Tag: spontaneous art

2017 – Wind Shadows

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wind shadows flyer

“Wind Shadows” was a multi-media, contemporary classical performance at Cider Gallery in Lawrence, Kansas, on April 25, 2017.

Composer and performer Brett Keating played an original electro/acoustic euphonium piece along with works by Alvin Lucier, Karleinz Essl, Stijn Govaere, Forrest Pierce, and Gianinto Scelsi. As Keating performed, I spontaneously painted in response to the music and produced a painting for each piece. Using the duration of each piece as the only parameter for each painting, some turned out better than others. The two highlights were the following pieces:

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Si! 
Responsive painting to a performance of Si!,
 a composition for tuba and live electronics composed by Karlheinz Essl.

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Wind Shadows
Responsive painting inspired by a live performance of Wind Shadows,
a composition for  trombone and closely tuned oscillators composed by Alvin Lucier.

 

Brigid (2015)

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Brigid - 2015

House paint on canvas
24 x 30 inches

Finished on the Cross-Quarter Day between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox, a day marked by the ancient Celts with the festival Imbolc, which was considered the beginning of spring and was a celebration of the goddess Brigid.

Sold in February 2015 to a private collector in Kansas:
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Osage, Can You See? (2015)

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osage can you see

House paint on canvas
30 x 24 inches

This piece was a commissioned trade with Hank Will, who is the Editor-in-Chief of Mother Earth News, and a craftsman of beautiful handmade knives. I asked him a while back if he’d make me a mushroom-hunting knife and he produced the amazing looking knife at left. The handle includes brass, denim, locust burl, bison leather, and pear wood, and the brush is horsehair.

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For payment, he requested a painting instead of money, so I made him the piece above. Hank runs a small farm in rural Osage County, Kansas, and I tried to capture the essence of his farmstead by using colors that I’ve seen in rural Kansas. Considering that Hank’s knives are beautiful works of art that are meant to be used, I thought it was appropriate to paint him one of my “utilitarian medium” pieces where I use acrylic latex house paint instead of artist-quality paints. Like Hank, I believe it’s possible to make beautiful art from materials primarily designed to be functional.