Peonies in the Cut Glass Vase

Peonies in the Cut Glass Vase
Copyright 2015 Hirschten
Oil on Canvas 16" x 20"
Prints available on Fine Art America

Excerpt from the poem "Peonies"

Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into the garden,
and softly,
and exclaiming of their dearness,
fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,

with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling,
their eagerness
to be wild and perfect for a moment, before they are
nothing, forever?

-Mary Oliver

Father and Son Fishing at Morse Reservoir

Father and Son Fishing at Morse Park Reservoir
Copyright 2015 Hirschten
Oil on Canvas 16" x 20"
Prints available on Fine Art America

"If people concentrated on the really important things in life

there would be a shortage of fishing poles."

-Doug Larson

The Mulberry Tree at Stony Creek Farm

SOLD, The Mulberry Tree at Stonycreek Farm
Copyright 2015 Hirschten
Oil on Canvas
16" x 20"
Prints available on Fine Art America

This past weekend I participated in the Hamilton County Paint Out.  For two days we painted throughout the county.  I visited Stonycreek Farm and the Morse Reservoir.  I was very thankful that this painting was purchased during our competition.

Now I fall in love with a lot of trees.  I will see one and say to myself "wow, that is the most beautiful tree ever!"  Then I will round the bend and say the same thing about the next tree.  This is one that is high up there on the list.  

The owner of Stonycreek Farm said that it is a fifty year old Mulberry tree AND an outhouse used to sit below it.  Well fertilized richness!

"The grass is always greener over the septic tank."

-Erma Bombeck

Hail Poetry!

Hail Poetry, Section 1, Copyright 2015 Hirschten

Hail Poetry, Section 2, Copyright 2015 Hirschten

Hail Poetry, Section 3, Copyright 2015 Hirschten

Hail Poetry, Section 4, Copyright 2015 Hirschten

Each panel is Acrylic on Canvas, 12" x 36"

"Hail, poetry, thou heaven-born maid!  

Thou gildest in the pirates trade.

Hail, flowing fount of sentiment.

All hail, all hail, divine emollient."

-Gilbert and Sullivan

This set of paintings highlights a section of music from Gilbert and Sullivan's musical, The Pirates of Penzance.  For me this is a stunningly divine piece of music laced with humorous truth about how grace holds a place even in the hearts of pirates. An emollient is a lubricant used to keep a machine running smoothly.  So poetry is what keeps our lives well-oiled and flowing.

Here is a YouTube video of the music:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZqgwJacJMY

The idea of translating music into visual form is not a new one.  Many artists such as Kandinsky and Marc Chagall have done this.  I am developing a set of exercises for the art classroom based on this idea. 

Yet can we truly translate one art form into another?  One function of every art form whether it is music, painting, sculpture, writing, dance or whatever is to communicate the the viewer.  Often we are communicating emotions through symbols, color or sound in a way that is not possible with words.  Each art language has special power.  We can take on the challenge of translating these forms, but some of the nuance will be lost in translation.

This painting has many symbols including a section from the pirate Blackbeard's flag: