Category: 2010

Ev’ry time we say goodbye nearing completion.  The issue with this image are the note color.  They look bright here and all most as bright in person.  Today, they where all given another coat of Cadmium Red Light, with Magenta to add definition and contrast.  The reason for the extra coat, and probably more tomorrow, is to get the red to hold.  After a few days the notes, so far, have gone to matte, dull and somewhat lifeless.  Hopefully, more layers will help put enough depth in the color.  Maybe, the problem is the Windsor & Newton water based oils.  Other options are being researched with few choices, so far.

Everyone who has been in the studio has been happily surprised by this canvas, which has been a surprise.  This work appears to make a good first impression.   Second impressions must included, does this work balance?  Helping that balance was to move all the notation up somewhat to improve the top, bottom, balance.  The left to right balance is good till the far right where the upper area lacks interest other then the base.  The signature will help here, but is that bad or good.  The canvas is about the music but the signature is about the artist.  Interestingly the signature on a number of previous works has played the roll of balancing  and creating interest.  There is no doubt that the size and placement of the signature has been considered an important part of these works, so although the main focus is the music and it’s display, the signature should not be under estimated.  Simply put, walking into a room and seeing this canvas on the far wall,  anyone who has seen this artist works will know, no matter the work,  who the artist is. That would be confirmed by the prominent signature.  The signing has always been important to this artist, and now it is  a part of the music..

Scott Von Holzen

Naive Melody Final image.  This image turned out to be a lot of fun to create with the music being the first surprise and the blue and white stripped ‘tie’ the final. This painting breaks ground and continues on from the July Birthday work.  It will be in the studio only a couple weeks before it begins its new life, so it will be studied and compared to, and admired hopefully absorbing and dispersing its effect on this art over the next few canvases.

First image of Ev’ry time we say goodbye.  It took two days to find the right music to start this next work.  The music done by Simply Red was the first encounter with this song many years back.  This is a Cole Porter tune and the musical phrase that is going to be used comes from the ‘major to minor’ line.  All that was thought of first was that this was a slow, torch song, that should use a lot of blues.  Frustrating the choice was that there could not be found a ‘definitive’ musical version of this music.  The searching  got strange when up popped a cover by Red Stewart, that almost killed this piece.   No mater, no version was done by Billie Holiday, and there was no access to the  Sara Vaughn version.  Even listening to the Simply Red version, seemed inadequate.  The best versions that where available are by Ella and especially Diana Krall, which comes close.  This is great music and this music deserves that one special voice that captures it completely.

Then the photo of the 1932 Picasso painting Nude, green leaves and bust, that sold for over $106 million, caught the attention, because of its value and its use of blues and greens, with a mix of supporting colors.  At first this was thought of as a ‘color guide’ for Ev’ry but for some unknown reason that thought changed to the second version of the Van Gogh portrait of Dr. Gatchet that has disappeared.  Those blues, the paint technique of cross brushing, and the use of the red to contrast the blue changed the plan.

So, this second image does not look anything like Dr. Gatchet.  That is correct, the more blue that was put down the more sense of nothing going on here surfaced.  The silver push this work quickly into the unknown, guaranteeing this painting will  never be a tribute to either Picasso and Van Gogh, but to the music.

Scott Von Holzen