The Rite of Spring

The Rite of Spring, 8x10", oil on canvas, mixed media

Often after finishing a large painting, particularly if it is a tightly rendered work of realism, I like to make something looser, more illusory and impressionistic - helps to keep me balanced. As I work on oil paintings and clean off my palette, I collect the unused paint on numerous small canvases to use as a base for these dreamscapes. This is a piece I painted in celebration of our orchestra's season finale, when we performed The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps), a monumental work by Igor Stravinsky. The opening segment, titled The Kiss of the Earth, begins with a haunting bassoon solo (the music that I have added to the painting) and is the focal point of this painting, as it is with Sacre. That is Igor's autograph right above the music!