Category: 2013

S_V_H Up On the Roof Final image

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

upOnTheRoofFinal

Up On The Roof is signed and ready to go on sale.  You can buy this artwork HERE, or a print HERE. This artwork uses a technique where I have lighten my musical notes as they flow across the canvases from left to right. The whole idea of this work was for the viewer to see a change in mood in the work, from gloomy to hopeful.  From the first canvas I then pushed the next three out from each other to bring the final canvas work closer to the viewer and to the brighter mood of this last panel. This work has been a challenge, that has taken to long to complete.  I wanted to finish this work in two to three weeks.  Instead it has taken eight weeks. Of course there was the big interruption with the Christmas artwork, but this only confirms my difficultly in working on two works at once and finishing each of them in a reasonable amount of time.

The struggle continues:

I have looking for a new home for Blue Rondo, so I stopped by the Jefferson Street Inn, and strange, Tim the head maintenance man and a friend,  mentioned two other options. One was over the main entrance door and the other space was over the elevator door. Just the sight of those two suggested locations sent dread through me, as memories of walking with the Professor into the orchestra room caved in on me.

The dream lives:

This art will find it’s way, which includes Blue Rondo, with or without me. Of course I would like to be a participant in bringing these artworks to the surface, before I drown in neglect, but there are no guarantees, only choices.  And those choices I have no other option but to choose: the art leads, if I want to be an artist.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H You Raise Me Up final image

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

youRaiseMeUpFinal

You Raise me up 99 inches of all Christmas.  What is not to like about Christmas and Christmas Artwork. You see those two candy canes in the above image?  In the world of music they would be 16th notes, like these:

download

In pointing this out I hope you can see that the real music is only a starting point, and that the artwork opens up into many different directions. I could not have it any other way, for copying sheet music to canvases would be boring, and meaningless.  It is how I see that music and how I depict that flow of the sound that is important, and what my objects, can and do not represent, has not substance, except in my mind. This has all to do in understanding the difference between art and wall decoration.  A Jackson Pollack painted by Jackson Pollack is art, but a Jackson Pollack painted by your local zoo animal is not. And a simple answer to the why of this is, because when a zoo animal paints an abstraction there is no subconscious attention to detail.  What separates art from imitation, is the artist grasping what cannot be held and knowing exactly how to use it to free the artwork from being absorbed by the wall.

This artwork is the largest Christmas work that I have done. Starting this series in 2006 with a single two feet by four canvases, we have now arrived at six panels and almost 100 inches in length. This painting grew so large because I needed to use two sentences from the music, “I am strong when I am on your shoulders.  You raise me up to more than I can be.”  It was obvious that the strongest words are “I am strong.” and “I can be,” and worked in perfectly to start and end the work. They also best describe my favorite Uncle who ill. Still this work could have easily been over ten feet if my flow notes would have been my normal 70 to 80 millimeters wide. In order to shrink this music, to a size that would fit my timeline, I dropped their size to 55 millimeters with 5 mil between. It is still big, but done.  My art is all big. I believe that is an issue, for most collectors do not have large empty walls, or they would not want one art piece dominating, like all these artworks would certainly do.  It is a concern for me.

Remember back to that uncomfortable situation I walked into at the U W of Madison Marathon campus, while walking with my music Professor down the hallways of the music department. He told me several times the different possibilities for hanging Blue Rondo that would not worked because the artwork did not fit. Then he walked me into the orchestra room and I thought here was a big space. That quickly turned to disappointment when he again began eliminating walls, until the only place left was ten feet up, above the windows. Well, after of months of waiting for him to call and tell me that the wall hangers for the painting are ready, I have changed my mind.  I am taking Blue Rondo back, and I will have a new construction for them.

BlueRondo

What I plan on doing is to paint another Dave Brubeck masterpiece, Take five.  Take Five is one of my penny paintings I did when first starting out.  This new version will consist of five panels and with a length of 60 inches, by no more than 24 inches in height. I will let the professor know, of my change of thought, when finished. Blue Rondo hopefully can be sold for $1600.00. The other option, for now, would be to hang Blue Rondo behind the front desk at the Jefferson Street Inn, downtown.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H UP On the Roof image1

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

upOnTheRoof1

UP on the Roof is a new small work, 72 inches in length.  I decided to start this work while I wait the arrival of canvases needed for the next artwork in the Vivaldi Four Seasons series, Autumn Allegro 3rd movement.

Why paint Up on the Roof? That is a question that is as hard to explain, as it is easy to answer:  I like this music. I think it will hold well over time. The words say something that a lot of people can relate to, and the melody is catchy. Finally, the timing was right. This song happened to play in iTunes, and I became curious about it. I learned that Carole King, another old favorite of mine, co-wrote it. Searching for recordings I found a live performance of Up on the Roof with James Taylor and Carole King, and at that point the choice became clear.  UP on the Roof not only is a good song, it has history and depth with me, which all helps aid the decision-making process.  It comes down to this, I only have some much time to paint a limited number of musical pieces, so I have to pick wisely, or pick a song when it is hot, before I change my mind. Hopefully, I have chosen wisely, for unlike the just completed, Keep on Loving you, which has a buyer, this one is on its own to prove it worth.

I cannot remember which version of this song that I first heard, but I am thinking it may have been the version by the Crying Shames, a garage band, that dates to 1967.  The sound and the date sounds about right. Also, there is a slight possibility that it could have been James Taylor, because I have always been a fan of his music, ever since his Sweet Baby James album. Taylor’s version of UP on the Roof dates to 1979, which seems late for me. The last possibility may have been the original release, and major hit by the Drifters in 1963, but I doubt it.  I do not think music meant much to me until the Beatles, which was  when I was a sophomore in high school in 1964. I am going with the Crying Shames, for now.

One more personnel discovery about this song, is a rare cover by Laura Nyro, my musical first love when I arrived on campus in Madison in 1968.  Her record ,Eli and the Thirteenth Confession, was a heavy play in the dorm at that time.

The base colors are dark and gritty, to keep with the mood of the music. This changes as the work moves from left to right. The third canvas elevates about the first two, while the fourth canvas is another step up from the third  This artwork is another three-layered work, similar to The Four Seasons Work, Spring Danza, where you have to go to the firth canvas which is the first to touch the wall in my living room.

I am also posting this first image of Up On The Roof,  on Etsy, where you can pre-order a digital print for much less money, then when finished.

Scott Von Holzen