Intersection: A talk about Peter Schwarzburg
Art does not happen in isolation. The alchemy requires ingredients beyond the artist a blank medium, and will not perform its magic unless those are provided. Like the fiddler of legend meeting the devil in the crossroads, we all must venture into the intersection between our creative process and life in general to re-charge our dynamic batteries and sharpen that edge upon which balances the power of our creations.
Artist Peter Schwarzburg drank deeply from the well of life, and left his mark on the latter half of the 20th Century as a thinker and teacher in addition to his body of work in painting and drawing. Without a doubt, he would still be wearing all these hats today had it not been for his untimely death in 2002.
Musician Ray Alexander met the artist during his regular gig at the Sagamore resort in Upstate New York. Resolve40 enjoyed a long and lively conversation with Ray and his wife, Marcie, about how the two made a creative connection that changed their lives and works. In his words:
“One day, I’m driving to work about 6:30, 7 at night, and he’s walking down Main Street with his art folio. He had some paint, some sketchpads.” Ray recognized him because he came to listen to the music every night, and stopped to give him a lift. “He told me that the music became a catalyst to give him inspiration, that we played so free…doing our own improvisation, our own concepts …conceptual playing is something that he did himself and also respected and enjoyed.”
“Late at night after the resort guests went to bed. They’d come in at about 11 have their espresso. I remember Peter smoking, a double-fister-smoker… a very large man …once we started talking about music or art he became boyish, very bubbly, effervescent, giggly…he was a fun kind of man.
“I never really did see his art until recently and I was amazed. At first I felt uncomfortable, then I looked at it more and I said wow, just something else going on. And then when I received a piece last night, it brought a tear to my eye…I was honored that I mad such an impression on him.
He did love be-bop, he loved the be-bop format and the conception of the be-bop music,…where they took a structure of something like Gershwin’s “I’ve got Rhythm”…take the melody out and write another set of notes along the same chords...he knew about the music probably more that I knew about art – but since I married an art major…
Rays wife Marcie had this to say:
Ray has affected so may people over the years… it does seem that he has even more of an appeal for other artists… they could be in a completely different field, …but it’s all about being creative in the moment…Other artists always seem to notice that ability to be in the moment, and coming from a truly creative place.
(we noticed –we played Ray’s CD one evening and found that we could not resist getting up and dancing)
Ray told us how he thought Peter’s art would impact his life and work:
“I get teleported, I don’t know how, it just happens…that painting will influence me. At some point I on put my tape recorder on and put my feelings out to that, and interlock Ray with that picture and hear and see what happens… that will change my life…I feel connected to something special.”
Our talk with Ray was something special too, an enlightening reminder that God is in the details. In a creative life, little things can make a big difference,whether they are the music we hear, a painting we own, a lovely garden – any small experience can generate artistic ripples far beyond their original magnitude in space and time. See you in the crossroads.
© resolve40.com
The Work of Peter Schwarzburg can be viewed at AFP Galleries
by appointment only ... Catalogues are available . 1 212 230 1003
Peter Schwarzburg
Pure Genius
AFP Galleries
41 east 57th street
Mon-Fri 10-6 By Appt.
1 212 230 1003
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