“Three’s a Party” 4×4, oil on canvas
I love body language. I like looking for curves and asymmetry. I like when bodies move like a wave. I’m not musical. I compare it to the people who constantly tell me they can’t draw a straight line with a ruler. My first impulse is to roll my eyes, but then I remember that I’m the musical equivalent of that and if given the right clichéd expression, I’m sure I’d use it.
I think I like painting these second line bands for the visual rhythms I see. I married into a family of musical all-stars, and while I can’t really comprehend their notes and scales, their fortissimos and pianissimos (maybe I googled “musical jargon” to finish this thought and maybe I didn’t), I really do think I can comprehend what it means to make music where once there was silence. It’s like making a mark on a blank surface. And it’s important. And it’s powerful.
Today’s painting is tiny because that’s where I’m at at the moment. Tiny feels doable, and I need doable. I have this vision for a future painting. It’s one of my half-shadowed women with wilderness for hair but instead of a bird in the greenery, it’s members of a second line band. I mentioned in my day 8 post that sometimes I imagine a brass band following me throughout my day, celebrating the small victories that often go unnoticed– the whole measure success in a 1000 different ways thing. This painting I’m dreaming of is sort of a depiction of that, but I’m not sure if it will translate. What do you think?