This piece was created for an upcoming show at Gauntlet Gallery in San Francisco where the theme is music. As my focus at the moment is lookng into the nature of all things, it was nice to do so with music. Music tends to be such a common thread in all our lives, how at some point during the day we listen to it. It is a euphoric experience, where one loses oneself in song. Even if the song itself tends to be of a negative nature (aggressive lyrics, etc), one is still blissed out in the nature of the experience. Myself, I try to bring all experiences to reality. That is the here and the now. The present. And everyday we are bombarded with constant moments that either take us towards reality, or away from it. Music is no acception. I experience music in the way to heighten the experience of what I am doing in the moment. me listening to Whale Song at the beach as i prepare for a sunrise swim I often swim in the ocean out here in San Francisco, and its becomes my ritual to listen to a song written and performed by comrade Genevieve. Genevieve, creator of "The Whale Song" Its called "the Whale Song", and as I look into the ocean with this song in my background, the present moment is intensified where the emotions in the song take me into the distance of the water farther than if the song were not the there. When I was in Colorado recently, jazz piano virtuoso Tyler played a number for a group of us where we participated by each choosing a note on the music scale where he composed it in the moment and unified our playfulness in the moment, into a beautiful piece created on the spot that had us mezmorized as we witnessed the harmony of music and passing reality before our ears/eyes. Tyler the jazz piano virtuoso The portrait for the nature of music expression is based on Ludwig Beethoven. I've never tired of listening to the ninth symphony, and though there are many, he comes to mind when i think of the nature of music's potential. Transforming, transcending, timeless. Its a fun archetype to play with as well, in that he is a somewhat abstract individual representationally, in that there are no photos of him, only busts and paintings. I worked with various images, setting up a general idea and sculpted my way from there... searching. The intention is more of an expression of the spirit. process pic of early stage Music is such a deep human expression, experience and its my hope in this expression to shed a little light of awareness to its beautiful nature. There is a song for you! for all of us. Thank you musicians. past, present, future.

The nature of music... our favorite songs that nourish our metaphysical appetite. The musical experience is a direct one. Within seconds once can be instantly transformed. The full range of human experience, expressed in a universe of musical compositions. Love, loss, pain, joy... wherever one is at in one's experience, there is a song for you. To intensify one's passion, thru a song. Whatever one's taste in music, perhaps the commonality that has us as devout isteners, that has music such an integral part of our lives, is the instant bliss. The nature of music triggering glimpses of enlightenment, freeing us from the inherit nature of suffering we are all born into. Where for that 2-3 minutes of melody, notes, rhythm we experience true freedom. Free from attachment to anything in this world. Free from one's self... and so in this way let us find harmony in our lives with music. Let us not limit our musical enlightenment to a song in the intimacy hidden under headphones that has our repressed soul dancing underneath the walls  of thickened skin... let us take the heightened state of musical uplifiting and allow it to play in the background of our lives and perhaps here we will suddenly find the transformation actualized, as we find ourselves under spotlight, center stage looking at the empty audience seat we once sat in, in the ocean of discontent  human bodies we were once a participant of. And in this moment when the knees begin to buckle with the realization that we have become the composer of our own destiny, and our lives becoming the greatest compositional work that we dance ourselves in, let us return to our favorite song as an inspiration to recall that fearless freedom that brought us here. And let this song bring us deeper into the reality of our being, not escaping it, making each second of the day richer. And it is here that we will experience the nature of musics potential... beyond sound. nature of music, watersoluble oil on wood panel, 16"x 20", 2013finished piece