Music paintings
This body of paintings is a direct response to live music. The work began when I was Artist in Residence at a piano summer school in France, called Music at Ladevie (directed by Paul Roberts and Jenny Gilbert) in 1993. There, I sat and made drawings in the practising rooms as the pianists worked and I was immediately struck by the sheer physicality of playing an instrument.
The human form, always an important element of my work, was so active and involved in the production of the music. This very physical involvement in the creation of music is what I began to try to capture (Mephisto Waltz and The London Mozart Players).
I work alongside a musician, or orchestra and only paint while the music is playing. Speed is of the essence, so mediums such as watercolour, acrylic, wax and chinese ink are those I’ve used in this work.
Gradually the work developed to encompass a visual interpretation of the music as well as the musician, sometimes to the exclusion of a recognisable figure.In these abstract works I have used colour, line and mark making to interpret the mood and energy of a piece of music into a visual language.The great energy and physicality of some virtuoso pieces demand of a player are reflected in my own energetic approach to painting such a performance (Islamei by Balakirew). For me, the figure is still there in the painting as a splash of colour may suggest the movement of an arm or conjure up the image of fingers moving rapidly over piano keys.
In other works, I respond directly to the rhythm and mood of a piece, hardly looking at the performer but simply listening to the music (Poissons d’Or by Debussy and La lune descend sur le temple qui fut by Debussy)). The fact that I work with musicians and never from listening to recordings means that I am responding to a particular musician’s interpretation of music. No two interpretations are ever the same.