by Mark Keathley
Mountain Melody is available in the following sizes:
18x24, 30x40, 40x60 and 55x77
One of my passions is exploring the high country in Colorado where we recently
purchased a home just north of Durango. I can, literally, get lost
for hours going down trails or roads just trying to find a vantage point where
"it all comes together." I liken my desire for the perfect spot to
our desire to hear good music. When a band or orchestra is "together" and
balanced, where the harmonies are perfect and the music is soothing or
inspirational, it stirs the soul and moves you inwardly bringing emotional
release - even a sense of worship and awe. As you know in the music world,
a moment like that is rare, and when it happens, you want to soak it up and take
it in. We want the sound to wash over us and make us feel more alive. In
visual art, much like music, I strive to pull everything together in
a balanced yet dramatic, rhythmic but steady, soft here then bold there
manner - then do all this within a setting that I wish I would stumble onto
in real life. However, it rarely does all come together in the chaos of the
natural world. While there is order and planning in the living
things themselves, nature throws storms, floods, earthquakes, avalanches, ice
ages, and so on at the landscape creating a sense of disorder and chaos.
Most of the time, it looks like a junior high garage band sounds - messy!
Enter the creative and orderly thoughts of a human being, especially the
artistic mind and like a landscape designer, one can begin to simplify, order,
and arrange things in a more pleasing manner that soothes the soul.
Creating these make believe scenes is challenging, however, because I don't want
it to look like a park, or like someone "did it." I want the scene to
still feel natural and wild. So, I pulled together over 20 photographs for
this painting and wrote a song. I hope you feel the swell of the melody as
you approach this rushing stream. It is the crescendo of the song in the
hills where the music speaks powerfully to your inner you. This piece - Mountain Melody - was arranged and
"performed" just for you.
~ Mark Keathley
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