The Story Behind SL Van Dam’s Artwork
Being a musician all my life, black music stands are just part of my gear. Being an artist for several decades, painting on a white support is my norm. So, a black stand becomes my white canvas.
My music life gives me the staff, clefs and time signature. Treble (g clef), Tenor (c clef) and bass (f clef) all appear in a conductor's score. The time signature of Pi over Infinity, well, I saw it on Facebook, so I borrowed it. Liberamente (freely) seemed appropriate for the time signature, and gave me the option to exclude any bar lines (measures).
As for the notes, I chose from the color spectrum, with a few shiny blings, bright and dark colors. The placement of the notes was totally random, and the different dot size was a way to express the usual notation forms (whole, half, quarter, eighth, etc.) Large notes can be long, small notes fast and short.
After painting it, I played it on the piano. The tenor clef was a bit of a challenge, as I usually play treble or bass. I added a few accidentals (sharp, flat) to 'improve' the piece. The hold at the end caused the free-floating notes to pile up. What to do? Continue on the back ! Let the hold explode! Notes fly chaotically, some dripping onto the feet of the stand.
Fine (the end).
