All That Jazz!

Jazz is imbued with complexities as is our visual world. This painting was inspired by the music of Weather Report...especially the track Birdland on the Heavy Weather album.

Birdland, Oil and pigment on linen, 152 x 122 cm

Listen to the music below:

All Fired Up!

Hot off the press! The monthly artHIVES newsletter gave me a feature slot for one of my paintings. See the artwork here: www.ariastone.com.au/reef

Excerpt from artHIVES Newsletter

Out Of Confusion Comes Order, Clarity And Knowledge

Sometimes when you start something new, the confusion can reek havoc with your poor little brain! It is at this moment you can turn and run like a coward or take a deep breath, slow down and dig in. The path to understanding is simple but not necessarily easy. 

Last night I started digging in to the first exercise in the Melodic Structures Volume 1 by Jerry Bergonzi. Man...it took me a while to even understand what he was talking about and exactly what I needed to do for this first assignment. For some of you, breaking down the scales and chords into numbered steps is just baby stuff but coming from an intuitive self-taught by ear background, there was nothing but confusion in my head. 

I felt desperate and contacted a friend with the hope he could shed some light on the matter and just explain what to do. Unfortunately he was not familiar with the book. That is when I remembered being told "after confusion comes order" so I dug my heels in and took it slowly. It didn't take long until I had figured out what I had to play. Eureka! Clarity took place and I had created new neural pathways in my brain. "Look Ma, I've made new brain cells!" I was on my way to working through the first exercise!

You know what Lao Tzu said... "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". Slowly, slowly, slowly and patiently I'm going to nail this sucker within my seven day deadline! 

www.jerrybergonzi.com/vol-1-melodic-structures

Credit goes to saxophonist David Strong for recommending this book to me. I would not have taken a second look if I had not been inspired by Dave's funky playing on some Youtube videos I stumbled upon following a trail of funk bread crumbs. Check out some of Dave's funky licks on the videos below.

Now, you might be asking "what the heck does this have to do with visual art?" Well, for me it has everything to do with it. Quite often I begin a painting not knowing where it is going to end up. Improvisation and layering are my personal choices. The process starts off with some spontaneous mark making. After layering, then standing back and responding to what I feel the painting wants, the image can become really busy and confusing. 

At this point, it is so easy to throw one's hands in the air and give up. By all means, I have a break and allow the mind to assimilate everything. Now is the time when persistence, and the knowledge that 'from confusion comes clarity', kicks in. Blind faith and courage are needed to just keep going. To quote from a favourite movie "everything works out in the end and if it hasn't worked out, then it is not the end." The painting tells you what it wants each step of the way. It will also tell you when it is time to stop. We just need to learn how to listen.

Here is an example of this process, 'Tracking Hope' from my Sound In The Landscape series. 

Aria Stone, Tracking Hope, oil, acrylic, wax and pumice on canvas, 76.5 x 76.5 cm

View this and other paintings on my art website: www. ariastone.com.au/tracking-hope

Mark as Rhythm

Hypnotic rhythm meditation can be a great way to free up preconceived ideas and expected outcomes. Check out some of my rhythm drawings on my art website here: Aria Stone improvised rhythm drawings

Aria Stone, Meditation #3,
pastel and charcoal on paper,
76 x 56 cm

Aria Stone, Meditation #2,
pastel and charcoal on paper,
76 x 56 cm

Aria Stone, Meditation #1,
pastel and charcoal on paper,
76 x 56 cm

Meanwhile I have been working on a smaller scale with artist's marker pens on bleed proof paper. This is a medium that is fairly new and lends itself to experimenting with slow marks. My intention is to distill ideas down to the most simple elements with repetition as a theme. Eventually I will use some of the motifs for prints. After that the plan is to do some studies on canvas and linen to see what happens when translating ideas using acrylics and oils.

Aria Stone, Rhythms, artist's marker on bleed proof paper

How To Manage Multiple Disciplines

If you have multiple interests and commitments you probably have experienced the feeling of being overwhelmed. This can be very debilitating and some days you might end up accomplishing very little. The key is to plan your day the night before and set times for your projects. 

I find that it works best for me to get up at 6am and do some sax practice without disruptions that can occur later in the day. It is a heavy lifting task so if I get it done first, I am less likely to not practice at night because of feeling tired. Mind you, it does not always pan out to get the saxophone playing done in the morning. It is an ongoing project for me to embed the habit of regular practice into my routine. I still test different ways of incorporating it into my day, depending on my energy levels..and sometimes...well it just doesn't happen and I have a rest!

My inspiration comes from a number of players that are absolutely awesome mentors and educators. Greg Fishman is one such saxophonist. He keeps writing and producing some of the best tuitional books available. Check out his collection here: www.gregfishmanjazzstudios.com I highly recommend his books and iPad / iPhone apps.

As an example of his Hip Licks collection, Greg demonstrates taking Lick #53 through twelve keys on the video below. He has a private Facebook page where students upload videos of the weekly riff. It is amazing how much talent is in Greg's Facebook group. This is definitely a constant inspiration for me to keep working toward the level that, at times, seems out of reach.

Ok...So back to the subject of managing multiple disciplines. Well, it really boils down to committing specific amounts of time to each project in order to move forward with all disciplines. One thing that has absolutely helped me is an inspirational video from a young multi-millionaire, Matt Clark. He talks about how he manages to run several successful business projects at once and goes through his daily schedule. 

