Welcome to Her Music Reflexions!

My name is Carla.  I’m a singer, wife and mother of 3 under 4, who is currently pursuing a degree in Studies in Arts and Culture at Brock University.  I have been performing for almost 20 years and at 29, am actively pursing a singing career among other arts related business endeavours.  I am very passionate about the arts and its value in society.  The arts are what build, challenge, and shape us toward embodying our greatest aspirations. The arts connect us to one another through the common pursuit of experiencing beauty and wholeness.

Music has a profound impact on all our lives.  This blog is about the experience of music. My interests are in the ways Music influences the arts (visual art, fashion, film etc.) and artists, and how this influence shapes, affirms or dismantles social and personal ideals.

New media and the Web have created connections for musical minds the world over resulting in an intricate and ever changing system. There are many artists that have yet to harness the power of these outlets to expand their reach and their crafts. With the new media formats like viral video, social networking and blogging, the audience has new exposure to more art forms than at any other point in history. Music is definitely no exception. I will explore a broad range of topics pertaining to how music artists are using and can use new media to create and inspire.

I called my blog Her Music Reflexions as a play on words and because of an idea my voice teacher presented to me, that healthful singing is a reflex of sound musical intention.  To put it more clearly, thoughts are what guide the voice, not muscular manipulation. I think artistry and creativity are like that. A reflex is an involuntary reaction to stimulus, whose purpose is two-fold, preservation and function.  The artistic mind creates not out of manipulation, but out of a kind of internal reflex compelling the creation into existence. As musical person, I am musical by reflex, and music causes me to reflect.  

As a black woman, some questions I will consider, are what ideas are being exposed as result of experiencing this music? How and why does the artist draw us into the work? What might we discover about ourselves in relationship to our culture through these interactions?

I think that inspiration has been low in many art forms, especially in Music, so I hope those who follow my blog will find it inspiring.  I am very opinionated, but I welcome constructive debate and new ideas (hopefully with those equally opinionated ;) ).  Basically anything that leaves others and me with a sense that we are better for having made this connection is all right.  Thanks and enjoy yourself.