LJ and NJ

This painting is adapted from a photo i took in New Zealand a few weeks ago, of an old church which, before becoming commercialized, had served the surrounding farming community. I changed the church to a house and I imagined the scene in bright daylight rather post-sunset, which was the setting the evening we were there.

An additional feature of this work is that it is part of a project in which i was blending a piece of visual art with a piece of music. My plan was to embed in the painting several examples with paint of a musical motif or theme from a fugue. For those of you who read music, i ‘m attaching a photo of the first few lines of the fugue i chose — one that i love and that i’d worked on over this past summer. (Bach, WTC Book 1, #17 — for anyone interested to know (!)). So the musical theme, 7 notes, is represented in the trees, in the mountains, and in the sheep. You can see in the pattern of the notes the movement of the music, and if you are inclined to search the painting, you might be able to find the fugue pattern in the three places i indicated above. If you are not so inclined, you can just look at the painting!

Top photo is reference (Near Lake Tekapo, south island, New Zealand)

Painting is 11” x 14” Oil on panel.