Month: March 2025

S_V_H At this moment project

Published on by Scott Von Holzen
Layout for the artwork sampling music for the project At this Moment, which 27 notes & 1 filler Rest. March 19th.
At this moment March 22nd. 30 x 40 inch canvas
This draft audio is a good start. I needed to get the music to this point in order to plan and build the artwork. When the artwork is done, I will then turn to my DAW software, adding the drums, more instruments, and to finish the cover music.

Here are four YouTube videos that tell the story of why a song I first heard around 40 years ago lingers to this day as part of my musical story. Beyond being tonally a fine arrangement, this music speaks to my favorite type of love song I totally related to when I was “so much younger than”, and still lean that way to this day: unrequited Love. I have already painted several youthful unrequited love songs over the years, including Cherish by The Association, Mr. Brightside, Swift’s All too Well, and Wildfire by Michael Martin Murphey. Crying the cover of the Roy Orbinson song by K. D. Lang is another on my future short list of projects.

Below are scenes from Family Ties that I watched of Tracy Pollen on Family Ties, to pick out the colors I would use in this artwork. What colors stood out to me were Cobalt Blue, red, blue jeans, and turquoise dark and lighter tones. Now, all these colors and some others I noticed are only a starting point. They will show up in the artwork as seen in the first image above. But, I will change colors to work closer together, all in that range. I see that blue and turquoise will be the easiest to find shades that work together. I am concerned with the cobalt blue and red (a color I shy away from if I can).

When Alex (Michael Keaton) first meets and then loses Ellen (Tracy Pollan) in episodes of Family Ties, 1985-86.
A short story of their strained relationship.

I could not post the YouTube video so here is the YouTube Link to the scene when they had their first kiss.

Ellen tells Alex she would soon marry another.
This YouTube version is not the Billy Vera moment, for in this mix there are no vocals, but this scene from Family Ties shows the end of their relationship.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H New Art Project & Subscribers

Published on by Scott Von Holzen
Studio image with next project 30×40 inch canvas

The Vivaldi4Season project emptied me out of much of my push ahead. That is until I listened to those four concerto fragments as they hung on the Studio Wall. In that moment it was all worth the moment. Now, after much self debate, and mood searching to find a match, I have a new project.

I remembered and liked this song that played several times on the television show Family Ties back in the mid 1980s. I liked Michael J Fox and surely adored his television girlfriend, Ellen Reed, played by Tracy Pullman. But it wasn’t until this moment researching this music that I found out that later on they married. That was a nice surprised and what convinced me to paint this music as my next project. It is going to be a challenge to trim down to bite-size 1 minute 30 seconds cover of this melodic 4 minute song.

[The UNSUBSCRIBED]

I have been blogging on this website since early 2010. After 14 years, my latest WordPress.com website lists 351 Subscribers. What I have been wondering about was the lack of feedback beyond a few random “likes” and “comments” over the years. I wondered if signing up was a mistake many made and they now treat these posts as another nuisance email. I thought it was time to check just who were my subscribers.

My WordPress.com Blog Site lists my subscribers. I first clicked on this link one other time years ago. It lists my current subscribers, their online names and thumbnails, and right away I saw dozens of users needed to remove for a variety of obvious reasons. Then I noticed I also had statistics. WordPress.com lists how many of my emails each subscriber received and opened. I have an example pictured below. The shock came when I saw a consistent show of zeros. Bewildered, I deleted hundreds of subscribers that had never received or opened an email. That brought my list down to less than forty people. Next, the statistics had other available information that also listed a wordpress.com or other website address, besides an email address. Many of these websites were unused or barely functional. I deleted those subscribers. This then brought my subscription list down to 9 people with email addresses. Of those nine I knew six of them as once-upon-a-time friends, my wife and family. My WordPress Blog Site now lists 25 subscribers. Beyond the 9 listed email subscribers I think the other subscriptions are those of other WordPress.com bloggers not named.

WordPress.com subscriber statistics

Up to this moment I was only concerned about my low contact with my subscribers. I think I actually thought most were real or at less somewhat interested supporters. They were not. I was naïve to think they were real. When I got on the internet to promote this art years ago, I thought it would allow me to reach people far away in the big cities that would never have a chance of seeing and learning about this art. At this moment, I am wrong again.

So, it goes.

To paraphrase Peggy Lee I would add, “Is that all there is to Art.“
“Is that all there is
is that all there is? 
If that’s all there is my friends 
Then let’s keep dancing 
Let’s break out the booze
and have a ball 
If that’s all
there is”

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H Vivaldi’s 4 Seasons Wrap

Published on by Scott Von Holzen
Vivaldi4Seasons ≈ H100xW54xD9 inches
Vivaldi’s 4 Season review
Vivaldi’s 4 Season early evening.

Finally, after over two months’ worth of work to combine and sync four different artworks into one Vivaldi this project is completely (needs signature) done. As I have said, “Good Riddance.” My Studio is a mess. My mind and the meaning of this art have become confused and a wonderment, and so it is full-steam-ahead, looking for relief in the next great music painting.

I am going back to my standard, and comfortable 30 x 40 works. I have many songs that sing to me, cling to me, stand out to me, that reflect my idea of what is art, and reflect what I am feeling in the moment, that need to become real, hands on, the next big thing, the breakthrough I have been looking for, the one that sells, and the one I can let got, so let’s get back on track headed to nowhere but feeling good.

As for this project, I hate commission work even when I commission it myself. I also love commission work for the challenge and the problem solving that each brings to this art. I am a better artist for the discipline of a commission demands. But since this self-commission work will not bring in any monies to cover my yearly art expenses, it is has basically been an ego thing and a waste of two months. I will probably end up with the same results with my next 30 x 40 project. The reward is that I will be back to where I want to explore in greater depth, and that will mean cheaper in cash spend and time wasted.

Keep on keeping on. What other choice is there? HUM, that is up to me.

Info sheet to hang at the Wine Bar reception

Scott Von Holzen