PURE NASHVILLE 
art development 

     The search for "Pure Nashville" skyline took me over two months to find. After studying drawings and paintings of ancient cityscapes to modern day megastructures around the world, my mind was overwhelmed with a panoply of images. I couldn’t find anything that quenched my thirst. Then, I realized that I don’t live, breathe and have my being in those other cities. I do that here… in Nashville. This is the city where songs are born—and my first line of this piece made me smile.
     Each architect for these buildings has created a masterwork. All I had to do, as an artist, was to choose which structures to paint. I looked into what colors. But I could not make them pop.
I decided to use only black and white acrylics for this piece. It would be the same as when one is writing music, you condense the written music down to staves and musical notes on paper. Only when you play these black notes do you hear the color.
     

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Doorway to doorway, window by window, building by building, I had to make sure the style was precise and the number of windows and doors was accurate. This process gave me the baseline for the drawing. It was so fun imagining the vibrant history of each room inhabited by musicians filled with their own songs. As I was painting, I began to see the growth of Nashville history and future spill out as if onto a conductor’s score with the high-rises and the low warehouse like notes running across the canvasses.
       The music starts when you walk the streets in this city. Each window and door has a musical story. It takes strength and courage to take your voice and share it.  But share it you must.  Nashville has already permeated the air with readiness for your voice. There is plenty of room for everybody here. You add your color to the city.  That is what makes Nashville beautiful. You make Nashville beautiful. So Sing.