For years, I have studied the rhythm and improv of Classical and New Music, especially the way I “see” the different layers of symphonic or chamber music. Interviewing several musicians, I learned there are two ways to approach the music on a page. One has to do with what's marked on a page, and the other has to do with human nature. Varying the pacing, volume, and other minor aspects is how a musical score can differ every time it is performed. The musicians instinctively know what they want to do, and how they manage to do it seamlessly without verbal or significant physical communication. They convey through subtle manipulation in their individual sounds just as differing color and energy in marks creates a variety of interest in a painting.

 

Each musician, how they play their instrument, what instrument they use, and certainly who the composer is, changes every time a piece is played. The underlying vibrations in a single instrument played, as well as the mix of the notes, creates a beautiful visual of rhythms and vibrations in addition to the intended melody. I express music as art through this sensory excavation and exploration of a musical piece. I “paint what I see” in movement, texture, line, shape, and composition. The underpaintings of the work visualize the residue of the remaining vibrations of the music. 

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