Editor Pick: Best Muse

Laura Orr – A Muse is one’s inspiration, a religious icon for some or a sublime view of nature. For a painter, a composer, or a poet it may be a specific woman through whom shines a divine radiance. There is a surging feeling of exuberance and delight, but also, more solemnly, a deep sense of purpose. As with Orpheus in his quest to reclaim Eurydice, the artist will journey physically or mentally or spiritually to the ends of the earth – and far beneath it if need be – to honor his Muse and to show his devotion. Silently, resolutely, he proceeds, pen or brush in hand, and plunges into the task that lies before him. He quietly adores her, but with an inhuman strength, determined to create a masterpiece in her name.

The name of this Muse is Laura Orr, and a rumor circulates that in June at the Creative Arts Center in Manhattan Beach an exhibition devoted to her will be mounted under the title “Alone in the Moonlight: Portraits of the Muse.” But who, exactly, has been inspired by this enigmatic woman? Revelations await.