Tag: Music

S_V_H Shenandoah

Published on by Scott Von Holzen
This first image is the layout for the music box Shenandoah.. In the lower middle is an Amazon purchased print, 16 by 24 inches. This is the second in a three artwork series featuring a commercial reproduction of a Vincent Van Gogh print. Why am I doing this? That is another story. On both sides of the print are the speaker boxes. The larger top canvas, I will probably paint a cover of the Van Gogh print.

From early January 2006 to today, March 2023, all my music artworks have been personnel. Everyone of them represents an extension of who I am. I share this understanding with all the other music lovers who cherish a deeply held secret that wraps around them everywhere, everyhow, and every meaning of why, their music.

Shenandoah is a traditional folk song dating from the early 1800s. Here is the reason, or actually here is the sound, of an emotionally moving rhythm, a scrupulous harmony, and a nostalgic melody, that even without the words or ornamentation, ozes to the surface the deepest, most hidden emotions. Few to no songs written today come close. Shenandoah is in the elite class of great American songs.

Shenandoah – United States Air Force Band

Here is the actual version of Shenandoah that first caught my attention. Where the Air Force band vocal version is the best I have heard, here is the best instrumental of Shenandoah.

I started developing the cover music for this music box on March 10th using the notation software Notion 6. When the artwork is finished, I will then transfer this draft to the software, Studio One, to complete the final audio. Since this music is out of copyright, here is the entire draft music box music for Shenandoah.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H Everglow Final Image and Music

Published on by Scott Von Holzen
Everglow ≈ L63.5″ x L43″ x D9″ Streched canvas, wood, metal, commercal prints,

The Everglow project started on January 29th with the composing of the cover music. It was finished on March 6th when signed. Then on the evening of March 7th at the Chippewa Vallery Museum (CVM), I did a public art presentation about Everglow to a not so full attendance of 5 paying people. Another artist and friend, Jeff Nelson, and our wives, were also presented. This art talk coincided with a tour of our group, EmptyWallsArt’s, currently on exhibit in their main gallery.

Part of my 9 page 25 minutes plus performance was my definition of what is art. Here is that description along with the lead up.

“Often over the years, I have read, searched, and found many legitimate meanings for “what is art?” But none of them felt definitive and easy to remember.
That changed in a serendipity moment.  ChatGPT is a new search engine that instead of giving links to different solutions, ChatGPT answers a search with words. I thought I would give it a test. Into its search box I typed this question: Is there a word to describe a word that has many different meanings?
The quick answer from ChatGPT was this: Yes, the word you are looking for is “Pull lis sa mus” A polysemous word is a word that has multiple meanings or senses. For example, the word “bank” can refer to a financial institution, a sloping landform near a body of water, or the act of tilting to one side.
Wow, I thought. That word describes the word Art. That lead to an awakening and my own memorable ever evolving definitive meaning of what is art versus what is craft. The current version of Scott’s definitive answer to What is Art is dated March 7th, 2023.
All art is craft
Not all craft is art.
The difference is,
 art was and always will be
an ever open revolving door
of perception.
While Craft is an
aesthetically pleasing product.“

(I always knew that putting what I do down in words was always worth the effort. That means the time spent putting together my presentation at CVM would enhance this arts documentation. That is why when a new thought of what else I should have said, or better clarified at the public reading, pops into my head, I have added a supplement to that presentation. Obvious everything is subject to be rewritten. These additional comments follow directly after my art definition.)

The question then becomes how to tell the difference. That is subjective, of course, for in my definition of What is Art I summarized it with one word ‘perception.”  To clarify  here are more words on the subject of What is Art. All creative people that first express their talents are creating art and therefore truly are artist. It is only later that as their skills develop and they realize that what they have created can now be sold for money, that is when part, or all their creatively, becomes transformed into creating a product to meet the demand. If the main focus of the artist becomes, what do I need to produce that people will buy, they and their art then becomes a product and therefore craft. Nothing wrong with craft. For aesthetically pleasing products sell at prices comparable to art. But the creator and their product no longer can be defined as Artist and Art.…………………………..(to be continued)

This YouTube video offers unedited commentary on the Artwork Everglow. The Music Box cover plays at 5:04.

My final thoughts on this project starts with I like the size of this artwork. I can remove the two speaker boxes and therefore easily travel with the artwork in our SUV, a Toyota RAV 4. I also like adding the two Amazon prints to the artwork. The biggest surprise was how lively my color looked on my two versions of those two Van Gogh prints. On their own I thought the prints were fine, but now being a part of the artwork, they look kinda dull. I like the movement of this artwork’s notation flow from behind the canvas to 9 inches out from the wall. Finally, I like my musical composition. I am getting better with the arrangement, mixing and the sound, which points me in the right direction.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H Everglow image 2

Published on by Scott Von Holzen
EverGlow imag 1 the final floor image Feb 15th 1:25pm
IMage 2Feb 16 1:17pm
Image 3Feb 16 5:14pm

What you need to know:

EverGlow the frame. Feb 17, 1:12pm Image 4

Image 4 is crucial because it shows the basic structure that will support the rest of the artwork. The frame is a necessary key to constructing my latest art projects. A sturdy frame allows me to stand these artworks upright with the help of removable supports shaped as an upside-down T,

that then attach to the frame of the artwork. The stands enable me to tightly pack all my latest artworks together in an upright storage position. Without the stands, it would be impossible to safely store these works, or even be able to easily access them without damage. It is also probable, that without the stands I would not have the creative freedom I do now, to design whatever I wish to be my next music box.

Image 6 shows my T stands for the artwork Crazy.
EverGlow with the attached removable Van Gogh speaker boxes sitting 48mm above my still-life versions. Feb 17th, 2:39pm Image 5

Image 5 The overall structure of the artwork is done. Next up I will figure out how and where I am going to mount all the music.

Studio image of EverGlow’s music Feb. 17, 5:05pm

An art thing that crossed my path:

A lot of our local artists, who generously call themselves artists, either sell or if their products do not sell, they eventually reduce their inventory. I rarely sell. I would also never dispose of my artwork, either. Those works that have not sold, which is close to 200 of them, are stored in a climate control room. In the past, I sold a dozen cheaply priced early artworks on Etsy. The last Etsy art sale was in 2017 for $575.00. My last artwork sale was Walking in Memphis in the 2021 CVA exhibition in Wausau Wi.

Walking in Memphis was a breakthrough project. I put a lot of effort into building an artwork that represented the lyrics in a variety of found photo images. My arrangement of Walking in Memphis was also a breakthrough in the overall quality of my cover music. Today the artwork hangs in the Customer Service area at Wausau Coated Products. It is not in public view. And I believe it has never been powered on since it left the exhibition. That means no one has ever heard the artwork’s music box played.

What remains of Walking in Memphis Feb. 13th, 2023 12:00pm
Here is my master file of Walking in Memphis. Although my arrangement is from early 2021, and that music is tuned to the artwork’s music box, this cover music still sounds respectable through my Bose speakers.

Scott Von Holzen