"Transitions: A Self Portrait" Watercolor 16" X 16"

Transitions: A Self Portrait, a 16" X 16" watercolor

I've considered doing a self portrait for years. I wanted something that would represent my life from the early days through the present. Previously. I wasn't quite sure how to do that.  In this portrait, the ribbons represent phases of my story. I decided to use ribbons of history to capture memories about my life through the symbols on the ribbons, which you'll notice run over my head and make their way into me, depicted by the shapes on my face and neck.  

After finishing the painting, I decided one of the ribbons actually served a dual purpose since some of the shapes reminded me of hieroglyphics. I was always fascinated with the ancient Egyptians, doing a report on hieroglyphics in either the fifth or sixth grade. Later, I went on to study anthropology, including archaeology, ancient cultures and modern cultures, long before switching to a path in electrical engineering and semiconductor design, which was the original thought behind that ribbon. I won't share the meaning behind other ribbons so you can have your own interpretation.

Recently, I've created portraits where I want to capture more about the person than their image by using unusual colors and symbols to represent their life or how I interpret their inner being. Now I just need an opportunity for a photoshoot where I can capture a more dramatic shot than a typical family photo. 

Stay tuned for more of these portraits of life.

Interested in April's artwork or taking one of her classes? Consider becoming a Studio Friend by signing up for her twice-monthly email. April segments her newsletter so you can select topics you'd like to hear about when you sign up. For those who Select the General Interest topic you will receive emails about twice-monthly. If you are only interested in classes, then the emails will be much less frequent discussing upcoming classes and how to register. Select as many topics as sound of interest. Thank you for your support of April M Rimpo Art.

Contact April and see more of her art on her website

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

Collaboration with Musicians - Part III Bob Jacobson

Connecting © April M Rimpo

As part of my and Elaine Weiner-Reed's exhibit, Portraits of Life: The Art of Storytelling, we put out a call for musicians and writers to collaborate with us as part of our exhibit. We provided those who responded a series of images of our paintings. They then selected which ones they would write music or poetry to. 

Bob Jacobson remembers his first time improvising, at age fifteen, to the folk tune "Billy Boy." He's been playing improvised solos to jazz, R&B, rock, blues, and Latin tunes ever since. This was his first experience creating melodies and improvisations inspired by artwork, almost totally from scratch. 

Visiting New Orleans in May of 2018, which included playing on the streets of the French Quarter with two bands of seasoned local musicians, aided him in responding to the Preservation Hall piece, Showing Off II.

Showing Off II © April M Rimpo

Below is a link to a video I created from raw video photographed by my husband, Chas. 

I'm so thankful for this experience, which would have never happened if Elaine Weiner-Reed had not started her initiative "Every Painting is a Song."




Follow this link to see the video of Bob's performances to Connecting, which he played on the Saxophone, and Showing Off II, which he played on the clarinet.

Copyright of Text and Images of April M Rimpo Art held by April M Rimpo All images and content remain the property of the Artist. All Rights Reserved. You may share these videos with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.No reproductions or prints are authorized. All rights reserved.

Interested in April's artwork or taking one of her classes? Consider becoming a Studio Friend by signing up for her twice-monthly email. April segments her newsletter so you can select topics you'd like to hear about when you sign up. For those who Select the General Interest topic you will receive emails about twice-monthly. If you are only interested in classes, then the emails will be much less frequent discussing upcoming classes and how to register. Select as many topics as sound of interest. Thank you for your support of April M Rimpo Art.

Contact April and see more of her art on her website

You can also stay up to date with April M Rimpo art through Instagram @aprilrimpo -  Please join me.

Collaboration with Musicians: Part II Gerald Richard Ingley

Part II  of April M Rimpo and Elaine Weiner-Reed's 
Collaboration with Musicians on May 22.

I know I keep saying this, but I am so grateful to Elaine Weiner-Reed for suggesting we continue her "Every Painting is a Song" initiative as part of our two-person exhibition, "Portraits of Life: The Art of Storytelling" at Bernice Kish Gallery in Slayton House. Having musicians improvise pieces to our work, create structured improvisations by a trio of classical musicians, or write lyrics and song was a mind blowing experience. 

Gerald (Jerry) Richard Ingley brought me to tears with his lyrics for Ruby and Bernie to my painting Venus & Mars. I didn't expect him to have time to also write the music, but he did do just that. I got to cry all over again when he sent us a recording of the song along with his thoughts on the piece.

Venus & Mars © April M Rimpo

Venus and Mars © April M Rimpo

CLICK HERE TO HEAR THE SONG

Ruby and Bernie  Gerald Richard Ingley © 2019 Music, Lyrics and Vocals

About my painting Jerry said, "I used a personal experience as a basis for the lyrics after I'd studied the four people, the old guy with the ball cap and sandals standing near to but slightly apart from the woman with … a sweater … tied around her waist. The personal experience is evident in the lyrics, but the outcome of the real experience is … different from the storyline in the lyrics.”

Ruby and Bernie    Gerald Richard Ingley © 2019 Music and Lyrics

            Ruby and Bernie they’d not known each other ‘til the day that Fate played its hand,

Gentile and Jew they were soon to discover a future they’d not understand.

 

Bernie played saxophone Ruby just danced and she’d smile and she’d laugh and she’d sway,

And when their eyes met they were instantly lovers but never to go all the way.

 

You see, night after night they would weep in the shadows of the Temple Beth-El’s mighty stone

Gentile and Jew they held tight to each other, knowing they’d have to leave it alone.

