This is a sectional close up. The background is proving to be difficult to work with for it is such a mix of colors. the choice of a single color range for the treble clef and the bass clef may not be the best answer. The issue now, as in past works, is finding colors for the notes that let them stand out. Maybe, that will not work here, where there is a background that may appear to be out-of-control. So, lets let the paint fly and see what sticks.
Scott Von Holzen
This is a small section of this work showing some progress and some frustration in the direction. The notes are critical to the flow of the music like stepping stones that guide a viewer from left to right across 12 feet. Over five years they have involved from “watermelon seeds” (a passing comment) to little abstract paintings all to themselves. The concern is that they maybe are becoming boring after so many canvases.
To keep them fresh and to appear more aggressive their angle has been elevated to levels no sheet music would ever use. Also, different brush stoke techniques and color combos have been used, especially lately, to add life. Yet, there is concern and questioning about even going further and abstracting them. Really it is irrelevant that the notes actually look like musical notes, who cares. What is important is to put down on the canvas objects to represent the music and the flow. That is it, and that solution is what has been anxiously fleeting.
Scott Von Holzen
All of the first layer of notes are down across this 12 foot work. What is shown is a close up of section 2 and 3, about 3 feet or so of canvas.
When I was painting in the bass notes in white I thought of the painting by Gustave Caillebotte, Paris Street, Rainy Day at the Art Institute in Chicago. I have not seen this work in person for many years now but it is still one of my favorite paintings. It is special because it reminds me that it could just as well be a photograph. I see the photography in the way the painting crops the figures, its causal feel, and the balance by the overall careful cropping, of the whole work. When I see that I see two art forms coming together: painting and photography.
Now, back to this Chopin stuff. This is the first work were major components of the bass clef section of the music have been cropped, some completely, from the canvas. It may seem trivial to the casual viewer, but it shows the evolution of this art form, which opens possibilities to other ideas, allowing more freedom to say why not what is there to lose.
Scot Von Holzen
aRT iN mUSIC