WMV Music Web Log

I haven't been doing any art. I feel awful. Thank God and Goddess that I am going to VCCA next Tuesday. It's hard to admit that sometimes I have to actually leave town to focus fully on my art work, but it's just the truth. Sigh.

Most interesting today was a call I made to a foundation, to check on asking for funding for Musica Viva. I actually reached "the main man," and had a lovely conversation, very open and genuinely friendly. I do believe there are philanthropists, people with an abundance of financial resource, just waiting to find people and organizations to share it with. Here we are, giving the society the real thing - it's just a matter of time.....

We are sending out our fundraising letter tomorrow!

Wait - the other highlight of the day was purchasing a large bottle of Yes glue. Some of you know what that is.
And printing some beautiful tree images onto rag paper... and reading the blog of Andrew Lindemann Malone - terrific writing and it makes you really like him. Today's piece was all about trees, and those great spots that the sun makes through the leaves.

Marilyn

I am very excited about about a show I am curating - the title alone says a lot: Strong Work/ Hot Topics.
So far the artists are me, Dylan Scholinski, Tom Block, Donte Hayes, and Clarissa Sligh.
All the work is strong and confrontive enough to be unmistakably NOT decorative. You won't find any of this work in a Washington area bank or in Nordstroms - at least not in 2006! My venue is a community college, Prince Georges Community College. My idea is to let the students know that art can be made from difficult subject matter, and you don't even have to hide it!

Marilyn Banner

Yesterday we went to an artist's talk by Sheila Crider at the Parish Gallery in Georgetown. I had written her name down 3 years ago after seeing her work at Artomatic, and then again this year, when I also put her on my "top ten" list and sent it to Lenny Campello. I love her work. It is quiet and sophisticated, deceptively simple - actually not simple - that's what I mean.
Its quietness is very much like that in the work of Mary McCoy, who also stitches and uses line a lot.
Most impressive in her talk was her focus on placing one's work in the context of art history. I am inspired to think and write about my own work from that perspective.

Marilyn

Several years ago Mar said she would never do another restaurant show. Free art for the restaurant goers, and few sales. Now that her work is selling, and being shown in colleges, (2 coming up this season) she seems to have a more "let's see what happens" attitude.
And voila, she has connected with an art consultant who oversees shows at a Silver Spring restaurant called "The Golden Flame" on Fenton near Colesville Rd. Myrtis Bedolla, of Creative Artisans, has chosen 16 pieces to exhibit for 3 months, beginning late this week - including these two beauties below, based on a line from The Song of Songs: "I am Black and beautiful."
You can get onto Marilyn's art mailing list by emailing her at marilynbanner@verizon.net.



"Lips of Crimson Silk" encaustic painting by Marilyn Banner (c) 2005




"I Am Black and Beautiful" encaustic painting by Marilyn Banner (c) 2005

"Double Bass" encaustic painting by Marilyn Banner. [SOLD]

"My Violin", 12"x12", encaustic painting by Marilyn Banner. I like this especially because the perspective is from the chin of the player. (Collection of Betty Hauck)

"Take Your Pick", 11"x14", encaustic painting by Marilyn Banner. Shown at the Atlas Performing Arts Center show. (This low res photo does not do justice to the piece - I'll try to get a better one).

"Long Long Ago", encaustic painting from the Music Memories series by Marilyn Banner. 8"x8", currently on display at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St NE. Only $275!

David (David Cheng, that is, of David Cheng IT Consulting Services has come through with this nifty new feature for the blog: links to mp3s - wow!

OK, this little clip was a motivating factor for programming the Bruch Stücke Op. 83. I was driving back from a rehearsal with Gary Poster in Fredericksburg, listening to the Bruch and wondering why Betty Hauck loves it, and then this little melody brought tears to my eyes:

br6fgmt1.mp3

And then it comes back:
brfg2.mp3

Got to try out the new image function (thanks, David!). Here is one of Marilyn Banner's music encaustic paintings that I plan to use for the January all-Mozart concert postcard. It is called "Fragment", is 8"x8", and was priced at $325 at her Atlas Performing Arts Center show. Every music painting we have put on a postcard has sold, so far. "Swoon", the last one (currently on the front page of the website), went to one of our favorite poets, Liz Murawski.

Wow, that is so cool!
[SOLD, December 20]

It seems to me that Shostakovich’s string quartets are infrequently performed by string quartet ensembles here in the USA. Would you agree? I’m usually bored by the Haydn or Mozart quartet that opens the typical program, and I’m really tired of hearing Ravel and/or Debussy that pop all too often.

With 15 quartets, you’d think Shostakovich would get more “air time” simply due to the range of his works. The only quartet I know well is the 8th, which I’ve loved for many years, but I hardly know the other ones.

So if his quartets are indeed seldom performed (hard to tell by Google searching), why is this? Do string players consider most of the quartets to be generally inferior to others in the literature? That would seem to be most likely reason, since I can’t believe that the players wouldn’t be familiar with such a large body of work.

Since I have the complete Quartets by the Fitzwilliam, I've decided to listen attentively to all of them and see if I can answer my own questions. But it would nice to hear some other opinions.

PS: I know that 2006 is the 100th anniversary of Shostakovich’s birth so there will be plenty of festivals, but I’m talking about year-in year-out programming.