music + feathers

A few random (musical) notes...

Getting really excited about one week from today, when we head up to NYC for a lovely weekend in the city. Yes, there will probably be a visit to the Guggenheim, lounging in Central Park (hopefully there's still some pink blossoms left to admire), a few fun veggie restaurants to try...but mostly it's to see him:


do this:

Can't wait to see Jónsi and the entire stage performance. I've already heard from a few friends who've seen earlier shows on the tour that it's AMAZING!

Another pretty exciting bit of news relating to music....I just found out earlier this week that a shirt I designed was chosen for the tour t-shirt for Imogen Heap's 2010 Ellipse Tour! I'd kind of forgotten about it when I was contacted by her manager with the news! Pretty excited about it actually...I really love her style and music.

I saw her years ago, and it was one of the favorite concerts I've been too. It was a small, intimate space - and how she handles a 1-woman show mixing all the sounds is incredible. (Plus, the flowers, fun outfits, and feather hair pieces don't hurt either!)

I was going to post the official video from the first single, First Train Home off the new album...but I like this live performance instead:



Actually, I'll get to meet her if I can make it to a show...I'd planned to go to the Orlando one in June, but now we'll be in Italy during all the dates in the southeast. Who knows though...maybe another quick weekend trip somewhere else is possible.

Plus, definitely something feather-y seems to be in order for what-to-wear to both concerts. Big nests woven of musical notes, peacocks, flower blossoms, rainbow colors, and plumes.

day of the earth

leafy greens, purples & reds in our deck box garden • large yard garden • view from above
HAPPY EARTH DAY!

I've been wanting to write about our garden for a while now, but never got around to it. So, now in honor of Earth Day I figured now would be a perfect day to post. Over the past year we've really been expanding in the green-thumb area. There's always been a random variety of eatable things in the yard, but now there's more than ever...and slowly but surely, we're learning how to better maintain, grow, sprout, and garden.

In the winter of '08, we (or I should say, Chris) built a box garden on the deck. It's only about 2.5'x3.5', but by last spring we had romaine, spinach, leeks, carrots, and fennel filling it up. Now there is a variety of left over leafy greens from this past season, and a lot of baby basil seedlings are beginning (getting ready for some homemade pesto and plenty of Insalata Caprese over the summer!). Also, in the ever-expanding herb selection, we decided to keep the varieties mainly contained in pots, and mixed per container. So there are a few pots of complementary herbs, while several are still potted alone. Among the group there are curry, lavender, thyme, sage, rosemary, mint (2 varieties), oregano, chives and parsley....all doing quite well.

potted gardens of fennel, lavendar, rosemary, oregano, thyme, and curry • first purple blooms on the lavender • mixed pot of sage, parsley, chives & thyme
Just last month, we put a big raised garden in the yard (I think about 11'x14') and filled it with plenty of organic compost along with some seeds, water, and sunshine...and now just weeks later it's out of control (in a good way)! There are several varieties of tomatoes (what did I tell you about the Insalata Caprese?), 3 types of peas, carrots, leeks, mixed greens, spinach, peppers, cucumbers...and marigolds (to hopefully help deter unwanted pests).

Also around the yard we have a couple orange trees which gave us a great harvest this past season, banana trees, loquats, ginger, aloe, and last week some friends gave us a lovely fig tree to add to the bounty!

rooting pineapples & avocados on the fridge • potted mint, peppers, & a few avocados • sprouting alfalfa
Inside, we've been doing a bit of growing as well...countless avocado pits have germinated in water jars above the refrigerator, and I just added a pineapple top to the collection. The avocados take a while, but finally almost always end up sending roots out the bottom, and a green stalk out the top. This is our cue to pot them (which we have about 5 growing in pots outside now) or give them away. It's hard now to throw any type of seed or pits out knowing we could just grow it. So I just sprouted 4 seeds from the last orange we got off the tree this year, as well as dried out a peach pit waiting for the next planting season for that to come around. Chris has been sprouting alfalfa regularly, and we enjoy handfuls every week!

It's definitely nice living in a semi-tropical climate, where a lot of this type of gardening is possible, and where we have a yard large enough to accommodate. Plus, its quite fascinating watching the cycles of living things...and just the simplicity of seeing our foods' beginnings. Many of our friends have taken up gardening to some degree recently as well...and we've talked about doing trades to expand the variety of fruits and veggies we can all get. Community. Sharing. Growing.

“The earth is what we all have in common.”
- Wendell Barry

sunny summer swimwear

Besides the humanitarian-based clothing line, JEDIDIAH, which I've been repping across the southeast, I can now add bathing suits to the mix...this time with TAVIK Swimwear. I'm pretty excited about taking on this line, and am anxious to help bring it to the Sunshine State. The brand is based in southern California and is really gaining momentum as a fashion force in swimwear.

some of my favorite picks from Summer '10 Collection
Red, White, & Crue Monokini • Pretty Zipped Up • Faded Bandeau

From the current Spring '10 line and the soon-to-be-released Summer '10 collection, the fun and edgy designs are making a lot of people take notice. Just since late last year, the collections have been featured in Elle, Marie Claire, Daily Candy, on Fuel TV and more...and the press doesn't seem to be letting up.

TAVIK Spring '10 "Blotch Floral" suit featured in Elle Magazine

Here's a video shoot from the Summer '10 line
(*email readers must click through to view online):


So if you need to get ahold of me this summer...I'll probably just be lying around in one of these suits on a Florida beach (or the shores of an Italian island :) :) )

TAVIK WEBSITE • FACEBOOK • TWITTER

painting series :: part 3 (making decisions)

Finally I'm making some more headway on the music-color art study that I've been working on. Throughout the brainstorming process, I've been writing notes down and trying to answer some basic questions before I get started. So far, here are a few of the main questions I had to sort out, and the beginnings of the basic layout.

1) What musical piece will I chose to base the painting on?

Musical Piece: Ára bátur by Sigur Rós
Key: C Major
Time Signature: 4/4

Listen to the piece here (*email users must click through to hear):

I chose this piece because I wanted to find something different from many more classical pieces that normally would be chosen for a study like this, plus this one was quite simple with the key and signature (very standard) and surprisingly only used whole notes (no half tones with #'s or ♭'s). This should make it a bit easier for me to hone in on color-note matchings. And, last but not least, I love Sigur Rós. Might as well pick a piece that I won't mind listening to over and over. Plus, I was able to find a basic written version of sheet music to base the final composition on, then wrote the entire piece out without repeats. Next step will be to also write the sung notes over the main accompaniment.

2)  What size and proportions to use as layout?

I decided to break this down by number of musical measures. The height will be the time signature and the width is the number of measures divided by the time signature to get an evenly proportional piece (otherwise it would be just a really really long and skinny line). For the height of each "line" which is where the notes will be painted, I used a scale of the entire note span from the piece. The note range is 27 notes from 2nd E below middle C (²E) to the 2nd high C above middle C (C²).The scaling was considered based on basic logistics and space constrictions.

musical measures in Ára bátur = 124
time signature 4/4 = 4 lines in height
124 measures / 4 = 31 measures per line
note range = 27 notes >> converted to scale of 1cm per note
converted scale to centimeters >> width = 124cm, height of each line = 27cm x 4 lines = 108cm high
final piece = 124cm x 108cm

Here are some layout sketches so far:

top: main canvas layout • with measures gridded • showing overlay
bottom: 27 note span per line • with overlays • sample of sheet music

3) What color pattern to use and why?

After looking at several color keys from studies all the way back to the time of Plato (some of which I showed in the last post about this study) I made this graph of the ones I'd read most about and narrowed it down to...and since the musical piece I've chosen only used whole notes, I've narrowed the color sections to show only the notes I'd be using.



I initially thought about using the Firth graph (which is based on a combination of previous studies), because I liked that there wasn't a linear representation of mainly primary colors for each note across the board, but rather it depended on how far away from middle C each note was as to what color it received. Here is his representation based on thirds and fifths:

from www.musicandcolour.net

One of the main differences of this color scale is that middle C is represented as white. Since the piece I chose is in the key of C Major, I decided against this scale as I wanted to leave the periods of silence as white also, this would end up in being a majorly white and drab painting.

The oldest, and in my opinion, most classic of the scales is the one from Isaac Newton in 1704. He based this on the basic color wheel and serious of optic color rays in order. He then matched up the main 7 colors of the color spectrum to fit between the 8 notes in a musical octave. Many people have represented his notes as the more primary and main colors of the specturm (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet)...but based on what I see on the drawing of his wheel...I like that the notes are placed in between the main colors:

Newton's Color / Music Wheel
That's how I represented his scale in the graphic I made earlier in the post. The colors came out more bold and are represented as: indigo/violet, violet/red, red/orange, orange/yellow, yellow/green, green/blue, blue/indigo. Aesthetically I am most drawn to these color pattens as well - so this is what I've chosen to work with.

