The Music Room

 The Music Room, 2024, oil on linen, 66.3 x 54.3 cm.

I've always loved the portrayal of musical instruments in a painting. Not only are they beautiful to look at, but you know they are conduits for allowing amazing sounds to enter our world. Although it's the composer and the musician who create music, without an instrument nome of this could happen. A musical instrument has a history which adds another point of interest to what is in the painting.

But there is another reason why I did this painting. For over 3 years I did a classical guitar composition course with Daniel Nistico. I attempted to create an image that suggests that music is inspired by the light of our imagination. The light outside, and the musical set up bathed in the light entering the room, hopefully captures something of this idea. 

A Breeze on the Water

A Breeze on the Water, 2024, oil on linen, 45.5 x 40.75 cm

In this painting I tried to suggest a breeze brushing over the water. One of the most interesting aspects of the lake is the variety of patterns that form over the water, and all depending on how the wind behaves. 

The brushstrokes vary also, and imitate what is happening on the surface of the lake. Long strokes for the calmer portions, and pointillist touches where the breeze ruffles the surface. 

This painting took about 8 sittings with very few touches in the studio.
 

Moonrise in the Gloaming

 

Moonrise in the Gloaming, 2024, oil on linen, 56 x 66.25 cm.

This painting originated from a few notations on a piece of paper. The clouds appeared like this only for a few seconds so it was a little frantic trying to capture something of how the sky was at that moment.  Not that I wanted to create a moment in time, it's that when you refer to nature it gives the work a kind of conviction by incorporating fantasy with reality. The painting I ended up with was mostly imagined. It's not a particular place and my aim was to make the sky the most dominant aspect of the painting with a landscape as small as possible but not so small that it disappears from the image. One of the characteristics I like about this work is the abstract quality, expressed through a kind of minimalism. But as always, it's the presence of light and air that I aim to create more so than anything else.