a napkin, and when someone asked to buy it, he offered it for a ridiculous amount of money. The person said, “It only took you a few minutes to draw it!” and Picasso replied, “No, it took me my entire life.” The story explains how his ability to create such art even in such a short time came from a lifetime of practice and experience, not from a few minutes of drawing. This resonates with me because that’s how I view honed skills that took years of practice.
If I had to name specific works, I’d pick Guernica and The Weeping Woman. I actually had to look them up again because I’d forgotten the titles, but as soon as I saw them, I recognized them right away. There’s something about his style — distorted, emotional, unconventional — that I find oddly relatable. I think my mind kind of works like that sometimes: a bit warped and different from normal.
If I could talk to him, I’d probably ask about that napkin story, and maybe just about his thought process in general. I’m more interested in the person behind the art than the art itself.
johnro 