...now on to some last ponderings before gathering the materials...

italian summer style

Continuing on the subject of the upcoming trip to Ischia and the film inspiration of "The Talented Mr. Ripley"...Like I said in my last post, there's just something about the style of Italy in the summer that is so captivating. Maybe it's the effortless steadfastness of classic style even with the temperatures are uninviting. Where, instead of ragged cut-offs and rubber flip flops being thrown on when it gets hot outside, the tailored linen and handmade sandals make an appearance.

stylish scenes from "The Talented Mr. Ripley"
Besides this film taking place in beautiful settings, it also has some of the most beautiful style. With wardrobe direction by Ann Roth, it was nominated for and Academy Award for Best Costume Design. In the special features and commentary of the film, the progression of wardrobes throughout the plot is described; and it's so interesting watching the style change from the mood in NYC (where the film opens) to the coastal casual of Ischia to more formal classic in the later scenes of Rome and Venice. Because Ischia is the focus, that's the wardrobe I'm highlighting too.

more scenes
The fact that the story takes place in the late 1950s, the style already invokes classic beauty, but the flowing skirts, high-waisted trousers, linen button-ups and silk scarves somehow remain timeless.

I found this film mood board on WhoWhatWear.com from last summer. It's a great breakdown of "channeling" this film's style.



I'm pulling out my strappy sandals and skirts, but I told Chris that I wouldn't go to Ischia unless he wore something like this:
:)
neon speedo in Ischia beach scene
...well, maybe I would.

our next trip & film inspiration

film scenes on Ischia with Ischia Ponte in the background
I'm not sure what it is about certain films, but a handful of specific ones hold a connection for me - whether in mood, location, period, or overall style. In several trips we've taken in the past, we've enjoyed being inspired to go to certain places, or discover new cities because of their appearance and development in a movie or even a book. Montmarte in Paris from "Amelie", Positano and Cortona from "Under the Tuscan Sun", Venice from Berendt's book "City of Falling Angels", NYC from countless classics, Rome in "La Dolce Vita"...and many others. Finding specifc cafes, corners, and views are always fun to hunt out.

screen grabs of Castello Aragonese on Ischia Ponte and street in nearby Procida
Without hesitation, if you asked me the place I'd most like to explore from a film or book - it would be the island of Ischia from my favorite movie ever, Anthony Minghella's "The Talented Mr. Ripley" based on the book by Patricia Highsmith. We've been to most of the other filming locations (Rome, Venice, Anzio, Palermo), but never its main one...the one where all the beautiful sunny, summer scenes were captured. In the movie it's known as the fictional town of "Mongebello", but really is a combination of coastal shots in Ischia Porte and street shots in the small village neighboring isle of Procida.

I know I've written about this before, but there's just something about the style of Italy in the Summer ... it's always been intriguing and magical to me. I think part of the obsession came from years and years of watching this film over and over. I seriously think I'd be in the running for person who's watched this the most. Probably in the hundreds. A lot of times though its just in the background, and I find myself subconsciously mumbling the lines under my breath.

Even with all the time we've spent in Italy, summer has never really been part of it. So it still holds a mystery to me, and one I can't wait to experience.

more scenes from the film
So when we started talking about where we wanted to go to this year, several options were initially brought up. Biking in Provence, exploring Portugal, camping out west, etc etc...but try as we may, Italy just keeps pulling us in. (Plus, Chris hasn't been back since we moved and I've been twice - so he had a pretty big say in this trip). So needless to say, we just got tickets to Rome and will be headed for a lovely sunny stay on the Mediterranean!

Here's a great trailer which shows some beautiful atmospheric Italian scenes:
*email readers must click through to watch online

So there it is...summer in Ischia. Finally :) Exploring an island in the Bay of Naples, full of volcanic thermal spas, and within a short boat trip to nearby isles of Procida, Capri, and even the Amalfi Coast. I have no idea of the actual itinerary, and we may head up north to see some friends for a couple days. But most of the time will be concentrated around the southern coast.

NON VEDO L'ORA!

easter weekend + camping

Happy late Easter weekend! It was a beautiful weekend here in sunny coastal Florida. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and perfect for being outdoors. Good thing, as we ended up going camping with a group of friends. It was actually my first time camping (properly...in tents, in the woods, fire pit, no water). I know, I know...way too long in my life for me never to have been. But it's not like I haven't been up for it...it's just never come up. But I figured there was no time better than this weekend to start as some good friends of ours invited us to come along and let us borrow some supplies.

