Tag: Miles Davis

S_V_H So What final Image

Published on by Scott Von Holzen
L70.25″ x H12″ x D 2.5″

So What, a Jazz artwork using Miles Davis as its theme was actually finished a few days ago. This is my 2017 Birthday painting.  My past plan was to finish Birthday paintings on my Birthday.  What changed was that I wanted to take this work to an Art Fair in Appleton.

On Sunday I showed So What and 11 other paintings,  and one nicely framed and matted print. The print was the only item sold yesterday, and although that sale helped, I certainly came of short of covering expenses.  Of course the purpose of attending any Art Fair was to have artworks out in the public view. My reasoning is that no matter what I do and how I good I present my artworks on-line, all those images are two-dimensional.  Actually seeing So What, like many of my newest works, you are viewing are three-dimensional artworks.  The depth in these artworks can make all the difference.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H Miles Davis, So What, image 2

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

The idea for the style of this artwork comes from Jackson Pollock’s painting Blue Poles. His painting is about 6 feet in height and about 16 feet in length. By using the look of Pollock’s blue poles I have finally broken the from-the-beginning tradition of always having perfect vertical shafts for my music.

Jackson Pollock

 

There are eight blue poles in the Jackson work, but So What has eighteen notes.  To make the number differences work I made my first and last notes vertical.  I then used two notes to match the angle of each blue pole.  I did stay consistent with the back-en-forth motion of his poles, even through their rhythmic look I thought I could improve on.

The effect of not keeping everything vertical was to enhance the sense of motion across the canvas.  That technique may have possibilities beyond motion attempts that I have used in the past.  I knew this painting years ago.  I should have tried Pollock’s idea then, although today’s timing could be better. Lately, I have found ways to loosen up many of my self-inflicted restrictions, that I hung to from the past. Finally, I even did some experimenting, once again,  with splattering paint.  I found out, once again,  that for now, that technique does not work. Baby steps.

 

Scott Von Holzen

 

 

S_V_H SO What image 1

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

This is my 2017 Birthday painting:  So What. This artwork theme comes from Miles Davis album Kind of Blue. I have linked a live version of this music.  This early television video of Miles Davis is strangely different from how it would be done now. Today, everything needs to be short, not so deep,  and in the moment to not lose the audience’s attention.  Back in 1959 that moment lasted for over nine minutes:

So What,  consists of 9 canvases for a length 70 inches.   The  largest canvases are only eight by ten inches.  I am looking at this artwork to be a directional changed.  Once again, I am on the move with the inspiration being Jackson Pollock and his abstract painting Blue Poles.

Scott Von Holzen