Music and Paper — Mary Ince Artist

In my last blog I spoke of how I came to my journey of Drawing my Journey_Through Music and Marks. This blog posting will include the what and why of my materials.

I have always had a love affair with paper. There is a physical feel to it that evokes a certain emotional sense. Of course, the tools one uses are an integral part of that experience. The scrappy drag of the charcoal, the harsh feel of the graphite. The smooth flow of the line of ink as the brush draws across the paper. It all depends on their relationship between me and the paper.

My materials: charcoal, conte crayon, graphite, chalk

Because I was traveling to my residency destinations, I had to choose certain tools. Some residencies were close to me when I lived on Cape Cod; some as far as Finland. It was hard lugging too many supplies with me. I sometimes had to drive a distance, or fly cross country, and even cross the Pond. I have become accustomed to using my favorite materials. I told you of the love affair I have with paper. As a painter uses oils on canvas, I love to use charcoal, ink, and graphite on a variety of papers. Occasionally, I use acrylic paint and crayons.

During my first artist residency at the Vermont Studio Center, there was a sensual relationship between my hand, the tools, and paper. At the same time, I seemed to be responding to whatever music I was playing in my studio. One of my creations was a large drawing_Unfinished Score. I remembered my experience many years earlier that produced The Schoenberg Pieces ( mentioned in my first Blog post_A Beginning) I had that same feeling when I created this new piece.

I wondered what this experience was. Someone said I might be having a synesthetic experience. “Synesthesia”, according to Psychology Today, “is considered a neurological (non-pathological) condition in which information meant to stimulate one of the senses stimulates another one.” One of the most common pairings is sound and color. I seemed to be experiencing a pairing of hearing and touch between the music I was listening to, and touching my materials to the paper.

Four to six percent of the general population have synesthesia. However, it is more common in artists. Some visual artists you may know either have documented cases or are suspected of having it such as, Kandinsky, Van Gogh, Joan Mitchell, Carol Steen, Melissa McCracken, David Hockney. These are only a smattering of visual artists. Musicians can also be included, List, Sibelius, Rimsky-Korsakov, Scriabin, among many more.

Stay tuned for the next installment of my Blog, as I share how I came to seriously pursue the idea of The Visual Interpretation of Contemporary Music.