Feeling-Related Watercolor: Unable to Play (Coda Equina) (2017)
I miss playing the violin.
I miss playing the violin.
Dad would sing part of the Surprise Symphony when Mike was a baby. Mike would respond as appropriate, with the surprise.
The seed image for this experiment was a memory of my father playing the violin. Dad loved music. He would conduct the radio when the Saturday Texaco Metropolitan Opera with Milton Cross would come on; he would play the violin with passion and the piano…. well, he tried. Here is the first pass: It is […]
I translated this sky-scape into the realm of musical notation. I wonder what a puffy whole note would sound like.
Musical notation is written on paper that has rows of grouped parallel lines. Five lines in each group. A spot (which may or may not have a staff) on a line is a note whose duration depends upon whether it is hollow, its grouping with other spots and the number of flags on its staff. […]
This study began with five parallel lines upon which music could be written. The lines continued, but lost their parallel order with two lines escaping their nature as potential recipients of musical notes. I took the outstretched, five-fingered hand from a photograph of someone expressing exasperation. I took the other hand (thumb and forefinger) from […]
I’ve taken countless photographs of hands over the years. Many of them have been of my family. I caught some of my older brother Mike‘s* gestures on film; my younger brother Dave‘s hands on the piano; my father conducting imaginary orchestras and my mother holding Mike when he was young. These images are a treasure […]
My brother Dave is an accomplished pianist. He is also deeply interested in music and its inner workings. He explained that some piano music, even though played with two hands, can have three melodies at the same time. When he played an example, I had a difficult time identifying all the themes. My study below […]