Wednesday, September 12, 2012

music of art




On my drive home from Chincoteague I was listening to a song by Willie Nelson. Country music is not my usual choice, but this song grabbed me and would not let me go. It was so clear to see its beauty and how its beauty related to a beautiful painting.

 Let me explain. First here is the link to the Youtube video of the song. You might want to listen to understand what I am trying to explain. Link. A song like this reaches deep inside you. The actual music is a simple arrangement of notes. It is in the playing, the slowing, the hesitations- almost silences, small changes from guitar to piano to harmonica, and the soulful voice that move and keep your constant attention. The notes  wrap  themselves around you like a warm, sad, blanket.

So why do I compare this to a painting? Well it's the same. What is a good painting?  It is one that makes you want to look really look over and over again. Each time you look you are rewarded by something delicious, a new moment. There is some mystery and wonder. The passages in the painting vary. There is calm and there is excitement. There are twinkling moments,  yet one part doesn't take over, instead they play together. The strokes aren't consistent, but there is flow.
Each painting must be the search for this beauty.

Think about it and tell me what you think.

PS This painting is from one of my painting spots here - Lake Needwood. I finished it in the studio this morning. Music on my mind.

10 comments:

Caroline Simmill said...

That is the most beautiful painting Loriann, wonderful.

loriann signori said...

Thanks soooo much Caroline!

Unknown said...

I get the comparison between good music and a good painting but I couldn't listen to Willie Nelson. I tried but something about him really grates on me.
This is a beauty!

loriann signori said...

Hi leah!
I too am not a willie nelson fan. i didn't know it was him when i first heard it. sorry about the grating. i really thought the song was masterful.
thank you about the painting!!!

Donna T said...

Hi Loriann, I'm not normally a Willie fan either but this is a soulful song - it seems to touch on universal feelings. Your painting is that way for me too. Soulful and mysterious. I like how you keep the land quiet when all the action is occuring in the sky.

Katherine van Schoonhoven said...

Hi Loriann! Once you get past the basics with music and with art, it seems that both allow for something more. An opportunity to express feelings and thoughts that cannot be reduced to words. It's what fits into the silences, between the heartbeats and breaths of life. Your paintings reach into that space!

Micros said...

Loriann . . .

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," – that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

Keats

We all are influenced by what our senses can pick up at any given moment. Therefor, we can be directly inspired by not what we see, but what we hear, taste, touch , i.e., be it a sound or a group of sounds that morph into a musical composition.

Yes, I agree, that the act of creating is not just an intellectual process but also how external forces influence what and how we (in the final act) conceive.

One of the highest attributes of being human, is to share our humanity with all the beauty we can dare express. Like you and I, we accomplish this, with what we create.

Peace

Micros

Casey Klahn said...

Chincoteague is a success, and the pleasure is for us to view. beautiful paintings of simplicity.

Love the Willie Nelson - never heard that one before, even though I have a whole WN channel on Pandora! Has some Red River Valley lines, doesn't it?

loriann signori said...

Hi Donna!
thank you and it sounds like see feel the same. how is painting going for you in your new studio?

Thank you Kvan...you say it so eloquently.

loriann signori said...

You are so right Micros. Wonderful Keats quote. Thanks for dropping by!

Hi Casey. I didn't know that you were a WN fan. This was really the first time I have listened to him. Loved his soulful song.
Thank you about my Chincoteague paintings. I LOVE that place. It is special.