After formatting a chart of 24 hours to plot the times, I transcribed these rhythms into music by assigning pitch, note value, and register based on their positions.  I created a “ruler” of musical pitch registers (octaves) using a 12-tone chromatic scale and the line lengths between suns, moons and tides became another element.  I chose flute for the moon, piano for the sun, and harp for the length of lines between rising and setting suns, moons, and high/low tides.  Pitch is based on the lengths of my friend Amy Burchenal’s harp strings. 

 

The mixed media collages include monotypes. My process is inspired by Zen Buddhist hatsuboku, or “flung ink” landscape paintings that capture the essence of nature through splashes of ink. Using water-based block printing ink on Chinese metal leaf joss, images emerge as a collaborative process between the inked surface, the paper, and my movements. The composition is always a surprise.  I then look for interesting compositions and crop the larger monotypes into circles.  Although it remains the same, the image appears to transform with subtle shifts of light against the metal leaf.  

 

To isolate visual patterns in the traditional score, each color used equals the total note or rest value (two tied eighth notes would be the same color as a quarter note); harp staff line colors correspond to those in the artwork.