Tag: ART

S_V_H While My Guitar Gently Weeps image 2

Published on by Scott Von Holzen



While My Guitar Gently Weeps offers some new innovations. For example  my far left note is actually there although its physical appearance is missing. If you look at The Water is Wide this is where I started to use none existing objects to represent my version of real things.  I like, and can relate to, this reality for it reminds me of my interactions at my last day job.  This painting also has an obvious similarity to the structure of The Water is Wide, best described by the word cute. My hope is adorable can also be fine art.  If so than I think While My Guitar looks to qualify.

My music uses the color scheme from the Beatles White Album, mostly black and white.  These basic colors balance out that nasty but interesting background.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H While My Guitar Gently Weeps image 1

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

This artwork gets its inspiration from George Harrison’s Fender Stratocaster named Rocky.  Here is George talking about the guitar in this poorly lit video:

Even though this music comes from The Beatles famous White Album, that I still remember standing in line to buy,  it is this tribute video, with Prince, that hooked me to paint this music:

At first I was going to keep the background for this artwork as simple as possible. This was to be a small quick turn-around work,  about 34 inches in length.  To keep this artwork clean-looking I painted the background around the center guitar neck image,  a solid pale green. That look worked,  but only if I was thinking of the post Beatles musician George Harrison and his album All Things Shall past.

I said that I originally heard this song on that album I stood in line for on that late November day in 1968.  That remembrance made me realize that I needed an early George Harrison.  Actually finding him was easy once I gave up the idea of a simple painting.  In my research, for this music, I  had come across the story of his Rocky guitar. It obviously is a treasure trove of color and shapes.  I could no longer resist this challenge and potential fun.

( Guitar Aficionado )

Regretfully, I could not find any mention or video of George Harrison playing While My Guitar Gently Weeps with this guitar, but the timeline was consistent.  Here is a short clip of the Rocky guitar from I am the Walrus on the 1967 Magical Mystery Tour album:

The results of changing my thinking will be a complicated artwork,  that will be a lot more interesting, and more important than I originally thought. No other choice. No filler painting here.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H The Water is Wide image Final image

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

I have cross over to the other side,  by finishing The Water is Wide. This little acrylic painting consists of two canvases, aluminum and wood, and is about 38 inches in length by 17 inches.  Musically this is a simple song. I can confirm its simplicity for I practice it on the piano, violin, guitar, and saxophone.  That is what is deceiving about this music. It is so easy to play, anyone can do it, which is strangely deceiving.  Anyone playing or listening to The Water is Wide will be surprisingly rewarded by the melody.   This is a piano version by Michael Logozar:

With the lyrics,  the exceptionalism of this music is complete.  Here is a live version with Jewel, the Indigo girls and Sarah Mclachlan:

Because of the style of the music I thought a small painting, with a limited color pallet would work best. I kept my blues to two colors for the background. From the lyrics I choose white,  and a mixed brown to represent the colors of the music and the row-boat.

This  artwork has turned out to be a nice surprise, that reconfirmed that these paintings……bla..bla…..bla… music.  I do not know how to end that sentence.  After 10 years of painting music I still don’t have the answer that best describes this art and its relationship to a lot of pretty darn good music.  I still working on the enlightenment phase.

Scott Von Holzen