Brooklyn Buzz Podcat by Shannon Geis!

What an honor! Thank you for putting this together so beautifully! Click HERE to read the article and listen to the podcast!!

A little background...Meet the Pianists

Documentation of a journey into learning how to listen.... For this project, I met with 9 Pianists in New York and drew the distance between their hands as they played Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Each positive line represents one of the pianists. There are Ten lines (one being my line, created by listening to a recording by ear) that make up the landscape of the mural. At each meeting, I set up a space where I could see the pianist's hands and I drew (like a blind contour) onto roll paper. In preparation, I drew staff lines on the paper so that the lines could show how they moved up and down along the keys.

Each meeting started with a presentation of my work and the journey that lead me into their homes and studios. I then listened to the stories of these musicians journey's. I am so grateful to have been given a chance to work with such talented and spirited individuals. I hope that our collaboration continues.

The Moonlight drawings were photographed and uploaded into Illustrator where I colored them and converted them into one continuous line. I then layered the lines to create the composition and added the negative space between the lines. The image was printed on 20 sheets of 8 1/2 x 11" paper. On the 130' wall, we measured out 20 sections and made 12" horizontal separations. I then divided each section (about 6 1/2') into 4 and began the upscale of the lines. It was a surprising feeling to have a free intuition to the way the lines flowed...I know these lines!

Some of the pianist came out to paint their line on the mural. I loved this full circle journey!

Melina Faylor

Isaac Wynn

Please Join Us for the Dedication Celebration!!

Friday, September 30th, 2011: THE FINAL COAT

On my 35th Birthday, 32 High School Students gave me the best Birthday present ever. We set the final image of the mural in with a Polyurethane glossy top coat that was applied only to the 10 lines of the Moonlight Sonata. The negative space between those lines were left flat, creating a push-pack to those spaces and some added dimension to the mural's surface. Thank you to Kimmy and the BuildOn.org volunteers and to the two angels that live next door that that pushed through to the final moment that ended with a big cheer! And many many thanks to Ms. Gretchen who was right there the whole time with her perfection and ease.