Drawing of pioneering jazz musician, Bix Beiderbecke (1903-1931). Although Bix wrote and recorded several piano pieces, there are no known photo of him playing piano. This was an invented composition. I gave this drawing to the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society for a fundraising auction (a substantial amount was raised).
When the German American Heritage Center organized a museum exhibition, concert and national speaker forum honoring Beiderbecke for the following year, I was contacted to create promotional artwork. The museum's director and I decided instead on a large mural (30' in length) to be displayed on the building's exterior.
When the German American Heritage Center organized a museum exhibition, concert and national speaker forum honoring Beiderbecke for the following year, I was contacted to create promotional artwork. The museum's director and I decided instead on a large mural (30' in length) to be displayed on the building's exterior.
German American Heritage Center mural: I painted the mural in three days on a garage floor section by section (the garage wasn't big enough to row it out fully). Just starting.
German American Heritage Center mural: the first time I was able to see it off the floor. I drew and painted it freehand (without a grid, projection, etc.), so I needed to make proportional corrections.
German American Heritage Center mural: displayed on the center. Here it is at night.
German American Heritage Center mural: short video taken from a drone.
Bix Beiderbecke Museum mural: The first mural led me to this project. I worked primarily with the museum designer and a committee of '20s jazz experts to develop the mural's content and composition, Here are two sample sketches of the dancers -scaled to fit the mural (the second dancer is nearly life-sized).
Bix Beiderbecke Museum mural: Sample color tests (based on 1920s colors). I also tested different backgrounds. These figures would not be used.
Bix Beiderbecke Museum mural: I used a diagram of the musical instruments' placement as a translucent overlay in Photoshop to help me place the dancers. The background that the committee selected was problematic because the lake and diminishing scale of the dancers indicted depth, while the pattern was flat on the surface.
The planning took several months. I thought I would have weeks to paint it. However, due to an unexpectedly tight construction schedule needed to complete the museum, I learned at the last moment that I had to paint the mural in just a few days. I did.
The planning took several months. I thought I would have weeks to paint it. However, due to an unexpectedly tight construction schedule needed to complete the museum, I learned at the last moment that I had to paint the mural in just a few days. I did.
Forbes Magazine photograph of finished stage with the figure of Bix and musical instruments in the foreground. Published in the summer of 2017.
