6/25/21

The music has been calling, beckoning me on to create more...

In the summer of 2020 the musician cEvin Key offered up a song stem for his Patreon subscribers to remix. This is something he had done a few times before with some astounding results submitted by many talented subscribers. Something about this new offering resonated with me and I set out to try creating a song worthy of submitting. Luckily the idea for my mix flowed effortlessly and I quickly had something that felt just might work. Which was good since there's only a two week window to create a submission after it's made available. After putting the final touches on my mix I submitted it and waited. Finally the day came when cEvin posted up the final mix-down video, where he stitches together the best submissions into a long version with a backing video he creates. I watched with baited breath as one incredible submission after another played and then I heard it. The first three ominous notes of my mix pounded out as the word "soundpharm" scrolled across the bottom of the screen. I had made the cut!

I hadn't thought that my career highlight as an artist might be the creation of a song, but there it was. I had collaborated with one of my all-time favorite musicians. I don't say that lightly either. cEvin has been inspiring me since I was 17 years old. First, through his band Skinny Puppy. Then through his collaboration with The Legendary Pink Dots in a band called The Tear Garden. Followed by a side-project called "download", another called Cyberaktif, yet another called Doubting Thomas, and finally, his own solo work. This was monumental and inspiring.

My mix for "21D" can be downloaded here: 21D - soundpharm'ix

A few months later I was asked to create a theme song for a podcast by a friend. The podcast, Debuff the Ego, centers on gaming and philosophy and the host, dNaught, had requested something a little video game / rock sounding. Knowing he had a taste for Ska I also aimed to put a bit of that flavor into the mix. This made for a wholly unique challenge for me since I am not really a musician, but rather a sonic tinkerer. In the end he liked my creation and I was also pleased with it. You can check out the MP3 here: Ardentrale

But wait, there's more! At the same time as I was working on Ardentrale, I had started several other songs too. One crept to the top of the group though and demanded to be completed. As I wrapped it up, a song that I felt might be the best music I had ever I made, I decided it needed an equally incredible video to complement it. After playing around in After Effects it became obvious that the video was going to be the easy part. I quickly had all the visuals I needed to work with (over 20 minutes!) and set to timing them to the music.

After nearly six months, Entranzon was finally ready for the world. There is a lot of energy packed into this project and it was fun to see it evolve into its final form. The video originated from a clip of fire but as I experimented it took on a whole new feeling, often resembling ice more than fire. The song really speaks to my tastes in electronic music and I dare say I’m quite proud of it.

11/30/20

The flow of creativity through challenging times

MycealizationMycealization

Mycealization

Details: Acrylic, 12x12 inches, 2020
Interconnected fractal networks underlying and permeating reality.
Transtellar ModalityTranstellar Modality

Transtellar Modality

Details: Acrylic, 11x14 inches, Jan-Feb, 2019 Price: $750
Continuing to explore geometry in space. It has been theorized that at the Planck scale the structure of the universe is a matrix of equilateral triangles.

The past several months have been unique to say the least. You'll note that my last post was right before the country went into lockdown over the spread of COVID-19. The timing and significance did not go unnoticed. It sparked a sense of creative urgency in me. I created two more videos shortly after the last one and continued working on a painting that I envisioned in 2017 and started in early 2020. A lot of thought went into figuring out how to depict the various concepts that I was attempting to juxtapose. At last things finally came together and I finished "Mycealization".

Mycealization is an exploration of various forms of networks which exist in our universe and share some similarities. From the microscopic up to the colossal, these networks feature fractal structures and perform profound feats of information exchange. Through my own fascination with taking pictures of mushrooms, I recognized a kind of circuit through several levels of networking that were at play.

Lastly, this painting was a great learning piece for me as I became comfortable with the concept of painting over something that I didn't feel looked right. Previously, I had always attempted to paint it perfect the first time. Each brushstroke was intended to be exact and final. Not this time though. The log was too small, the head was too big, those mushrooms didn't look right... paint over it and make it right! I surprised myself with how much I could improve things by just painting it over. It was quite relieving and allowed for a greater sense of peace with the final outcome. There were some areas that I didn't even know what to put until I had attempted something, and then the idea would strike for a perfect fit.

Since the first video for Auroral Chaoscade, I have finished two more videos and generated about an hour of new footage. My explorations into After Effects have been extremely fruitful and I've really found my own aesthetic within the video medium. These two videos show quite a bit of progress. "Realicine" is subtle and like the song, it has a very hypnotic affect. I created the video in nearly one night using footage of snow swirling and overlayed upon itself in various reflective states. Things really go to the next level with "indEEN".

Things really go to the next level with "indEEN". This video was created using my photos of the two interstate bridges over the Cuyahoga Valley Nation Park, I-80 and I-271. The song "indEEN" is from 2016 and features yet again a fractal musical score. This melody was created using a fractal algorithm, generated by the software Gingerbread. The MIDI sequences were exported, arranged and finally mixed to create the song you hear. It took nearly all of 2016 to complete. There is a sort of dialogue between two opposing forces here, that of the Id and Ego. They palaver a bit but eventually come to terms. Enjoy and share.

Finally, I somehow missed posting a painting from the beginning of 2019. "Transtellar Modality" continues the geomerty in space theme that Galaxometry started. The concept touches on a theory proposing that the structure of the universe at the Planck scale is made of a matrix of equilateral triangles.

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3/13/20

Manifestations Realized

A new painting and song were both pulled into my life over the past six months. The 16x20 inch painting started as a sketch made on a warm sunny September day in my back yard. The vision for the finished painting was so vivid that I had to start on it quickly so as not to lose the creative momentum. It came together fast over several sessions and was finished by January 10, 2020. Then it sat without a name until recently.

Sometime back in the fall I felt an urge to get back into making some more fractal music. After wrapping up my painting I dove into a session of fractal exploration with the program Gingerbread. Using the program, points on the Mandelbrot set are selected which then generate a sequence of notes based on iterations using the famous equation. Scale, note frequency, transposition, repetition and the virtual instrument are all manually configured to create the most appealing melody. The result is a MIDI file that can be further manipulated in a digital audio workstation and ultimately mixed and mastered into a final song.

This track uses eight unique sequences that are non-repeating and 124 bars long. Several sequences were used with multiple instruments as well as converted to percussion tracks. The resulting song "Auroral Chaoscade", is the auditory version of watching a deep fractal zoom into the Mandelbrot set.

For the video, I wanted to use my new painting as a way to introduce them both to the world. But it still didn't have a name! When thinking of names for the song the name "Tetralospere" occurred to me for the painting. I pulled a photo of it into Adobe Premiere to layer and minimally manipulate it for a kaleidoscopic effect.

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10/10/19

Moments in Time

Two watercolors completed in the spring-summer season of 2019. One continues the series of a transformative event, which may have two more yet to complete the series. I've done a lot of sketching for the final piece, but so far it's still in limbo. The painting Isophere was an excercize in exploring the concept of spherizing a tessellation. I wanted to give it a planet-like appearance with light emanating from within. With watercolor though, sometimes it decides what effect you get.

01:00:0001:00:00

01:00:00

Details: Watercolor, 6x8 inches, Apr 2019 Price: $300
The third in a series of five paintings depicting a tranformative event.
IsosphereIsosphere

Isosphere

Details: Watercolor, 9x12 inches, Summer 2019 Price: $450
Extraterrestrial vibe.

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5/7/19

Building A Temple, One Brick At A Time

Introducing three paintings completed in 2018.

SURFRACTAL took a year from concept to canvas. It is a very simple image that actually carries a lot more meaning to it. On the surface, it conveys the idea that consciousness is fractal in nature. Our lives are but a single snapshot of a greater whole, one that is infinite and self similar at various levels. Maybe we return to the ocean of consciousness at then end of our journey, only to be swirled into the mix and end up spread across a billion new entities.
While we're here in this form, we might as well learn how to ride those waves.

As part of a trip to Florida we planned to stay with some dear friends, one of which I've known since I was very young. I felt it was a great opportunity to deliver them some custom art created with them in mind. I painted Shamaine Coon in the weeks prior to our trip after coming up with a concept I felt resonated with my perceptions of them.

The idea for Skeye Wide was sudden and compelling. I wanted to capture the awe of gazing deep into the night sky. The reference for the eye was from a photo of my son when he was still a baby and the world was new to him.

