I've been reading the book Musicophilia, by Oliver Sacks, a neurologist. It's a fascinating book about the various ways the human brain perceives and processes music, and how profoundly music can change us.
Perception is one of my favorite things to think about as I go about my day. The information our eyes perceive, and what our brain tells us based on this information, is so very different - and yet again both must be so different from the reality - as we're given to understand it - of atoms awash in tides of energy, with far more space between than solid material.
Am I the only person in the world who is nuts enough to think about things like that while driving from the post office to the grocery store?
Anyway, back to Musicophilia. Sacks writes that Mozart created music by repeating and enlarging on patterns, while Beethoven started with a grand theme and illustrated it. (If Sacks ever stumbles across my blog I hope he'll forgive me for interpreting his opinion!) Reading what he wrote made me think about my painting. I'm definitely more in the Mozart camp, myself. In fact, one of my favorite modern composers is Philip Glass, whose work is decidedly all about pattern and texture. I often listen to his recordings in my studio. I've been a realist in the past - and realism will tend to creep into my paintings if I allow it - but rather than the scene itself, I am so much more interested in painting the patterns and textures I find within the scene.
Blue Line. 9x9 on masonite. 2010
