Piano Forte

36 in x 48 in,

10/24

One of my dearest friends from fellowship asked me to develop two paintings that would fit in with the colors and themes of his home - one for the living room and one for the dining room. This one is the picture for his living room to be positioned immediately behind a beautiful black baby grand piano. The room's colors are ivory, white, black, some brown, some dark reds, neutrals and golds. He chose a starburst pattern, and I used dozens of colors related to the ones in his room, laying them down one by one in a pattern that I thought looked effective, particularly by juxtaposing darks against lights. There are plenty of metallic colors in it to make them pop, and I used several "transparent" paints by applying them in a bouncy, uneven manner to give the impression of being backlit. There are dozens of colors in the piece, including many custom hues. I even developed a new technique to “marble” a color by mixing transparent acrylics with medium and applying them with impasto in layers. When I thought about what to call it, I kept coming back to it's intended position above the piano in the room. I called it "Piano Forte" in reference to that, but also because the colors in the piece are a mix of soft and strong tones, which is literally what "piano forte" means in Italian.