SURFRACTALSURFRACTAL*

SURFRACTAL

Details: Acrylic, 14x11 inches, Aug 2018Price: $900
Traversing the ocean of fractal consciousness. Our lives are but a single snapshot of a greater whole, one that is infinite and self similar at various levels. Maybe we return to the ocean of consiouness at then end of our journey, only to be swirled into the mix and end up spread across a billion new entities. While we're here in this form, we might as well learn how to ride those waves.
Shamaine CoonShamaine Coon*

Shamaine Coon

Details: Acrylic, 10x10 inches, June 2018
A gift for my friends Leah Fairchild and Matthew Uva.
Skeye WideSkeye Wide

Skeye Wide

Details: Acrylic, 14x11 inches, December 2018Price: $750
The alluring awe of the night sky.

* Prints are available here.

1/14/18

Fall Catch-up

Two acrylic paintings were completed this past fall. One took just over three years from the day it was started and the other took only just over two weeks.

"Cosmiknot" was started at my old house the Fall before we moved and was only worked on periodically. The concept involved using the Golden Ratio to scale the circle sizes and their spacing. The spirals are made of spirals, with the implication that they continue on infinitely. The symbolism addresses how our DNA and atoms both come from the stars and will ultimately return to them.

In November, 2017, I noticed a little Penrose Triangle I had drawn in a sketchbook and felt compelled to give it the proper treatment it deserved. The concept to juxtapose it with the Milky Way Galaxy came to me immediately and "Galaxometry" was started. While painting I took several photos of the progress hoping to stitch them together in a time-lapse. The time-lapse came out better than I had hoped and you can view it here.

CosmiknotCosmiknot

Cosmiknot

Details: Acrylic, 30x15 inches, Sep 2014 - 2017
Set to Golden Proportions, these sprials are made of spirals, all the way down. Our past and our future are the stars.
GalaxometryGalaxometry

Galaxometry

Details: Acrylic, 14x11 inches, Nov 2017 Price: $750
After coming across an old Penrose Triangle sketch I did, I felt compelled to give it a more fitting treatment. In less than two weeks Galaxometry was born.

Prints are also available here.

7/11/17

Spring Watercolors

The painting "Portalattice" etends an existing series of lattice mandala explorations. I'm really happy with how the gold/green rings turned out. Even with all their simplicity they manage create a great sense of depth. The other two paintings share the space-field background theme but are the start of a whole new series. These paintings depict a transformative event happening to an individual. The exact nature is not know. It could be an epiphany, some kind of enlightenment, or perhaps just the realization of one's true situation. The initial sketch was drawn on 12/15/16 after a flash vision of 00:00:01.

PortalatticePortalattice

Portalattice

Details: Watercolor, 9x12 inches, Mar 2017 Price: $500
Portalattice extends a series of lattice mandala works exploring sacred geometry and implied dimensionality.
00:00:0100:00:01

00:00:01

Details: Watercolor, 5x7 inches, Feb 2017 Price: $200
The first in a series of four or five paintings depicting a tranformative event.
00:01:0000:01:00

00:01:00

Details: Watercolor, 6x8 inches, Apr 2017 Price: $300
The second in a series of four or five paintings depicting a tranformative event.

1/29/17

First Painting of the Year

I created this painting as a gift for a great friend of mine, Elisabeth Cadle. She is like a sister to me and I attempted to channel her aesthetic into the colors and textures I used. Luckily she lives offline and won't see this until I surprise her with it in the mail. This is a new study in my Mandalattice series, this time exploring the theme of water and oxidization.

12/21/16

Fresh Brewed Fractal Music

This melody was created using a fractal algorithm, generated by the software Gingerbread. The MIDI sequences were exported, arranged and finally mixed to create the song you hear. It took nearly all of 2016 to complete. There is a sort of dialogue between two opposing forces here, that of the Id and Ego. They palaver a bit but eventually come to terms. Enjoy and share.

12/6/16

Fall Watercolors

This fall I completed two paintings and a charcoal drawing. While most of my paintings take about a year to realize, "Tetratorus" was a rapid process from inspiration to finished painting. In the last two weeks of October I conceived and executed the 8x10 watercolor for a friend's wedding gift. The other watercolor, "Decontetras", continues a series of geometry explorations. Finally, I created a wine label design for a friend/co-worker who makes some very creative vints under the moniker "Storyteller".

StorytellerStoryteller

Storyteller

Details: Charcoal, 9x12 inches, Nov 2016 Price: NFS
A wine label design submission for a friend's contest.
TetratorusTetratorus

Tetratorus

Details: Watercolor, 12x9 inches, Oct 2016 Price: NFS
A wedding gift for Elizabeth and Chris Abate
DecontetrasDecontetras

Decontetras

Details: Watercolor, 8x10 inches, Aug 2016 Price: $200
The deconstruction of a star tetrahedron.

