Odysseuse on the Move

Saturday, August 04, 2007

An Answer to Tah's Blog

Tah had been tagged with, and answered to, this question: What can you not live without? My answer is far more simple since it has many more years behind it, but even so it requires explanation. It is

Love

Love takes many forms. This essay will deal with music, dance, and death, all of which have taken form in four oil paintings and one still in imagination.

Painting # 1: Circus Music oil on canvas 60" X 44".The sound of circus music echoes through childhood memories. This painting hangs in my living room. Its cheerful colors and design reflect my love of all that has gone by.

Painting # 2: Waltz oil and gold leaf on canvas 60" X 60". Dance and music are combined. The swirling design is the movement of the dancers as they waltz. Gold leaf lines are the movement of the dance across the ballroom.

Painting #3: Jazz oil and gold leaf on canvas 60" X 44". This is a reflection of how to listen to jazz. It begins with an overall straightforward theme and ends with improvisation on that theme, wild and free and joyous.

Painting #4 Requiem oil and gold leaf on canvas 60" X 44". This is a dark painting in honor and blessing to the souls of the dead as exemplified in some of the most glorious music. A streak of gold leaf in the darkness represents solace and hope.

Painting #5, unfinished, has to do with The Firebird ballet, another combination of music and dance.

My artwork since the early years at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago has reflected love of life.

Think about this: What would be your answer to what you cannot live without? I am tagging no one with this multi-faceted question except myself.