About
Pas de Deux ala Alvin Ailey
A couple
of years ago I had an opportunity to see the Alvin Ailey Dance Company perform one of their most
memorable pieces - Revelations. It’s a very colorful group of spiritual dance performances that could move the audience from tears to rejoicing. In this beaded piece, I aimed to capture
a small essence, not only of the famous dance piece, but of the late choreographer's goal to
express human emotions through dance.
About
The Future Harper
I was reading a biography of a harp player who talked of when she started playing the harp. She then explained
that the harp wasn't her first choice of instruments. She played piano, then guitar, flute. She discovered the harp
through a music class in her college. When she first played the Harp, she found it to be a delightful instrument.
And that the harp, became a perfect musical match for her. The imagery this gave me in creating this piece was to paint a
picture of a new found connection to an instrument and bringing this instrument into the present, with its rich ancient past,
to come forth, and join the ranks of this musician to expand her musical abilities and venues as far as she could take it.
The Harpers Under The Stars
When I created this painted, I thought of these harpers playing
outside in an amphitheater. But it turned out that I was to zero in on these gals, And to focus on the performance on
stage. With the lights streaming down on the musicians, while they play in sync with one another.
The
Fire of Drums and Strings
This piece was created with a wonderful
experience I had when I volunteered at a university's graduation ceremony. The volunteers were given a list of graduates
who would be marching, and they would also give us a large sign to carry, which indicated what program and degree the
graduates would receive. It was our job as volunteers to escort the graduates down 112th Street in New York
City, to Saint John the Divine Cathedral. It was wonderful seeing all the graduates very excited. But the most
extraordinary part of all this, was that they were to march with the percussion instruments of African Drums. There
were about eight women playing these African drums all the way to the cathedral, and well inside. They continued to
play, while the graduates were escorted to their seats. No one could stand still. They had to move to the rhythm and beat
of the drums. Although this painting has two musicians with string instruments, it was the feeling of full orchestration in
the drums that were playing at the graduation ceremony that I wanted to capture. It was like a new beginning.
And so with fire, it is like a spirit of a new time and place.
