Month: July 2011

This is a Man’s world 24 inches by 6 feet, and it looks like this work should be completed this week.  Man’s World was started on about June 21st.  The first couple of weeks spent on a artwork is a given. It is only when a work moves into its third week that the push to finish begins to be felt, especially on the smaller works, such as Man’s World.  On the larger works, for example Thunder,  a month to completion is  presumed. As the number of days grow, beyond this imaginary point, the thought about wrapping up, and the sense of anticipation to what the next work will be, and how soon it will  have to be started, all become concerns. With the beginning of this attitude shift so also begins the challenge to figure out what can be done with the current work to bring it all together, to move it towards a finish.  You live everyday with a painting and it’s effects on your emotions which grows throughout the weeks. Near the finish mental fatigue  reaches a surface point because there has been so much of yourself buried in the canvas.  That moment then begins the process of looking for a end.

Then finally,  the artist meets all of the demands of the artwork and only then is the work signed, although there is still some cleanup left to do.  The signature is a major part of each of these works so it’s placement, color and size are important considerations.  When the signature is painted in, that then means that the signing off of the work has begun and letting go begins in earnest.  With It’s a  Man’s World the moment is not yet.  There is no signature.

Scott Von Holzen

Man’s world 24 inches by 6 feet. There has been a lot of color decisions and color removals trying to figure out just what this work is looking for.  There is an effort to try and not use colors that were used on the background, but the leftover options have not been inspiring.  A question is what does any choice of colors and their shapes have to do with the music?  The only answer is that some of the colors, light blues and greens, represent the feminine, and the browns and darker colors are then the boys colors. That makes sense since it is from the music of James Brown, but many of the versions of this music are sung by women  including Joss Stone, Etta James, and Christina Aquilera from the 2007 Grammies.  In that case does color really matter knowing that many of the musical pieces painted by this Artist have been covered by all types of artists with varied musical styles.  Consider that it has never been presumed that any of these canvases are based on any particular artist’s music.  So again, does color matter?

As for the different shapes used, they all comes from out of nowhere, for no other reason then to add interest, and to make the work stand out from all the rest. It could be that the music is just an excuse to doddle in color. Thinking back many years, when bored, with pencil in hand, lines, and shapes where drawn on paper for no other reason then to keep the pencil moving and try somehow, when it was finished to tie it all together.  Most of the time they where pictures of mazes to no where. Maybe, these shapes are just the Artist’s mood following the brush wherever it may go as the music plays.  Maybe, it is the desire to make the music solid, graspable, and available. Music starts and ends then goes to the next piece, and that starts and ends, and finally it all just fads.  Maybe, with this art a particular piece of music can be made to hold the ground a while longer with pretty colors and curious shapes.

Scott Von Holzen

It is a man’s world. Most of the words from this music are powerful, except toward the end of the second verse.  The sentence is “…you know that man makes money to buy from other men.”  That line seems week, a stronger cover  line heard was “.. we all know that man makes war to fight with other man.”  That line is from a live recording and exceptional sung by a black woman, but the artist is unknown.  Even Tom Jones version of this music uses the more powerful line, “..you know that man makes money to buy the other man.”  Just changing that one word greatly improves the impact of this music and yet it’s a solid piece of music with a strong message, that is memorable and maybe ever lasting.  The hope was to fine one version song by James Brown where that line was changed, but no; so it stands as is.

The notes were all drawn in and than a day later it was realized that they where just too big.  So that work was wiped away and just over 100mm circles where drawn in.  Than the next day they still appeared large, for a 24 inch canvas, so the idea of drawing a burnt sienna ring fixed the big issue, and enhanced the look and flow of the notes.

The sketching in of the beams and the stems felt like there was an effort to imitate the Cubist style going on here.  Not sure, maybe what is being drawn are efforts from a tired artist trying to make some progress to not do what has already been done.  Some of these lines do work, and a lot will depend on which objects remain lines and which are filled in.

When this post is published it will be the 182, with the last comment over a year old.  It is understood, by the Artist, that this blog is more of a  way to maintain a personal history than a method to help break through into the Art World.  It is understood that it is important to put the work out there and see what sticks, so that is way the posts will keep coming, no matter.

One other thought is about how the music is chosen to be painted.  Most of the time it is rather random, with the decision to paint fitting the mood of the Artist.  Sometimes, it is felt only the greatest of the great music should be subject matter, but that seems restrictive and difficult to decide. Like Van Gogh  who made boring landscrapes look interesting  and expensive on canvas, so every note from a huge variety of music will eventually find its way to one of these artworks, if time permits.

Scott Von Holzen