Interludes

Gallery hours: Tuesday - Friday noon - 5 pm, Saturdays 1 - 4 pm

Read more about the Interludes artists:

Patrick McNeese

Mary Louise Dean

Chris Brannock

Kathy Rees Johnson

Kathy Rees Johnson: Interludes

An Interlude of art, earth and music

Artist Statement, Kathy Rees Johnson:  My modus operandi for Interludes was to allow the music to "unearth" the landscape. I have found that these paintings unearth particular passion of mine; where art, earth and music meet.

The Paintings and the Music

Kathy Rees Johnson, Assez Vif, 12 x 12" acrylic on board

The musical inspiration is Ravel's Quartet (his only) a wonderful pizzicato movement, Assez vif, tres rhythme.


Now, changing pace to Schubert's String Quintet in C major, D 956, Adagio. For more information on this painting, the music and my thoughts, please see my blog Good.

Kathy Rees Johnson, Adagio, 12 x 24", acrylic on board

If my Adagio theme evokes the beginning of a journey, perhaps The Lark Ascending makes me think of transitions or endings.

The Lark Ascending, 24 x 12", acrylic on board

The music which inspired this painting is by Vaughan Williams. The music was inspired by a poem by George Meredith, a Victorian poet. I like the music more than the poem, though at heart is a love of this Earth.

Since we are thinking of poems (or at least, I am) I'll post Black Earth.

Black Earth, 12 x 24", acrylic and oil stick on board

I've written about my discoveries in creating this painting in my blog My Faithful Beloved, Black Earth. This was a particularly satisfying process for me and I am grateful for a performance by Roberto Plano for the introduction.

The Plano recital was part of a Performance Today tour and that brings us to my next painting, which is totally the product of a Performance Today trip.

Le Pont Mirabeau, 12 x 24", acrylic on board

The whole story of this composition, including a video of the world premiere is available on a blog by Fred Child.

My relationship with the harp made the path to Farewell to Music.

Farewell to Music, 12 x 24", acrylic on board

I also was inspired, as I painted Black Earth because Kara Toprak was written and sung by a blind bard, as was Farewell to Music.

My relationship with David necessitated the creation of Vltava.

Vltava, 24 x 12", acrylic on board

Early in our courtship, David put on the LP of Smetana's Ma Vlast. The beginning of that composition tells the story of the beginning of the river Vltava (the Czech name for the Moldau) which is created out a cold spring and a warm spring. Perhaps there is hope for opposites.

I hope that you have enjoyed this exploration of art, earth and music.

Interludes is an exhibit at M.S. Rezny Studio/Gallery on view from October 9 - November 16, 2018. Joining me will be three artists: Chris Brannock, Mary Louise Dean and Patrick McNeese. I will be writing up a blog on each of the artists. Please stay tuned!

My Faithful Beloved, Black Earth

Black Earth, acrylic and oil stick, 12 x 24"

My first introduction to Black Earth by Fazil Say was in a serene hotel salon in Milan. Roberto Plano was performing for Performance Today travelers. From the beginning of the piece I took notice because Roberto Plano reached inside the the piano to dampen the strings with his left hand  while striking the keys with his right. The effect was full of metal and vibrations--even though the strings were being muted. It was sort of an underground sound which stayed with me. Fortunately, I brought a tidy, but versatile set of art supplies on the trip and I made a sketch of my impressions, which seemed to focus on the newly experienced sound.

Black Earth sketch,  mixed media, 4 x 10"

In October (2018) I was joined by three other artists for an exhibit called Interludes, which featured art inspired by music.  I knew that I would include Black Earth in the mix, so I looked up Black Earth by Fazil Say.  I remembered the excitement of the strangely muffled, yet ringing sounds, but I had forgotten about the middle interludes (!) of lush, romantic, yet somehow urgent melody. I quickly started the painting keeping these elements in mind.

A first stab--so to speak. A deep scaffolding for embellishment.

Each Entry of Fazil Say's Black Earth included (Kara Toprak) so I had to investigate. Kara Toprak is the ballad/poem by Asik Veysel, a Turkish bard and poet. Veysel lived from 1894 to 1973 and came from the Sivas region of Turkey; a broad valley enriched by iron ore and surrounded by hills. Early in his life he became blind as the result of Smallpox and an accident. Veysel took up the baglama and began singing at a young age, since he was apparently not a candidate for education.  I found a video featuring Veysel singing  Kara Toprak and in the conversations below the video there were various versions of the lyrics. I am going to include the lyrics here, combining several translated versions and a bit of, admittedly subjective, editing:

I've embraced many, thinking they were friends
My faithful beloved, Black Earth
I wandered in vain, tired out for nothing
My faithful beloved, Black Earth

I devoted myself to many beautiful ones
I found neither faithfulness or use
I took everything I wished for from the Earth
My faithful beloved, Black Earth

She gave me sheep, gave me lamb, gave milk
Gave food, gave bread, gave meat
When I didn't tear her up with the pickaxe, she gave scant
My faithful beloved, Black Earth