 

So prayers left unanswered and hearts left broken, they parted and traveled so far

Ruby was married, had three lovely children and Bernie was swept off to war.

 

(brief instrumental riff)

 

Fifty years later their spouses had passed and they came back to where they’d grown

With parents now memories, their children on their ways leaving Ruby and Bernie alone.

 

Then on a warm summer Sunday our Ruby stood waiting on the corner of Second and Dell

When a bearded old fellow in a ball cap and sandals asked “Does this bus stop at Beth El?”

 

Ruby turned slowly and nervously spoke in a whisper “oh, can it be true?”

“I once fell in love with a saxophone player, please God, tell me, Bernie, it’s you.”

 

(brief instrumental riff)

 

So the story goes on and they live there together still in love with each other all the while,

You see once in a blue moon when the stars all align, the Gods that we pray to still smile.

For me Jerry's lyrics added depth to my painting that I makes me love the painting more than I already did.  Learning what others think when they see one of my paintings make the painting for me.  Everyone's different perspectives are joy for me to hear. Getting to also hear how my painting sounds through Jerry's song was a amazing experience that I'll never forget. 

Chance Encounters © Elaine Weiner-Reed

Chance Encounters © Elaine Weiner-Reed

Elaine Weiner-Reed   https://www.elaineweinerreed.com/

Read about Elaine's painting and hear Gerald Richard Ingley's Song 
"I Don't Want to See You Anymore" 
on Elaine's Website.

What do you think about the music and lyrics by Gerald Richard Ingley? Please share in the comments.  

I'm sure I will continue to collaborate with writers or every kind in my future exhibitions.  If one of my paintings every inspires you to create a poem, story, play, music, sculpture or an other form of art, please share it with me. Of course, if a painting brings back memories for you I'd love to hear those too. By sharing our thoughts and creative work we make the world a bit better.


Copyright of Text and Images of April M Rimpo Art held by April M Rimpo All images and content remain the property of the Artist. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright of Elaine Weiner-Reed artwork held by © 2019 Elaine Weiner-Reed (EWR) All images and content remain the property of the Artist.

Original songs by Gerald Richard Ingley (c)2019 Music and Lyrics

You may share these videos and April M Rimpo or Elaine Weiner-Reed's work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.No reproductions or prints are authorized. All rights reserved.

Interested in April's artwork or taking one of her classes? Consider becoming a Studio Friend by signing up for her twice-monthly email. April segments her newsletter so you can select topics you'd like to hear about when you sign up. For those who Select the General Interest topic you will receive emails about twice-monthly. If you are only interested in classes, then the emails will be much less frequent discussing upcoming classes and how to register. Select as many topics as sound of interest. Thank you for your support of April M Rimpo Art.

Contact April and see more of her art on her website

You can also stay up to date with April M Rimpo art through Instagram @aprilrimpo -  Please join me.

"Wondering" 18" X 24" watercolor

"Wondering" 18" X 24" watercolor © April M Rimpo

Wondering is an exploration into telling a story, about a moment in a person's life and what I image may be her thought, through colors, lighting, and shapes. Leveraging full strength, non-representational, wet-into-wet watercolors for the shaded side of her face, I then juxtaposed this strength with very pale natural colored washes on the brightly lit side of her face. Hard lines add texture to her hair, along with a few touches of splatter, mimic the splatter that forms the feathers in her hair. The addition of some geometric shapes in her face, in the foreground and background contrast with highly organic blends surrounding her. These organic blends are repeated in the squares on the left side of the painting, serving as a means to pull together the organic and geometric contracts found elsewhere. 

I'm delighted that "Wondering" was selected by juror, Joseph Becherer, for the International Society of Experimental Artists International Exhibition. Joseph Becherer is the director of the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame and formerly founding director and curator of the sculpture program at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This exhibit will run from September 7 - October 26, 2019. 

This painting is available on April's website, where you can see a larger image.

Interested in April's artwork or taking one of her classes? Consider becoming a Studio Friend by signing up for her twice-monthly email. April segments her newsletter so you can select topics you'd like to hear about when you sign up. For those who Select the General Interest topic you will receive emails about twice-monthly. If you are only interested in classes, then the emails will be much less frequent discussing upcoming classes and how to register. Select as many topics as sound of interest. Thank you for your support of April M Rimpo Art.

Contact April and see more of her art on her website

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

Black Swans 14" X 36" watercolor

Black Swan ©  2019 April M Rimpo

It seems like I photograph swans just about every time I see them, but think this is only the second time I've painting them.  The first time I was new to watercolor and they were white swans. This painting hides in our bedroom, since my painting ability has come a long way since it was created and I would never show it to others. As I recall I saw these black swans during a vacation to New Zealand. I'm not 100% sure of that, since I store my art reference photos separately without reference to the location, so it could have been elsewhere. I believe I also saw black swans in London and somewhere in the US, so who knows.

I find the black swan intriguing. As I painted the swan I realized there are a lot of pale colors nestled in and among the black feathers.  First I painted all their pale shades, so at one point they looked like they could be white swans. Later I added the dark feathers. I love how hints of the pastel colors show through. 

Interested in April's artwork or taking one of her classes? Consider becoming a Studio Friend by signing up for her twice-monthly email. April segments her newsletter so you can select topics you'd like to hear about when you sign up. For those who Select the General Interest topic you will receive emails about twice-monthly. If you are only interested in classes, then the emails will be much less frequent discussing upcoming classes and how to register. Select as many topics as sound of interest. Thank you for your support of April M Rimpo Art.

Contact April and see more of her art on her website

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.