colour exercises; watercolour on paper, 18 x 25 cms

another acquaintance of mine, Krax; graphite pencil on paper, 21 x 15 cms

colour exercise; watercolour on paper

timpanist with his instruments; graphite pencil on paper, c. 21 x 15 cms

I was mistaken; I have to re-formulate. This polarity is not about time-and-space matters, the way dancers do it. It’s more like the visible world calling for the invisible. Material bodies of instruments and human beings, interacting to shape the immaterial/imaginary space of music.

Thanks to the orchestra and its various directors for sharing their working process with me.

cellist with her instrument; graphite pencil on paper, c. 21 x 15 cms

four more drawings from an orchestra rehearsal; graphite pencil on paper, c. 21 x 15 cms

four drawings from an orchestra rehearsal; graphite pencil on paper, c. 21 x 15 cms

Yes, this is very different from drawing (for instance) dancers. While moving art performers interprete a temporal impulse into spatial, thus visible, reality, the orchestra’s performance establishes more of a polarity; the aim of the effort stays the audible field, and yet there is a great deal of ‘bodyness’: gleams of varnish on the violins; the instrumentalist’s physical concentration and coordination of movements in playing; the almost architectural issue of supporting and supported parts when the cello player brings her instrument in a ready-to-start position. And the conductor’s oral instructions helping to bridge the gap… like “trust the fact of getting there softly”… I’ll keep that one.

six drawings from a rehearsal; graphite pencil on paper, c 20 x 28 cms

Some more drawings of Milo; graphite pencil on paper, 21 x 28 cms

Milo, my shaggy friend, is leaving, but Augustine of Hippo stays with me.

“What is it that shineth through me and striketh my heart without injury, so that I both shudder and burn? I shudder because I am unlike it; I burn because I am like it.” (Augustine’s Confessions, XI 9:11)

Two drawings of Milo; graphite pencil on paper, 21 x 28 cms

colour exercise; watercolour on paper, 15 x 10,5 cms

Still enjoying the privilege of being able to work in the atelier, now accompanied by Augustine of Hippo “alive, with fiery breath”. And, being a doggy-sitter for some weeks, I take daily walks in a light filtered through autumn leaves.

Constantly awaiting the continuous miracle.

Milo resting; graphite pencil on paper, c. 25 x 30 cms