Tag: ART

S_V_H The Water is Wide image 1

Published on by Scott Von Holzen


This Scottish folk song The Water is Wide has origins that are hundreds of years old.  Pete Seeger first popularized the song in the Folk music era.  This is a live celebration version of The Water is Wide,  sung by  Emmylou Harris,  for Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday:

 

The Water is Wide first came to my attention from this wonderful cello version by Steven Sharp Nelson:

 

This little artwork’s two canvases along with metal and wood pieces is just over thirty-seven inches, and continues  the look of the music  flowing outside the canvas framing.  These smaller works are marketable,  quicker to produce and are a good for experimenting.  They are worth doing, although their smaller physical size difference does have a visual impact.  What does not change,  no mater the size of the artwork,  is the level of importance of the music chosen for each painting. The differences in sizes comes from the design of the music that can make it easier to portray on a smaller artworks.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H Concerto for 2 Cellos in G minor, RV 531, Allegro, Final Image

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

This Vivaldi artwork is finished.  Like each of the Vivaldi Four Seasons series of thirteen painting, this Vivaldi also took considerable amount of time, almost two months, to complete.  The length of the artwork, over eight feet,  and the complications in the building the music that flowed all over the edges, slowed the entire process.  My thinking for the next painting is to choose a subject that will be a quicker to complete. Of course, that plan is practical only up to the point of starting.

I do not plan on selling this work, although two-thousand would tempt me.  One reason not to sell is that this Vivaldi is already hanging in our living room. My practical reason to keep it apart of my collection,  is that it would be extremely expensive and complicated to package up and ground ship,  such a delicate eight foot artwork.  Finally, my personnel and best reasoning for not wanting to sell this artwork,  is that it represents my emotional attachment to the music of Antonio Vivaldi.

I believe this Vivaldi is a leap forward for this art. I am not sure how I will reproduce this look, but I do know all the following artworks for this year will display its influence.

 

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H Concerto for 2 Cellos in G minor, RV 531, Allegro, Image3

Published on by Scott Von Holzen1 Comment

I have the rhythm of this artwork in place.  With this painting I am using shades from black to light gray to present to the eye a sense of movement (a fundamental of music).  Not only does this adds interest,  but it may also generate the look of motion in the rhythmic up and down flow across this artwork.  I actually tried this before as you can see in the 2012 painting Blackbird:

BlackBird, 2012

In this artwork I inserted smaller circles inside the music in different positions with the hope that a viewer would sense movement.  I used this technique, with mixed success,  on a number other works from early 2011 to early 2012,  and then stopped.  I am not sure if different shades across the artwork will work  any better to capture that illusive sense of movement in a still painting, but it may be worth pursing at least until I reach creative boredom.  Than I can move on. This is all part of my education in that elusive chase of the next dangling carrot on my way to developing a unique artist style, and offering my never-ending curiosity, about how this all will end, renewed faith.  Maybe, over time I may even convince myself that there is a future in painting this one theme, over and over again.

In tribute to doing it again, this is my Five-hundredth blog posting.  My goal is to match Vincent Van Gogh’s  letter total of 651 to his brother Theo.  That made up challenge is in reach, as I see that the pace of development of this art form is speeding forward as planned.

Scott Von Holzen