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 The Blue Danube Waltz image 1

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

The first image of my newer projects show this small gathering of lots of pieces that took time and effort to produce. This artwork, The Blue Danube Waltz, will follow the trend of stacking the art in sections to form a rectangle look.  Otherwise,  my pre-2019 pencil shape style lengthens this artwork to over twelve feet.

Once upon three years, I was a student at the University of Wisconsin Madison. On rare occasions, on campus, I would go to a movie.  I recall only two times, but not at a theater.  On campus, now or then, movies were free or cheap.  One movie I remember seeing was Deep Throat. Yes, that movie. How could you not?  Away from a small town, I had a deep curiosity in the ways of the big town.  The other more memorable movie, that left a lasting impression, was 2001 Space Odyssey. This movie stirred emotions for Johann Strauss’s waltz,  and the theme of this artwork, The Blue Danube.  The unpredictable combination of the 3 4 beat of a waltz and images of earth from space captivated me.  Here is a clip from that unforgettable sound and visual of The Blue Danube.

In this initial image, you see the second version of digital canvas prints.  The first time I printed them I took their look from the movie clip to be more green than blue. Looking at the accompanying scenes the earth appears in an array of bluer green colors.   Noticing that, I removed the first set of glued prints from the canvas.   No matter how I disliked reprinting, I pulled back on the green.  I increase the color blue to give the oceans a more natural look.  Using colors from a video as a starting point is a frequent procedure for me.  It connects the art to the music.

I mentioned in a blog post about last years rejection by The Pablo Center’s Annual Juried Exhibit: Confluence of Art.  What a way to motivate me.  This year’s judge may again reject this art.  The judging varies each year and is subjective, and uncertain even if the art is ready for prime time viewers.  To make some sense of this nonsense, I have a favorite quote from Velveteen Rabbit, “…. once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”  For me, the quality of this art is there, but if it does not win recognition, unlike the art world, I understand.

Scott Von Holzen

 

 

 

S_V_H Mercy, Mercy, Me final image

Published on by Scott Von Holzen
Mercy Me Constructive Sculpture 65.5L x20.5H x3.75D

This is the final image of the music of Marvin Gaye, Mercy Me.  This artwork’s submission offers another opportunity for an upcoming exhibition that has an environment theme.  Early this year, I decided to not take part in any Art Fairs.  To make up for that lost exposure I made plans to apply to Call for Artists opportunities available in the state.  This spring I submitted my artworks to the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, The Trout Museum, and to the local ArtsWest Exhibition.  They accepted me at both ArtsWest and the Trout but I missed the outstanding chance to show in Madison.  After applying for those shows, to my surprise, I found no other new up-and-coming Call for Artists chances to show in the state.  That was the motivation for me for this local show.

While working on Mercy Me, I received a new Call for Artists from the Pablo Center for the Arts for their 2nd annual Art show.  This is the same show last year that rejected Mozart’s Turkish March.  This year The Turkish March is on view at the Trout Museum.  Rejections are a part of finding your way.  Although disappointed by not being a part of the Pablo’s grand opening,  I moved on with only minor surface damage.  With that in mind, for this year’s Pablo show I will up game and create another even more outstanding artwork: The Blue Danube from  2001 Space Odyssey.   Under time constraints I felt it was now time to finish Mercy Me.

I saved time on Mercy Me by not installing the music hardware.  If the artwork makes it into the show, then I will upgrade Mercy Me with its accompanying music.  I then reconsidered the time-consuming job of hand painting the words for this artwork.  That resulted in finding three digital images of painted wood in different stages of peeling.  Those images are the backgrounds for the printed words Mercy, Mercy, and me.  I have always painted the words in my artworks knowing that art reviewers judge the quality of the craftsmanship.  For times’ sake printing saved a day’s worth of work, besides adding meaning to this artwork’s message: our responsibility for maintaining our environment.   The collage works by Pablo Picasso, and the combines by Rauschenberg, and my age made me reconsider the value of saving time.  I appreciate craftsmanship but the message should judge art.  Mercy Me took 22 days to complete.

Scott Von Holzen

 

S_V_H Mercy Mercy Me (Ecology) first image

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

This is the first image for an exhibition with an environmental theme.   My submission is the music of Marvin Gaye,  Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)  This song would not have been my first choice of  Marvin Gaye music if it was not for the opportunity to show.*  At first, I felt no way could I qualify after reading the Pablo’s exhibition details.  Part of it read “….. this exhibit will feature works of art that examine how we interact with and effect the surrounding environment. We invite designers, artists, and creatives of all kinds who work with environmental topics or interests in the Life Sciences to apply…..”  I do not comprehend what the Pablo Center expects for entries.  Their statement was so general, that music with environmental concerns may well quality.  The song Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) was my obvious first choice.  While developing this project my research brought up another song choice, Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell.   Too deep into Mercy to change I dropped Taxi idea.  It will be a great choice for the next environment exhibition.

The song Mercy Mercy takes me back to a faint memory of the first Earth Day and the commotion on the campus of the University of Wisconsin. I did not take part that April day in 1970.  While at the University I recall discussions concerning feeding an overpopulated world but not the environment.   Back then I was mostly into graduating, meeting girls, and reducing sugar in my diet.  Who can forget the taste of Tab?

Here is a video of Marvin Gaye’s Mercy Mercy Me:

The color theme of this artwork is simple ecology.  The musical staffs, or my musical sticks, represent the land as bright green.  As the music moves across the artwork the colors fade to a near-death brown.  Then my sticks revive to a life returning light green that deepens to symbolize the recovery of the environment.  The round musical flow wood shapes, covered with digital canvas images of the sky follow the same environments changes.  I cover the 10×10 canvases to protect the mounted digital canvas images.

Scott Von Holzen

*My favorite Marvin Gaye song is I Heard it through the Grapevine.  That moment arrived at the opening scene of the movie The Big Chill.  I must not forget the California Raisins commercials.