A round canvas painting inspired by the Pink Floyd song of the same name
If you’ve never heard it then go have a listen. A light and serene opener to the ‘Division Bell’ album that has connotations to the origins of space and the emergence of life.
THE STORY BEHIND IT
So much of this reminds me of an Orchid or Iris. In truth though what shaped the way I painted this was the opening track from the Division Bell by Pink Floyd. ‘Cluster One’ features 1 minute of what appears to be white noise but is actually a real recording of the static produced by the cosmic Big Bang dating from the earliest origins of the universe, recorded using a radio telescope.
As the song plays the beautiful guitar tones of Dave Gilmour plays alongside a soulful and translucent piano layer. The instrumental vocalization, for me, is perfect.
Tonally rich, light and fresh and a feeling that celebrates life. To echo that wave of feelings into a painting is a tremendous honour. Who cares for convention when you can let the music take over? You’ll see what I mean if you scroll down and play the video.
The painting itself is bathed in a deep gloss finish – as thick as a mirror as you reach the centre. It’s intricate details echo the meandering constant of the noise at the start of the track whilst the ghost-like, ephemeral piano is represented by the outer edges; the guitar track provides the big areas of colour. This is just my interpretation of course but that’s what this music does for me.
Repeat after repeat and it still sounds epic. I painted this over a three week period so you can imagine the whole album got played many times. I have no complaints about that I assure you!
ADDITONAL INFORMATION
Materials
- Canvas: Belgian dense weave; 425 gsm
- Primer: Three coats prior to painting
- Paints: My own formula enamel paints (17 colours)
- Frame: Hand routed 25mm MDF
- Hand-stretched and stapled on the reverse
CLUSTER ONE
by Pink Floyd