Additionally, I was prompted by Matt's business partner, Jason Katzenback, to get a monthly desk calendar which lives on my lovingly refurbished white pine desk. Each Sunday evening I sit down and decide what goals I want to accomplish for the coming week. I break it down into tasks and keep checking the list during the week to make sure I stay on track. Again, this is a fairly new system for me and I am still integrating it into my life so that it becomes a positive habit. 

One favourable aspect of having multiple interests is that they can feed each other in some way or another. Listening to 'Birdland' by Weather Report prompted me to create the painting below which was aptly titled 'Birdland'. Sometimes when I improvise on my sax I see visual arrangements and layers in the music. I really enjoy exploring the relationship between painting and music. View this painting on my art website here: Birdland

Aria Stone, Birdland, oil and pigment on canvas, 153 x 122 cm

Onward and upward!

Sax And All That Jazz

Behind the scenes I have been developing my appreciation for some of the jazz greats. Dexter Gordon is one of my absolute favourites! His tone and expression give me inspiration for my own tenor saxophone aspirations. Dexter plays 'Round Midnight live on the following video.

Another one of my all time great sax players is Sonny Rollins. His tone is impeccable. I guess practising 12 hours a day really contributed to that! Now at the age of 84 he has cut down is hours to 3 per day. Rollins is recognised historically as one of the leading and most influential jazz musicians. Here is his rendition of 'Round Midnight. 

Although my roots have been in popular music, rock & roll and blues, I feel that unless I delve deeply into the history of jazz saxophone, I will be only scratching the surface with my playing. Now with the help of the renowned jazz performer and teacher, Tim Price, I have started to study the scales, techniques and approaches necessary to develop my playing. Tim is an incredibly generous coach and has a warm, supportive and patient manner. He is also a fantastic sax player. I feel so privileged to be taken under his wing and I highly recommend him as a teacher. 

You can check out Tim's website here: www.timpricejazz.com He also has a great community on his Facebook page: www.facebook.com/tim.price.9275439 All I can say is thank God for Skype!!!! Visit info on the Skype lessons here: Tim's Skype Lessons

Enough blogging for now. I am just starting my three hour practice session for the day!

Short Article In artHIVES Newsletter

I am so pleased that a short article will be running in the next artHIVES newsletter in early May. My painting 'Reef' will be featured in the write-up. 

Aria Stone, Reef, 2013, oil and dry pigments on canvas, 91.5 x 155.5 

artHives hosts artist run websites, prints artists books and publishes a digital monthly newsletter. You can visit artHIVES here: www.arthives.com

Shop Now Up And Running With Cart!

I figured out how to add a shop and a cart to my art website. Now people can buy my drawings and paintings with Paypal and in most cases will get free shipping to locations in Australia. Check out the shop under 'current artworks for sale' here: www.ariastone.com.au

Silence 1, oil, acrylic, wax and pigment on board

Silence 2, oil, acrylic, wax and pigment on board

Screen Printing Tests And Samples

Today was my initiation into screen printing. I created some black and white photocopies from simple patterns that I had previously drawn on bleed-free paper with a marker. This afternoon I learnt the process of all the steps to screen printing on fabric. 

• First the application of photo emulsion on the screen. 
• Next let the screen dry and apply vegetable oil to the photocopies.
• Then lay the oiled photocopies onto glass and exposing the images on the screen. 
• After that the screen is hosed until the emulsion washes off leaving the clean screen ready to print with.
• Stapled material to fabric table.
• Placed the screen over the fabric and pull the ink over the screen with a squeegee.

Here are my first tests on cotton and linen giving me insight as to what my next steps might be. 

Aria Stone, First Tests, 2015

I think I have started to peel a very big onion! It could take a while to get some great patterns on fabric...another sideline project that will keep me off the streets!

Someone did give me a great tip. They told me about Spoonflower...a website that will digitally print your designs on to fabric for those bespoke projects. Check out the website www.spoonflower.com It looks fabulous with lots of tuition videos to support their customers. 

And now for me...more experimentation...

Aria Stone, Pattern No. 5, ink marker on paper, 2015

How To Start A New Project

I am just about to embark on a new project using some different materials. The plan is to come up with some designs to print on fabric for my new brand. I joined the local printmaking studio, Megalo, to learn some screen printing techniques and to run a few tests. 

Table With Art Materials, 2015, photo by Aria Stone

I have often been asked how to begin a new project...

When you have no concrete ideas and you would like to start a new body of work or project, one suggestion is to go to the art shop and look at all the materials on display. Pick a medium that you have never worked with before. Pastels, acrylic paint pens, oil sticks, art markers, aqua pencils, wax crayons, charcoal and watercolour paints are but a small selection of materials that may be of interest. 

Take the items home and start running some experiments. Don't have any fixed idea in mind. Just start playing and see what happens. Create numerous studies with freedom and surrender to the process. Don't be precious about wasting the materials or making a mess. Have fun!

If you are used to being fastidious in copying the visual world precisely, try drawing with your eyes closed. Taping some charcoal to a long stick will also free up your mark-making. If you are always loose in your drawings, you could have a go at doing some fine detailed work within your drawing. 

After a few weeks of working with your new materials, you may find some interesting ideas emerging from your studies. From there, pick a favourite image and create a body of work on canvas or board based on your preference. 

All artists have different ways of working and entering into a new project. It helps us grow to try different techniques and experiment with mediums and materials. 

Below are a couple of examples of my playful experiments. 

Aria Stone, Study No. 2, ink, acrylic and pencil on canvas,
52 x 41 cm

Aria Stone, Study No. 3, ink, acrylic and pencil on canvas,
52 x 41 cm