So on Friday evening we headed a little south to the lovely Princess Place Preserve which sits on the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway. Full of wildlife, and unspoiled Florida scenery, the campsite sat right along the shore and offered refreshing breezes the entire time.


We saw lots of deer, some armadillos, and beautiful birds. As soon as we arrived, one of our friends had a egg hunt ready for us...so for about 15 minutes we all regressed about 25 years and ran around the site with Easter baskets searching between palm fronds, in hollow trees, and under picnic tables for colorful plastic eggs. Then we all spent the next 15 minutes digging into the chocolate candy we found inside our loot.


After a campfire dinner and hours of talking and laughing, we bundled up in our tents for the night. In the morning the guys went on a long bikeride in the super foggy morning air. We enjoyed coffee from a French press and eggs and soy-sage over the fire for breakfast. The rest of the time was a mixture of canoeing, playing games, climbing trees, and hours of lounging by the sunny shore reading books. Times of simplicity like this - no phones, no computers - in nature with friends make me feel so blessed and thankful.

ps: yes, I plan to go again.

painting series :: part 2 (color study reading)

In trying to journal this progress of working towards a painting series I thought I'd write about what I've been reading about. I've narrowed the basic premise to be a study of correlating music and colors. I'm still working through a lot of questions that I need to answer before I finally begin, like what music I'll base it on, what technique to use, and what process of correspondence between the tones and colors do I want to use...(more on this later). In the meantime, I've been surprised to find so many studies on the subject already recorded throughout history.

chart outlining many theories of tone + color pairing throughout history

It's been quite fascinating to learn more about the theories. Scientists, thinkers, and artists have tried to map the relationship between sound and visuals for centuries using such techniques as electromagnetic spectrums, mathematics and the Pythagorean Theorem, astrology, astronomy, Eastern thoughts of chakras with color representations, optics, and brainwaves. Here are some of the studies I've come across with the best way to correlate colors with tones.

SYNESTHESIA

• A neurologically-based condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway, as a blending of sensory experiences. People who report such experiences are known as synesthetes.
• Many people with this condition "hear" colors, or "taste" sounds. One of the most common combinations is that of sound and visual color.
• Artists throughout history have reportly worked through and with this condition, including the painters David Hockney and Wassily Kandinsky, musician Duke Ellington, and composer Franz Liszt.

chart showing how one with synesthesia may see letters and numbers

TONAL ANIMATION

1. Music Animation Machine:

Several people have worked out various ways to animate sound and one in particular has made a lengthy study on many different ways to portray note duration, connectivity, etc. The Music Animation Machine is a program developed by Stephen Malinowski which uses the basis of the color wheel corresponding to the circle of fifths in tones as the foundation for the color assignments per tones. They've experimented though with the portrayal of the durations from the colors only appearing when the pitch is played, or always shown but only highlighted during play, or connected with a type of line plotting chart.

this is a chart of the visual patterns of various composers


and here is a video of one of my favorite animations from the series:
Chopin's Nocturne, Opus 27 #2 for piano

2. Vivid Group, Ian C. Firth:

Another technique used in the visual animation process was developed by the studies of Ian Firth, where horizontal lines are represented (corresponding to specific notes) at various heights all corresponding to tonal relationships (higher and lower on the scale). He may be using the color chart from Longuet-Higgins of fifths and thirds with white being the C Perfect. Nevertheless, it's a great representaion of a simple one-line melody from J. S. Bach's The Well Tempered Clavier. It quite reminds me of my linear paintings I've done before as I seem to be partial to line breakdowns.

screenshots from the animation video.
click HERE and scroll down the page for the full video

3. Visual Audio:

This is a visual language developed for the deaf community by Ciaran O'Kelly which translates music to visuals. Besides just converting tones to colors, she also uses various shapes and movement to represent different musical instruments. The method she has used to correspond the tones to color is by matching the audible and visual wavelength patterns from the Tzolkin sonis translations of the electromagnetic spectrum.

screenshot from sample of piano piece translated into "VA" (Visual Audio).
click HERE to view full sample


It's a lot to narrow down and work through...mainly deciding which route to use (which color charts to work from), as so many different ones are represented in different studies.
...so on we go...