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Time, Space, and the Endlessness of Creativity

Jazz 3 - digital painting and art prints - 2005 - Dan Beck

Music exists in time and space, but not so much in vision - though one might not know that with the advent of music videos and of course live performance from the get-go.

It is not two dimensional and it is more than three - and I am not sure exactly why I say that. But like vision it can stay with us and reappear at a later time even though it is long gone.

How the above is like music is a tough call, but I know it to be. I know it was about the music I was listening to - moving to the beat and feeling the place inside.

Sometimes I feel art is time based as well - only working in a certain place and time - but creativity fortunately seems to be endless.

See Also

• Jazz 3 - art print options for above digital painting
• TBA Festival 2006 - apparently there is a time based art festival in Portland - last years offerings demonstrate the breadth of the concept
• Introduction to Time Based Art (course offering) - my understanding of time based art was always - limited time and changing over time - such as using organic matter - this course is almost the antithesis.

jazz painting revisited

Vertical Jazz - digital painting /art prints - Dan Beck -2006

Having strategically placing this piece in the new blog banner, I thought I would feature it again.

It was included for two reasons. First, I happen to feel like this is a strong piece - it reads well and is fun. There is the sense of flying sticks and it has the energy of music itself. And even small it is understandable.

Second, I wanted it to be obvious that this is also a site for music - it has not been the main focus but as I record more and get the podcast thing down - I anticipate this site becoming a fun place to listen as well as view.

In the course of my own developing creativity, I have found that art and music play off each other - and I in turn off them.

See Also

• On Developing Creativity - Good quotes about creativity - if you can read through the jungle

• Vertical Jazz - purchasing options and art print availability for above digital painting

• Can’t Stand Still - not all that jazzy but it does have some improvisation and it seemed right to put up a track - even if it can be found on the website - a taste of 1danband

jazz and art - timing of MJF and the timeliness of music and art

This isn’t really my genre - in that I’ve only done four digital paintings which show elements of instruments, playing, and the energy of jazz.

I feel qualified to paint on such a subject - I love to improvise - musically as well as artistically.

Improvising is the stuff of creativity - it is the heart of being a creative being. We use it when we converse, when we write, when we communicate in any fashion - because how else would we convey the world which is uniquely our own perspective.

So the article I saw today - pointed out the Monterey Jazz Festival starts tomorrow. Whether I end up catching any of it or not - (yes I too can let life get in the way) it is a pretty exciting event - with a huge range of performers and music over three days.

See Also

• Monterey Jazz Festival 2006
  Special information from the Monterey Coast Weekly
• Jazz 2: Exploring the Art Music Connection
  An article from last fall - that I feel I remembered as being to the point
• Listen to Music at Outhouse Studios
  Jazz influenced but I wouldn’t call it jazz despite the improvisation

Art prints improve upon digital image - experimentation improves even more

Jazz 3 - digital painting and art prints - 2005 - Dan Beck

I just printed this piece today. I had printed it once, but for some reason not large - 13×19″ watercolor paper.  I printed it today because I was considering hanging it in a show with some other pieces which reference jazz.

I have already written more extensively on what went into the creation of this piece, but I did not talk about the printing.

Today, I find this art print to be surprisingly nice. I am printing a little differently than I was at the time of painting this piece. I have found that if I save the image as a photoshop document instead of a bitmap(bmp), I get richer results - tiff files tend to be too crisp and take away from the painting and jpg’s are compressed by their nature. 

I have experimented a lot with this medium and I am really proud of the printed results I have been able to achieve - results which are always much better than the monitor image.

See Also

• Jazz 3
  Purchasing options for art prints
• About Bitmap Images - Two Types of Graphics - Vector and Bitmap
  explanation of bitmap - seems bitmap is more inclusive than I had understood

Musical conversations are portrayed visually

All That Jazz - digital painting - 2006 - Dan Beck

I love music - if you’ve been on my site, you might have noticed, I write music and play a number of instruments.

There are many similarities in the creative processes for music and for art. They are there even when one is not taking on such an obvious reference to the other - as in the above.

When I created the above piece, I put on some jazz and referenced instruments I was hearing and the kind of interplay that the instruments might have. I could probably make it out to be more thoughtful than it was - but in truth I didn’t think that much.

Having said that, I am well aware of my own education in jazz and music.  Improvisational music is a conversation - not an idea I invented - but it is.  The vocabulary changes with musician and background - but it is about listening, conversing and offers one’s take or perspective.

As a brand new piece - All That Jazz has not yet been set up with a way to purchase the original art prints - please send inquiries to specialorders@outhousestudios.net .

See Also

• Jazz 1
  Earlier piece with similar theme
• Improvisation
  Quick synopsis of conversations in music
• from The Age of Intelligent Machines
  similarities in art and music from new technological perspective - completely different angle but interesting

Improvising Flipped Out Printing Options

Flipped Out Jazz - Gallery Page - Digital Painting 2005

I wrote about this piece once before closer to when I created it.  As I am glancing back at the article, it is quite remarkable that I was experimenting with a piece about Jazz the way a musician playing jazz would experiment with the music - improvising.

