Tag: ART

S_V_H The Blue Danube image 2

Published on by Scott Von Holzen
First image of the Top Moon section of Artwork

I am fortunate to bring this artwork into existents.  I base it on the music, The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II, from the movie 2001 Space Odyssey.  Luckily YouTube offers a clip of the music from the movie that still amazes me, and that captivated my imagination then.  As a kid I grew up in the space age knowing the names of the nine planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (now considered a dwarf planet).  No matter,  from the start Saturn was always my favorite.  Its name started with an S (for Scott) and those rings made the planet even more special.  I remember having a paper cutout mobile of the solar system that hung in my bedroom.

One other recall, from that time, was a Christmas wish for a telescope, that I never got.  My parents said something about the order not being sent.  I never asked either of them if there was more to the telescope story.  Throughout my life, I debated buying a telescope;  I have not.  I now live in the city that has a bright sky,  street lights, and few stars which makes a telescope an impractical idea.  And yet, I found a new connection to my past.  Our latest house is on a hill facing south towards the city.  To my surprise, I can see the moon many nights throughout the year.  An unexpected delight is finding the moon, during the night, as it moves across our bedroom windows.  Didn’t need a telescope then.  Don’t need it now.  Wonderful that on many nights the spirit of that little boy, and the space age he grew up with,  lives on.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H The Blue Danube Waltz image 1

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

The first image of my newer projects show this small gathering of lots of pieces that took time and effort to produce. This artwork, The Blue Danube Waltz, will follow the trend of stacking the art in sections to form a rectangle look.  Otherwise,  my pre-2019 pencil shape style lengthens this artwork to over twelve feet.

Once upon three years, I was a student at the University of Wisconsin Madison. On rare occasions, on campus, I would go to a movie.  I recall only two times, but not at a theater.  On campus, now or then, movies were free or cheap.  One movie I remember seeing was Deep Throat. Yes, that movie. How could you not?  Away from a small town, I had a deep curiosity in the ways of the big town.  The other more memorable movie, that left a lasting impression, was 2001 Space Odyssey. This movie stirred emotions for Johann Strauss’s waltz,  and the theme of this artwork, The Blue Danube.  The unpredictable combination of the 3 4 beat of a waltz and images of earth from space captivated me.  Here is a clip from that unforgettable sound and visual of The Blue Danube.

In this initial image, you see the second version of digital canvas prints.  The first time I printed them I took their look from the movie clip to be more green than blue. Looking at the accompanying scenes the earth appears in an array of bluer green colors.   Noticing that, I removed the first set of glued prints from the canvas.   No matter how I disliked reprinting, I pulled back on the green.  I increase the color blue to give the oceans a more natural look.  Using colors from a video as a starting point is a frequent procedure for me.  It connects the art to the music.

I mentioned in a blog post about last years rejection by The Pablo Center’s Annual Juried Exhibit: Confluence of Art.  What a way to motivate me.  This year’s judge may again reject this art.  The judging varies each year and is subjective, and uncertain even if the art is ready for prime time viewers.  To make some sense of this nonsense, I have a favorite quote from Velveteen Rabbit, “…. once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”  For me, the quality of this art is there, but if it does not win recognition, unlike the art world, I understand.

Scott Von Holzen

 

 

 

S_V_H Mercy, Mercy, Me final image

Published on by Scott Von Holzen
Mercy Me Constructive Sculpture 65.5L x20.5H x3.75D

This is the final image of the music of Marvin Gaye, Mercy Me.  This artwork’s submission offers another opportunity for an upcoming exhibition that has an environment theme.  Early this year, I decided to not take part in any Art Fairs.  To make up for that lost exposure I made plans to apply to Call for Artists opportunities available in the state.  This spring I submitted my artworks to the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, The Trout Museum, and to the local ArtsWest Exhibition.  They accepted me at both ArtsWest and the Trout but I missed the outstanding chance to show in Madison.  After applying for those shows, to my surprise, I found no other new up-and-coming Call for Artists chances to show in the state.  That was the motivation for me for this local show.

While working on Mercy Me, I received a new Call for Artists from the Pablo Center for the Arts for their 2nd annual Art show.  This is the same show last year that rejected Mozart’s Turkish March.  This year The Turkish March is on view at the Trout Museum.  Rejections are a part of finding your way.  Although disappointed by not being a part of the Pablo’s grand opening,  I moved on with only minor surface damage.  With that in mind, for this year’s Pablo show I will up game and create another even more outstanding artwork: The Blue Danube from  2001 Space Odyssey.   Under time constraints I felt it was now time to finish Mercy Me.

I saved time on Mercy Me by not installing the music hardware.  If the artwork makes it into the show, then I will upgrade Mercy Me with its accompanying music.  I then reconsidered the time-consuming job of hand painting the words for this artwork.  That resulted in finding three digital images of painted wood in different stages of peeling.  Those images are the backgrounds for the printed words Mercy, Mercy, and me.  I have always painted the words in my artworks knowing that art reviewers judge the quality of the craftsmanship.  For times’ sake printing saved a day’s worth of work, besides adding meaning to this artwork’s message: our responsibility for maintaining our environment.   The collage works by Pablo Picasso, and the combines by Rauschenberg, and my age made me reconsider the value of saving time.  I appreciate craftsmanship but the message should judge art.  Mercy Me took 22 days to complete.

Scott Von Holzen