Solitude from Solitude by Frank Tomorrow

"La Solitude" by French/Italian chansonnier Leo Ferré was a song and album I first listened to in the early 1970s. Ferré had been recording since the early 1950s and by the time I heard his powerful voice, he had solidified his reputation as the long-haired, graying poet laureate of the French counter-culture. He mixed sonorous orchestral arrangements with haunting spoken-word prose and song, and I was smitten. This track includes snippets of Ferré's thunderous voice.

From a young age, I escaped the confines of our cramped living quarters and fled to open spaces or verdant landscapes, such as Montreal's Parc Mont Royale, or the as yet un-developed areas of present-day suburbia. I relished being surrounded by nature all while being within earshot of urban life.

"A person's creativity can be sparked when given freedom. Solitude can increase freedom and moreover, freedom from distractions has the potential to spark creativity. In 1994, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi found that adolescents who cannot bear to be alone often stop enhancing creative talents."

Luckily, I cherished my "me" time, which was hard to come by growing up in a family of 4 boys, adjacent to congested row houses, traffic, noise, smog, concrete and asphalt. Hence, I sought solitude to help me gather my thoughts, eliminate the cacophony of daily urban life and return to the homestead refreshed and recharged.

I am a creator of visual / sonic landscapes, i.e. 2-dimensional works (photography, film & video), 3-dimensional sculptures / found-objets d'art, and experimental music. In addition to my performances as "Frank Tomorrow", I have exhibited my photographs at "Westmount Public Library" (1978) in Quebec, Canada, and at "Alamance Arts" (2019, 2021) Graham, NC. Follow me on Bandcamp for news/releases.