Sunday, October 3, 2010

Vibrations in the Soul

Vibrations in the Soul watercolor 12x9"

"Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul. " -Wassily Kandinsky

Recently I read about Kandisky and loved what he had to say about color, art and music. Kandinsky felt  "music is the ultimate teacher" and  thought of art and colors in musical terms calling his paintings "improvisations" and "compositions." He said he heard chords and tones as he painted colors - a condition known as synesthesia.  For him "color yellow was middle C on the piano or a brassy trumpet blast; black is the color of closure, end of things.." and "white acts like a deep and absolute silence full of possibilities." 

There is a fascinating article in Discover magazine from some time ago that asks "Are We all Synesthetes? - Hear a painting, taste a symphony, and smell a color - is that what we do subconciously?"  I like that :) 

During the summer, I attended a concert where the musicians were making music under a tent on a very bright beautiful day. I could only see the musicians near the edge of the tent and catch glints of sunshine on the instruments deeper inside.  "Vibrations of the soul"  was painted with memories from that day. 

11 comments:

Kathy Staicer said...

This is great. I love the colors and highlights and reflections. Good work Meera.

Meera Rao said...

Thanks Kathy, it was fun to paint too :)

Thaikaden said...

Nice work.

Meera Rao said...

@Thaikaden, Thank you :)

padmaja said...

Oh, I totally relate to this lovely post and you know why:-)
Always a pleasure to paint something to do with music!

Meera Rao said...

Thank you Padmaja, you are so right about that. I really enjoyed reading about Kandisky and art and music connection!

Hema Penmetsa said...

I can hear the music when I see this painting. Wonderful! Loved the quote at the beginning of the post!

I first came across synesthesia in a middle-grade novel called "The name of this book is secret". It's such a curious concept!

Crystal Cook said...

THis is so awesome Meera. I love the highlights and the colors. Beautiful! :)

Meera Rao said...

Hema, thank you! I will look up that novel-I am curious now :)

Thanks Crystal! - I nearly went cross eyed painting that instrument :)

Unknown said...

Oh, I love this post. I've always known that artistic people show an interest in all the arts, not just one. Musicians love fine paintings, and writers love great music, etc. It's all about the shared experience of the senses. I'd love to read more about this concept!

Meera Rao said...

Thank you Katherine! yes, synesthesia is a fascinating concept -isn't it?

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