She's sheltered me since Adam
She fed me all sorts of fruit
She carried me along her surface everyday
My faithful beloved, Black Earth

I ripped her belly with the pickaxe
I tore her face with my hands and nails
Yet, she welcomed me with roses
My faithful beloved, Black Earth

She laughed at me as I tortured her
There's no lie in this, everyone saw it
I gave her a single seed, she gave me four orchards
My faithful beloved, Black Earth

If I look up in the air, I take air
If I look down to the Earth, I take prayer
Where would I stay if I left the Earth
My faithful beloved, Black Earth

If you have a wish, ask it to God
To collect it, go no farther away from the Earth
The Earth has been blessed by God's generosity
My faithful beloved, Black Earth

If you seek truth, here's a clear point:
God is close to humanity and humanity to God
God's secret treasure is within the Earth
My faithful beloved, Black Earth

The Earth covers all our faults
It heals me, salving my wounds
It is waiting for my arrival with arms open wide
My faithful beloved, Black Earth

Whoever is honored with this secret
They leave an unfading legacy to this world
One day, she will take Veysel to her bosom
My faithful beloved, Black Earth

I read the lyrics and felt like I had been struck, perhaps not by a pickaxe, but by an instrument that was able to unearth a formerly unexpressed passion. It all came together, a relationship with the Earth, music (in the Dorian mode) and beauty--real beauty. I felt that intensely as I began to develop my painted image.

Looking back, I realized how much Fazil Say was expressing in his composition. The striking of the Earth and Earth's response in roses and laughter. Asik Veysel was speaking to Fazil Say. I loved having the chance to be immersed in these ideas. In this world, as we discuss who is worthy to dwell among us and who is a 'maker' and who is a 'taker', it is helpful to remember we are all takers from a generous Earth and we can all be in intimate and nourishing relationship with her. Finally, we will be welcomed into the very heart of her.

Good

Good Afternoon, 12 x 16", watercolor/pastel on paper mounted on board

    At last year's Easter Vigil I was reading from the Book of Genesis, how God created each new day and after laboring proclaimed the resulting fruit of that labor to be good.  For some reason, this word struck me powerfully. Good, Good! Such a good word! Later, in the summer, when Chris Brannock initiated an art group structured around words the group selected, I knew my word offering would be good. 

     As summer eased into autumn, my uncle loosed his grip on life and died, to the day, one month shy of his 89th birthday. Family and friends, colleagues and former patients gathered in West Virginia to celebrate his life. At his service we heard reflection remembrances from his wife and each of his five children. Each told of a particular gift that their husband/father brought into their life and into the world. In the afternoon after the service we went to the family farm where my uncle had planted an apple orchard. The day was warm and golden as we were just on the cusp of autumn. Already primed by the words of my aunt and cousins, I knew that I was experiencing good in its sense from the very beginning.
     Uncle Walt, early on knew what he wanted and he stayed true to that early knowledge. From his tiny town in West Virginia he set off to Cambridge, MA (apparently with his guitar on his back). Though his undergraduate and medical degree were from Harvard and he served the Army Medical Corp in Italy, Uncle Walt chose to return to West Virginia (also with his guitar on his back), to be a surgeon to coal miners and their families. I looked around at my cousins and their children as they plucked apples and walked among the trees their father/grandfather planted. How very good and pleasant! From this firmly rooted foundation generations have established their own good lives.

Schubert's String Quintet in C Major, Adagio, 12 x 24", acrylic on board

     While thoughts of good have been percolating in my mind, I've also been creating paintings inspired by specific pieces of music. As it turned out, on what would have been Uncle Walt's 89th birthday, David and I attended a concert by the Ariel Quartet at the Unitarian-Universalist Church, so I was able to 'visit' my mother (sister to Uncle Walt) in the memorial garden at the church. The Ariel Quartet enlisted local cellist, Benjamin Karp to complete the quintet for Schubert's String Quintet in C Major. Sitting in the church, I looked through low windows 360 degrees around the sanctuary to see the surrounding land rich with trees that were tiny seedlings when I was a child. The quintet began the Adagio movement and I immediately had a sense of starting out on a journey. The journey starts with mere steps. After we have accomplished some distance, the beginning theme is repeated, but with an altered chord. The simple chord contains in it the beauty and the sadness which exactly describes my feeling about our choices and what is lost and what is gained. I would call it a good chord. The cello begins to churn, depicting for me the inevitable strife that even a good life must endure--is it doubt? conflict? being out of step? Or perhaps it is the realization that we have to let others make their own choices on the direction of their journeys. We have to let go (usually worth a churn or two...)
     Thinking about all these things brought to mind a landscape--a landscape with many paths. I envisioned the moors of the Pennines, surrounding Manchester, England. Paths there are created by deer and highland cattle that graze the land. So that is the setting I chose for my painting. How lovely then, that my daughter was walking in that landscape on her birthday.
    Which brings me back to the good afternoon and being witness to the life of Uncle Walt and its brilliant continuation which will create many, many good afternoons. We can only choose our own path, but we can enjoy the journeys that others choose and with a little imagination, tag along.