Offertory

by Alden Cole on January 25, 2014 · 0 comments

Offertory2WP#4 in the New Drawings from Old (1974-2014) series, using a #2 pencil on paper, 14″ x 11″

On a virtual roll, I reworked another old sketch into a finished drawing Thursday 1.9.14 the day after I completed yesterday’s featured drawing, Arise! Like most of the drawing done in the early ’70s – either as illustrations created to fulfill free-lance assignments or as drawings done for my own pleasure, I sketched to the music of the spheres: Russian, German, and French music from the 19th century that made me want to get and dance: Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Berlioz; and for the more ponderous Heavy Metal effects, Wagner and Beethoven. Plus others of course. The music was a varied palette. Which particular piece of music inspired the attempted poetry of today’s original drawing is unremembered. I can only guess that it was something ‘heroic’ like the climax to many a symphony. Including one of my earliest favorites, the Organ Symphony #3 by Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921) who packed his 86 years of living with composing some truly fine awe-inspiring music; sounds I first became familiar with at age 13, thanks to my cousin Bob and his wife Joann. Truly a life altering experience… And what music did I listen to the other day when I reworked this piece to its present condition? Silence, or more accurately, the internal music which now comes and goes, but is always accessible.

GhostdanceOutsideWPAs with yesterday’s art, the motif of today’s drawing was reprised in another  ‘spin art’ painting from the Crystal Cave Reflections series: Ghost Dance #2, liquid oils on matboard, 20″ x 20″ • provenance unknown. There are actually two panels which form this artwork. Together they form the outer doors of a triptych started in June ’78, while stopping over in Denver with friends for a week, after spending three weeks with other friends in Santa Fe, and ultimately headed back to New York City via ‘ferret express’. Now there’s a story…

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