Author: Scott Von Holzen

I am currently renewing an artistic adventure that first started in 1974, and ended in the early 1980's. A casual comment restarted the quest in art in 2004. Now, at night I am surrounded by artworks done and in progress, shelves full of art books, my music collection playing through a classic NAD amp and a pair of solid, classic free standing speakers, my piano, violin, blues guitar, and saxophone. So all is musical no matter what I am up to in the studio. Since I was a kid I have had the urge to be creative Now, in my later sixties, I am determine to know. I want to follow this to the end to see what these paintings, and all this music amounts to. This is probably the last great adventure I will have, so I am all in. So, watch out for nonstop music, canvases with multiple panels, with paint spread thick or dribbled on, words with meaning, and results that will challenge, push the meaning of music, and may even splash back. This blog's real purpose is to document my story in the making, and you are welcomed to follow along. Thank you for your support. Scotty Von Holzen

S_V_H It’s a Man’s World final & Vivaldi

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

It’s a Man’s World was titled and signed on the back on July 12th.  It is hard to believe it was that many days ago, but it is summer, and things are going on.   Over all this is a good effort, with the surprises being the way the Slurs where handled and the design of the note heads.  It does seem to relate to the pass few works, but each work builds on the previous, and that will never change.  Sometimes this artist regrets that change and style evolution is slower than wished.  He knows that time is not on his side, and frustration is growing, yet step in front of step is the only way this art is going to find that mature level of artistic meaning, skill, and value that is a goal.

To relate to those thoughts, the next work started is: Vivaldi’s Lestro Armonico Op 3, Concerto No. 2, Larghetto. Surprisingly, it was on the 12th that the decision was made to do the next work.   It grows over the months the desire to do a Classical Musical piece.  The reason may have to do a lot with the emotions that drive this art.  Every time a new work is chosen, the question just before is why are you doing this music?  Of all the hundreds of thousands of pieces of music that can be painted, and with the shortness of over all time that currently is available, why chose that one.  It troubles the mind the closer to decision time.  After a few modern pieces are completed, the search for Classical music gains strength.  The increasing interest is the simple fact that for example this chosen Classical piece has already proven its ability survive being written in 1711.

Vivaldi’s music has gained popularity with this artist over the years.  Although, this artist tries to create works based on the piano, this work was written for the violin, but this music is so straight forward that getting a grasped of it was easy, once it was actually found.  This canvas is 24 inches by eleven feet in three panels.  There will be about 57 notes that will appears across this work, and the note heads will not be that large.  It should be an interesting challenge, with the color thoughts be strong reds, blues and greens, all classical in shades.  We shall see.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H It’s a Man’s World image9

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

Man’s World a quick update.  This music contains three musical slurs.  In sheet music a slur is just a slightly curved line, above or below, a number of notes and is used in music to indicate a phrase that is to be played in a smooth flowing manner.  Of course, what you see above is this artist rendering of a slur in the style of the just passed Cy Twombly.  There is a fairly expensive book about his art in this artist library called Cy Twombly  A Monograph, but it never created much interest. It was purchased because there was something about this Twombly’s swirling cursive paintings that caught attention.  But it was found that those paintings only occupied a few pages,  and the rest of the books  imagery offered no inspiration, so it was put on the shelf and mostly forgotten.

It was the need from the start of this work to try and breakout of a small rut, with one thought being to create a greater sense of movement across the canvas. That was why the swirling slurs just caught this artist in a pleasant surprise.  If you look at previous canvases there is the movement in this direction. It was the death of Twombly, however, that made the artist remember his book and why it had been purchased.  It all happened quickly.  Those three slurs had been put off for there was no idea, anywhere to be found, to how to draw them, and then the answer just was there.  Within a few minutes they where drawn in and later touched up to even out their flow.

Sometimes this artist thinks that there cannot be much more that can be done with this theme, and then it happens, the way forward is found and a new path or direction is suddenly in front of you, with plenty of choices to be tried.  That is when Art is fun. That is when this artist realizes just why there is no need to rush a work.  The artwork will eventually suggest the way forward, and all the artist has to do is stand back and patiently listen.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H It’s a Man’s World image7

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

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