Music and Murals

There was a call to artists to submit mural  proposals at the Old Town School of Music  in Chicago and I wasted no time trying to come up with something.  But rather than try to reinvent the wheel I decided to fall back on my own images.  I had always wanted to see what they  might look like if I could cut them up and collage them back together again.  This proved to be a perfect challenge for me to hone my limited Photoshop skills.  Here are a few examples of some of my experiments.  Below is the letter that I included in my submission.  It explains the intention behind my selections.    

Music plays a key component in my life not only as musician but as a visual artist.  It is often  an indelible presence in my work.   Music uses sound to create a mood and instill an emotional  connection.   I use the figure as a point of departure.  Just as music can bend reality, I refer to the figure in less literal terms as well.   I see the  subject of the mural as another form of theater where the figures become characters in a mysterious tableau whose  meaning is left entirely  to the observers to explain,  describe, and, most important,  question.   

Extensions

Yes, I admit it.  I enjoy thumbing through my daughters' fashion magazines.  And yes, the women are very attractive.  But I have ulterior motives.  I am looking specifically for large head shots.  For these particular pieces I was interested mouths as the starting points.  Once I cut them out I let them with some paint define their new identities.   It is curious how beauty can become something else, still beautiful but different, even asexual.

Subsequently I mounted the portraits onto  paper and using pen and ink completed their transformations.

Painting and Photoshop

There was a call to come up with an image for a mural for the Old Town School of Music in Chicago.   It is a wonderful venue for music and dance.   Instead of 'reinventing the wheel' I decided to refer back to some of my paintings for inspiration, many of which featured elements of music and dance.   I've always been intrigued with idea of mixing up and combining images and was clear how to do it, until I discovered Photoshop.  It makes almost anything possible and allows for solutions that I could never have imagined or  created.  I feel as though I am somehow cheating.  Technically what I've posted is  a bit clunky.  But still,  the potential for new ideas and discoveries is infinite.  Now all I have to do is submit images and see what happens.