Roger Glover
Pastel on paper
2005
80cmx90cm
Portrait Ian Gillan
Pastel on paper
2005
70cmx80cm
After the song Almost Human from the album Total Abandon, 1999.
A centered portrait with background patterns formed by the rhythm of the song.
Tonal Portraits Ian Gillan
Pastel on paper
2005
70cmx80cm
A series of portraits superimposed over a guitar, with four
Portraits in motion of IG singing. Painted to various songs.
Portraits of Ian Gillan
Pastel on paper
2005
80cmx90cm
In performance
Portrait Ian Paice
Pastel on paper
2005
77cmx55cm
Portrait fragments of Ian Paice Deep Purple’s drummer.
Superimposed images overlaid in dark sections.
Ian Paice (After the Mule)
Pastel on paper
2005
100cmx74cm
After the song “The Mule” from the album Made in Japan
The first stages of the drumming solo evoked a circular wheel and later the sound translated to linear shapes within the wheel.
Portraits of I.Paice were also superimposed in the circle.
Steve Morse
Pastel on paper
2005
100cmx70cm
Demonstrating the vibrations of SM guitar playing.
After initial composition done to various songs, focused on the
Electrical guitar which guided the strokes.
After Rapture of the Deep
Pastel on paper
2005
68cmx63cm
This work began with a geometric translation of the sound after which a close analysis thematically produced two figures finally transforming these into a surreal landscape. The work took fourteen transformations of different strokes and marks.
The effect of nullifying the senses is portrayed here.
After the song “Highway Star”
Pastel on paper
2010
70cmx100cm
Painted during a live show.
VISUAL MUSIC PAINTINGS
Works on Paper
On
DEEP PURPLE
ARLENE RABINOWITZ
2007
Interest in Art Synesthesia (metaphoric) visualization of music began around 1995 when inter-sense associations between painted image and the music of the band Deep Purple were explored.
A form of contemplative visualization related to the interpretation of both painting and music, an experience of attunement where image, sound, optic, and vocals coincide. Hearing is seeing and seeing is hearing.
The aim was to keep momentum with the tempo of the various instruments as far as possible and to integrate an interactive participation experience with the activity of painting alongside the music, rather than render a musicological analysis of the music.
Parts of the works were composed, save for the space surrounding the images that was dictated by the rhythm resulting in spontaneous light or heavy strokes.
Except for three pieces (Paice Ian, 01; The Mule, 1972; Gillan I, 03 Almost Human 1999; DP; After Rapture of the Deep, 2005), all others were drawn to continuous songs.
The first phase involved hearing the instruments/vocals. The next was a gradual interchangeable focus on one or more instruments, which produced a different set of lines/dots.
Up to fourteen layers of pastels, including transformations of images (DP; .Rapture), were used on each panel. Ascending and descending values were painted in accordance with a pitch or particular dynamic within a song.
Some songs evoked geometric patterns and free flowing lines (Paice I: The Mule; DP; Rapture). Dance notations also inspired linear patterns as a thematic choice.
Painting in rapid speed was easily achieved with the use of pastel medium. The ease with which one can maneuver and have an immediate hold on the pencil/chalk is an advantage.
This was a journey of growth, both intellectually and spiritually, due to the interaction of music, which is known to be an intermediate between matter and spirit realms.
To a large extent, it is the music that drives the composition to its finality. The hand that paints becomes an instrument in itself and thus, in a static time-based manner, becomes visual music or a form of visual performance painting.
Arlene Rabinowitz