Turn Around

Oil on masonite, 16" x 20" (40 cm x 50 cm), about 26 hours.

I painted and gave this to my mother for Christmas this year (2007). It is my impression of her, based on memories dating back as long as I can remember (and longer, actually). When I was just a little tyke, I'd go stand by the piano and watch my mother's hands when she'd play. And she would play on and on and on, being quite a graceful pianist and an accomplished piano teacher as well.

As it is an impression, based on memory (I used a screen cap from a low-res home-video for reference--it was just enough to show me how big her hands were in relation to the piano lid and so forth), I have taken quite a few liberties in putting it together. First, the piano has no brand name, as adding it would have detracted from the polished reflections and colors I wanted on the underside of the lid. Second, I forced a lot of color into it across the spectrum. Third, the piano and reflection are both distorted to create the motion and composition I imagined in the picture--technically one should see the reflection of the ivory keys above/beyond those blacks, but that didn't "feel right," so I took them out and pulled the reflections closer and lower.

You get the idea.

Regardless, she loved it, and it's something I was pleased to do, and that's all that matters, really.

Enjoy!