Chapter 8: Musicians

In the last three landscapes (9m-p), I suggested at the end of Chapter 7, the trees not only seem to strike a dance pose but also to sing. Music was another of Mom’s loves and another approach to the sacred. In Oregon City she sang in the choir of the Atkinson Memorial Church as well as the chorus of the Pioneer Senior Center. She had a season ticket to the Portland Symphony every year. She attended Chamber Music Northwest in the summer with her son John and daughter-in-law Louise. She had her records, tapes, and hundreds of CD’s to enjoy at home. She thoroughly enjoyed being with her professional violinist son John (above, 10a), and his equally professional singer-flutist wife Louise. When not playing themselves, they took her to hear others. On one outing she sketched a local Virginia pianist, Connie Olivera (10b):



At some point Mom turned this sketch into a pastel and pencil piece (10c), adding color but just as minimalist in its lack of detail. She left us another similar sketch, this one of a singer, no doubt of operatic arias, Slide 10d. There is some humor in both sketches.





In a similar vein is this sketch of a band, playing on a stage, centering on the marimba but with other instrumentalists to each side (10e). Perhaps it is summer concert in the park.



We also have this sketch of a strng bass player (10f). Perhaps it was inspired by Mom’s grandson Brandon, who for a while was playing this instrument in addition to the piano.



Mom was a great fan of the opera singer Pavarotti. She loved his joie de vivre as well as his singing and had many of his CD’s, not just of opera but of popular Italian songs as well. She did a sketch of him from a magazine photo and made copies to pass around (Slide 10g).



In 2003 Mom visited John, Louise, and their son Brandon and sketched while she was there. They took her to a gathering at the home of friends in Leesburg, not far away, the Markses, a family with five musically talented boys. The music bubbled over, and Mom sketched while she listened, capturing the moment and the mood (10h). I would guess that the center person is John, clutching his violin. He has curly hair. Perhaps the bassist is Brandy. There seems to be a warm connection between the two. The person on the right would probably be one of the Marks family. To me the lines suggest a fast and furious section of the music.



In another sketch (10i), John has shifted to the left. Perhaps now we are at a slow section. An interesting feature of both sketches is that the main person, the bassist, is viewed from behind. And both show the intimacy of the occasion.



In the next sketch (10j), John tells me that it is probably him on the violin, Brandy on piano. The violinist in the one after (10k), however, is one of the Markses.



My last two examples from these sketches (10l-m) use just enough detail to convey the scene, leaving much to the imagination. Slide 10m gets the two violinists from the back. In all these sketches, the motion of the pen suggests the flow and energy of the music, in an increasingly economical fashion.