Stand by Me 24 inches by 6 feet.  This is the second image.  Below is the first image of the work done on that day.  This is a small canvas compare to the just finished Hallelujah.  The thinking is that smaller works take less time, are less demanding emotional, use less paint on smaller less expensive size canvases (all these  personal works are being done without any belief that any of them will every be sold in this artist near future),  can be more experimental, more risky in style, and of course, easier to brush aside if things do not turn out as expected.

When starting this work, the previously work, Hallelujah,  was looked at for direction, and style. Listening to a number of variations on Stand By Me,  this music felt looser then Hallelujah which has lead to a painting with sharper edges, and contrasts. Since Hallelujah stayed away from the greens, it was decided, before hand that no matter the work, greens where going to dominate.

Originally, the first choice of the flow of this music, started where this work now will end.  The problem with the first choice was that the only words that worked where, “stand by me.” This seemed at first unavoidable because the choice,  seemed the obvious, it was punchy, plus it was a good fit for this six foot canvas.  Still, those words are too much apart of that music and so their meaning would be the songs meaning, and that thought did not settle well.

So, the flow was move back a few measures (musical measures do not exist in this art, yet they are a huge necessity in the real music world) in order to use the words “just stand darling.”  Those words have a lot more twists in their meaning, meaning they can go beyond the music, which is the desired choice for any of these artworks.  To repeat what has been said before, yes this work,  like every other one done over the last five years, starts with music that hopefully appeals to people, and whose titles are  simple the hook.  The real value to these art works is the transformation, on stretched canvas and paints, the music from music to art.

Scott Von Holzen

The website is behind so many work.  That was a shock.  This week, the webmaster, me, will make available higher quality images.  In a few days check out www.scottvonholzen.com