I had actually forgotten that it was the first time I had flipped portions of an image both horizontally and vertically - thus the title "Flipped Out Jazz".

The reason I write about this today, is that I had a recent inquiry about buying this piece.  There are a lot of options with a digitally created piece. And like I’ve been saying numerous times in different ways - too many choices aren’t always a good thing.

But then again - that is one of the cool things about this medium - it is different depending upon which size one prints it. They look great at the smallest size I will sell a piece - that is the size that can be printed at Outhouse Studios proper 13×19".  The color is well controlled and the ink archival.

There are pieces which don’t look as intended that small and they are not being sold any smaller than what would fit in a 24×30" frame. But this piece - happens to look wonderful framed 16×20"over my piano.

See Also

• FLIPPED OUT JAZZ
  Enlargement of digital painting above
• Artist Print Shop
  Printing and Marketing Digitally Created Art

Caribbean, Romantic, Latin Jazz - Yield

Caribbean 3 - CD Cover Art - for New Music CD:

TESOROS DEL CORAZON (TREASURES OF THE HEART)
THE LATIN QUARTER JAZZ COLLECTIVE

See their website for ordering information.

A good friend of mine and saxophonist asked me to do some artwork for his upcoming CD. We have known each other for years and have played together more times than could be counted - particularly when we lived in the same greater Hartford area.

This is a very sweet collection of music, some original, some not, but all with a flair and panache that really makes this a fine listening experience.  Bob is a really excellent musician, skillful and imaginative. As evidenced by this album and the others I have heard, the entire Latin Quarter Jazz Collective is quite seasoned and remarkably musical.

As for the art - the assignment was Caribbean, Romantic, and of course Latin Jazz. This was the third of four possibilities and the one chosen for the cover. I mean what is more romantic than walking hand in hand on the beach at sunset?

See Also

• Latin Quarter Jazz Home Page
  Info about the group
• Latin Quarter Jazz CD Information
  Where to go to buy, etc
• Sunset beach couple
  1 more photo just for jollies - aaww

Communication, Improvisation, Uncharted Territory

View Flipped Out Jazz - Digital Painting - 2005 

Like my first attempt at portraying jazz (Jazz 1)in a visual medium, I used the obvious references to jazz instruments, sun glass coolness, and fingers and strings.

What I did in this piece which is actually a bit more jazz-like is that I went somewhere with the piece I had never explored before. I landed upon some uncharted territory which is the ultimate in improvisation.

Jazz pianist McCoy Tyner is quoted in the Telegraph Arts  "I can’t predict the directions my music will go. For me, all music is a journey of the soul into new, uncharted territory." Whether that comes through in the above piece without having said so is probably no more clear than whether a listener will recognize new musical space.

Part of my hope in portraying jazz was to touch on the type of communication used by musicians. The instrument clues provide a starting point for conversation, but there is an energy of play found clearly as well.  The final thing which was new to me and the uncharted territory in this case, was to let the computer flip over and/or reverse certain sections of the piece - thus the name Flipped Out Jazz.

See Also

• CSMonitor.com - In jazz as in life - err on side of adventure
  Lesson in communication of musicians and people
• PBS - Jazz Exchange - Recording Ban
  A bit of Jazz history - recording ban and “uncharted” bebop
• Telegraph: Young Turks and old revolutionaries stir up London’s jazz festival
  Preview of London Jazz Festival - quotes McCoy Tyner
• PBS - Profile of McCoy Tyner
  History and some music

Music & Art Similarities - Jazz, Abstract, Color & Sculpture

(larger View) Jazz1 - Digital Painting 2005

Within the last couple of months I produced a few pieces of specifically jazz related work. They are a bit of a departure from most of my artwork, but were fun to create. There was a competition in conjunction with the Monterey Jazz Festival - at least held at the same time and proximity and I was urged to participate.

My tact was rather obvious - referencing instruments and their being played and placing them in an abstract, multi-leveled, multi-colored sculptural kind of way.  As a result, these are the areas of connection I am going to touch on today.

There is such an obvious connection when art references the playing of music that the only thing worth pointing out - is that it is intended to make such an obvious connection - garnering support by the connection itself.

Music and abstract art seem very connected to me. Neither has to be about anything other than what it is. Being multi-leveled, multi-colored, and sculptural are also shared by music and art.

Sound gets layered upon sound upon sound and changed with each addition as the layers of color or paint would change a painting.  And the building of music requires not only beat and sound but space - just like a sculpture’s empty space is every bit as important as the solid.

To be continued…

See Also

• Jazz Art
  Links to Jazz Art on the Web
• Abstract Expressions: Musical Portraits of American Masters
  Connection between Music and Abstract Expressionism
• Connection.org: Sonic Sculpture
  when music and sculpture might be one and the same
• 48th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival
  Official Site for Monterey Jazz Festival