Category: 2013

S_V_H Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Summer Allegro image 1

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

SummerAllegro1

This is the ninth painting in the Vivaldi’s Four Seasons series.  This artwork is over fifteen feet in length. The fall image above is a quick composite of three different images.  The dark purple line is there to unify all the different canvases. Such an early look at this next project gives you an idea of the planning that goes into creating these paintings.  In the past I use to fit the music to the canvas, but as you can see today’s artworks all the canvases exist to fit the music.  The four 12 x 24 inches canvases, that you see rising above the main image, are key to this work.

I have also found an interesting take on this part of the music.  In H.C. Robbins Lando book Vivaldi voice of the baroque, there is this sentence that speaks to the part I will be painting: “The goldfinch has trills and very high alternating notes, of soft summer winds.”  I looked up pictures of European goldfinches.  Their prominent colors, that I will be able to use, are the browns, yellow and a bright deep red.  Right now, I am planning to paint those four small panels in red.  Yellow, with different shades of lighter browns I may use for some stripping patterns.  I started last night with a yellow-green base on the first panel, that will quickly change to blues.  I am thinking that blue colors will represent the wind, which will probably be an interesting challenge to try to recreate. The wind analogy comes from the words that where chosen from the Summer Vivaldi Sonnet:  “The North-wind appears nearby and suddenly,” or for another translation, “Soft breezes stir the air… but threatening north wind sweeps them suddenly aside.”

The hope is that this work will not take two months to complete. For more  of story, and history of this series,  you can go the Vivaldi page, where you will find pictures and videos of the first eight completed artworks.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H Vivaldi’s Spring Danza Pastorale Final Image

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

4sSpringDanzaFinal

This is Vivaldi’s Spring third movement.  She is a beauty.  This artwork took two months to complete.  But, when I look at the Vivaldi page, and see that I have completed eight of these works in 14 months, I am thinking that is too bad.  You have to consider that I am living the Jackson Browne’s lyrics from The Pretender, “Caught between the longing for love. And the struggle for the legal tender.” I am still working full-time at my Day Job.

This is a BIG side note about how I listen to my music.  Currently I am using the Companion 5 computer speaker system from Bose. These speakers play my Chopin music as well as Nelly (I like Nelly in Air Force Ones).  By those standards alone these speakers are in a league of their own.  But things changed last week when the sound from the Bose just quit with the control pod, that turns on and off the system, and adjust the volume,  froze up.  Shutting down the speakers and unplugging the connections seem to work at first, but then that fix failed.  When I called Bose, they were quick to answer: that it was the control pod.  I ordered a replacement, very reasonable.  But that meant that  my sound system was going  down until the part arrived.  Now what, I cannot be without my music.  When the Bose support person told me that it would take about seven days before I would receive the replacement part, I knew I had to find a plan b.   Then out of nowhere,  I remembered that I  had another speaker system, that had sat on the shelf for years.

Back in the mid 1980’s I spend some $1,200 for a per of ADS L1290  tower speakers, powered by a NAD 7140 receiver.  Each speaker weighs 75 pounds and has two 8.3 inch woofers, a 2  inch soft- dome, and a 3/4 inch soft-dome tweeter.  I have not  used these speakers  for many years ago.  The reason is that once I started to work with computers, I needed my music and that meant I needed computer speakers, and of course that excluded the towers.  Anyway, their huge, and I did not have the space, especially, when I started to paint in a small bedroom.   They have basically been in the way, getting a little beat up, and having dust thrown at time during the remodeling.  In fact when we moved to our current home in 2009 I offered to sell them to a college guy helping us,  for $50 dollars.  He turned me down.  Boy, was I lucky.

With my Bose down, I ran to Radio Shack and bought a 3.5 mm to RCA cable.  Dragged and lifted those big babies into my studio, hooked it all up to my computer, and WOW what a difference.  To start with these ADS speakers are even today in a class by themselves.   Their sound is outstanding, and  matched with the NAD receiver, everything is so clear and clean, no  ported woofer here.   I cannot tell you how much better these towers are over the Bose.  It is like I have taken the wax out of my ears. The difference in listening depth between these ADS and the Bose,  is remarkable.  You hear everything with the ADS speakers, no frequency escapes them.  The sound is multiple dimensional.  It is like I am in Music Heaven.

OK, back to this Artwork.  It is gorgeous.  It is  because it represents that time in Spring when everything is fresh and bright, clean and clear.  This artwork is unique in that there are three layer of depth to this work.  It is hard to see,  but going from left to right with the right canvas being the first layer here is how it goes:  Canvas A first layer, canvas B first layer, canvas C second layer, one layer back, canvas D also one layer back, canvas E three layer  two layers back,  canvas F back to one layer back, and canvas G back to the first layer.  What is happening here is that as the music drops in pitch so does the artwork Then when it comes back up so does the last canvas.  Also I like the evolution of the rectangular beams.   I particularly think that those little stripes running through them create an extra dimension.  Previously mentioned , I do like the way those, half oval ties, turn out.  Again this style is a tribute to Cy Twombly.  And finally, I will certainly be using my home-made tools to spread the backgrounds out, hopefully more evenly on the next work.

I have contacted a Chamber Orchestra in St. Paul Minnesota about getting their permission to use their Four Seasons music at my Vivaldi’s show, sometime in 2015.  I would not be blame them if they never answer me back.  Who am I?   If I do not receive an answer from them in a couple of weeks, I will contact them again, maybe explaining myself a little more clearer, especially  how I would use their music.   This is  a learning experience,  to see if I can develop contacts in the music industry,  and to see how hard it will be  to get their permission to use their music.  I see nothing but benefits for the music and the artist, but now most musicians would certainly feel that I need them more than they need me.  So that means, I have to work twice as hard, and three-time longer to prove that I am for real.  To build credibility, and prove the benefits of this art will take the goal to the next level.

Listening to New Order – Sub

Winter – Tori Amos

Abba – SOS

Chopin Etude In E, Op.10/3 Tristesse

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H Vivaldi’s Spring Danza Pastorale Walk Through

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

Vivaldi’s Spring Danza Pastorale : I was not able today,  to  photograph the final image of this artwork, so what you are getting is the Walk Through.  I have said before that the only goal with each of these artworks is to try to capture in acrylic paints, the mood,  and the simple  flow of the music.  What you see and hear in this musical fragment is 16 seconds  that took two months to paint. Some final thoughts and a final video on this work tomorrow.

Scott Von Holzen