I have little more to add about these two experimental artworks. They were both the original idea of making small art. Now, they are not. I have another idea so read on. There are a couple of style changes that came out of these two works that will probably develop with the art. The first is the exposing of the hanging wire. After so many years of working to hide, or looking for the wire to hang the artwork, these works make that a lot simpler. A big surprise was that I could easily balance these artworks out from the wall and it was equally easy to level both the top canvas and the artwork. The second style change was the placement of my notation on the backside of the artwork frame. That is a good idea. It breaks up that left-to-right flow, gives the artwork depth, and certainly adds interest. In all I am exhausted by the extended timeline it took to produce two works at once. I believe this will not happen again for a while.

And yes, my idea of smaller artworks has again changed after completing these two in one project. The idea of creating smaller artworks over the years keeps coming back with the results always the same: smaller music boxes should be easier to sell. Except that they don’t. I keep proving this over-an-over. As always, the results have been the same, nothing encouraging. But, once again, I have a new purpose to why I need to go small. Actually, even smaller than these two works.

In order to “break on through to the other side,” I need to show, show more, and show often this art. To make that possible, I must solve the question of how do I travel with multiple pieces of this art. Currently, anywhere outside my home area, this would be impossible unless I rented a U-Haul van. My god, the last time I did this it turn out to be a miserable, noisy, and expensive experience. I had to repair damage art upon arrival, and repair damaged art after returning to home. I must not forget we had to stop twice to put air in a tire. I vowed never again. That holds to this day. I rather have my work gather dust in a forgotten storage. Period. But? I am a founding member of a group of artist’s name EmptyWallsArt. As a group we are now adjusting to our new reality with the recent passing of another founder of EW Art, Christy Skuban. One plan that was decided was to spread our reach further out to 300 miles in search of exhibitions and shows.

Currently, our Jeep Grand Cherokee can stack three of my averaged size artworks each six feet or under. That might be enough for some shows, but if I apply for a one person show, certainly I need more numbers of art. The idea for these latest works was to make smaller artworks. Even though I use memory foam in between, the weight increases with each level of art that is stacked laying down. These two works would be the top layer. Their narrower width would allow for adding only one more artwork. The problem I discovered was that any art stacked on the third lay must have a length under six feet. This is not an issue staking works on the first two layers, therefore my newest smaller works would not fit. I could solve my travel issues by buying a $5000 small enclosed aluminum trailer. That would be okay if I was consistently selling art, but I am not. I needed another smaller art idea, and that came together after losing Christy Skuban.

My thinking today about the idea of going small comes from reading the story of Jo Van Gogh-Bonger. She single-handedly made Vincent Van Gogh known to the public. What she did was to loan out Vincent’s artwork for exhibition that included, not for sale, major works. Other lesser known works that were for sale then surrounded those primary pieces. Vincent’s out of reach artworks made the smaller, lesser artworks more desirable. That is where Christy now comes in. Her small size works have sold at each of the EWA shows. Christy’s art, along with examples like Big Block Builder, has inspired me to build a new look for smaller art. If this new plan works, the results will be that I will only take one large artwork to an exhibition. On top of that first layer I will then stack super small size music boxes, no longer than 36 inches, two feet wide, and a few inches deep.

I am currently cutting my circular notation from wood. What remains is scrap wood that is filled with holes in the shape of circles. My idea is to reverse my notation. The cut holes will now represent my notation. How I will do this is to take a wide rectangular piece of plywood which would represent a musical staff. I will than mark and cut out round holes in a left-to-right order that matches the up and down flow seen on my artworks and in sheet music. Christy’s work, Big Block Builder, embodies a vision of that idea. If I can make this work, I am seeing an opportunity to take this art in an entirely new direction, while solving the travel issues I currently have. Like my larger portraits these smaller works will also include playable custom music, and hopefully LED lighting. This challenge awaits.

Scott Von Holzen