Body and Soul 3 panels 30 inches by 104 inches.  A week ago Saturday night, late and done painting, but not quit ready for sleep, and after some desperate  channel surfing, there on the PBS station was Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival 3 with performances by some of the best guitar players imaginable.  Although the begining was missed, I did catch the performance of Buddy Guy with Jonny Lang & Ronnie Wood, and it was amazing.  What followed was Jeff Beck and then Eric Clapton.  After that, I drifted away, but what each of these artist did to the music was astonishing.  Yes, always, the music was recognizable, but each of these guitar masters, added much, much, more to the music, than anything that would every appear on a piece of sheet music.  But what truly made this a musical experience, and a enlightenment for this artist, was watching the video and seeing the strong emotional reactions of these artist to the words and notes they were playing.  What became clear to this artist is that this art needs to perform in that same way.

Listening to Mozart – Piano Trio In E, KV 542 – 1 Allegro.

That brings us to the above image taken this last Saturday night.  Two things: those large circles, are an idea taken from and are a reflection of, the glass ball that hangs in the Vermeer painting Allegory of Faith. And second,  all those little bright balls, around the bulbs bring back long ago childhood memories, of the passion for the solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

Listening to Luther Allison – Blues with a Feeling

No use trying to explain the why of  “two things” beyond that all art and all artists build on the art and the experiences of the past.  And that idea is on display in the image above in the eighth and sixteenth notes that are being depicted in a manner that is truly unconventional.  Like the guitar riffs of Buddy Guy and Ronnie Wood, or the jam sessions of Charlie Parker, the job is to find the means to abstract music in ways that jam it up. Those colorful little planets are the current example of finding a small piece of that way forward, and learning from the past.

Finishing with The Beatles from Revolver – She Said She Said.

Scott Von Holzen

Body and Soul 3 panels 30 inches by 8 1/2 feet.  Some of the words where dropped from this image.  One reason was that the words included the title of this work, which reflected the music, but not this art. Understand, the purpose of this art is to use musical titles as the hook.  What may not be understood, even by this blog writer, is that the music is just the starting point for what appears on these canvases.  It is the music that is the excuse to paint.  Painting gives this artist, the reason to listen for hours to a great variety of music including Sweet Jane by the Cowboy Junkies and Barbara Ann  – The Beach Boys ‘ party. Painting  music is the expression of the deep feelings of the important place that music has in our lives.

Working the the Canon 7D this image was shot without a flash, which was causing reflections in the upper middle.  Not much work was needed in Photoshop to remove the adverse local lighting, which means this camera is doing a great job with white balance, along with some modest custom settings. The left side of the larger image, appears to be darker, so maybe better bounced cards would have helped.

Listening to Get Out Of My Life Woman – Mel Brown and the Homewreckers.

The Website has just been updated, with Thunder Road and a large 1500 pixel image.  This painting hangs on the opposite wall of the easels just above Hallelujah.  The thought is that those two will remain in the studio until they get pushed out.  So far, they are holding there own.

Listening to Anfew Bird – Fiery Crash

From here,  later on tonight, the work will be with the stems and the beams.  At this moment there are no ideas what colors and shapes will be used.  The thought is to continue with the success of Heart of the matter and let the style evolve.   Sooner or later an idea will pop into view and a original look  for this canvas, will hopefully, appear after rejecting everything else.

OK…, listening to Gretchen Wilson – California Girls

Finishing this blog with Ani DiFranco – 32 Flavors

Scott Von Holzen