11/9/16

Art for a Cause

Prints of my painting, "PHX Ascends", can now be purchased here. All proceeds will be donated to The PHX Fund for Adapted Technology. Print sizes include 8x10, 13x16 and 17x21. Prints are gallery quality Giclée on natural white, matte, ultra smooth, 100% cotton rag, acid and lignin-free archival paper using Epson K3 archival inks.

The PHX Fund's Mission

"The PHX Fund for Adapted Technology is a non-profit organization in Columbus, Ohio. Our mission is to raise awareness and provide opportunities for participation in all aspects of life for youth with disabilities in our community. Happiness, love, friendship, laughter, joy, adventure, and learning...it should all be accessible!" Learn more here: thephxfund.org

Order Prints

4/9/16

Prints Available

I am excited to announce that I have prints available for sale on society.com:
society6.com/Soundpharm

I have made three paintings available so far and will continue to add to the group over time. In addition to high quality prints, there are a lot of other fun items you can choose from.

11/16/15

Reintroducing soundpharm.com

Welcome to my little corner of the internet. For some of you this will be your first time here, so welcome! Within this space you will find a gallery of my visual art as well as a selection of songs I've created.

Over the past two years I have completed the following paintings:

PHX Ascends, Spreading Love Like A WildfirePHX Ascends, Spreading Love Like A Wildfire

PHX Ascends, Spreading Love Like A Wildfire

Details: Watercolor, 8x10 inches, Aug - Sep 2015 Price: NFS
A gift to Denise Bayless in memoriam of her amazing son. A tribute to the love that one person can bring into the world
Hexegesis - Study IHexegesis - Study I

Hexegesis - Study I

Details: Watercolor, 9x12 inches, Spring - Summer 2015 Price: $300
Further exploration on the Mandalattice theme.
LatticentricLatticentric

Latticentric

Details: Watercolor, 8x10 inches, Spring 2015 Price: NFS
A painting made for a fundraser auction.
Hylozoic NebulatticeHylozoic Nebulattice

Hylozoic Nebulattice

Details: Acrylic, 16x20 inches, Fall 2014 Price: $1500
A culmination of my recent themes.

10/31/15

A Website Resurrection

Where does the time go? Well if you're me, it's been a mix of career work, family adventures and creating art in the wee hours. Lately it has gone into rebuilding this site with the best practices and modern techniques at my disposal. Mobile friendly, animated and dynamic. New and improved to make for a better user experience and show off my web development skills.

With the new design also comes new content. I have finished a several paintings since my last update and posted them in the Look section. I will post more details for them here soon. For now, just revel in the new site and all its technical wizardry.

2/6/14

foresT seed

Inspired by a dream account from a friend, I attempt to create an atmoshere complementing the dream. This is the first song I have ever put vocals to. The words are from Lea Fairchild's dream.

10/18/12

Dusting off the website

In late August I found out that my proposed piece "Hope and Strength" had been accepted to the show Por Vida V. I immediately began working out the details of the sketches I had completed earlier. This wasn't to be just a painting, it was going to be seven and they were all going to be connected together somehow. Many late nights came and went. With just a few days before the deadline we received a week extension. That was a great weight off my back and it allowed me to give some extra attention to the remaining details. Easily the most personal piece of art I have ever created, I'm very happy with how it came together and manifested my vision.

Por Vida was an annual show/event that applies a contemporary take on the traditional Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos (Day of The Dead). Por Vida integrates a themed and curated art exhibit, food and drink, music and installation spaces. It was created by Columbus, Ohio artist Kat Marie Moya who I have known since around 1997.

Over the past two years I have also completed a few other paintings:

Hope and StrengthHope and Strength

Hope and Strength

Details: Acrylic, thread and feathers on a crib rail, 32x45 inches, Aug - Sep 2012 Price: NFS
This piece was created for the exhibit Por Vida V, a contemporary take on the traditional Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos (Day of The Dead). The subject deals with my wife and I's experience with miscariage. Easily the most personal piece of art I have ever created.
Hexolaris - Nucleattice IIHexolaris - Nucleattice II

Hexolaris - Nucleattice II

Details: Acrylic, 16x20 inches, Winter-Spring 2012 Price: $500
The second in the Nucleattice series dealing with solar energy and the mandala.
CelestasisCelestasis

Celestasis

Details: Acrylic, 11x14 inches, Fall 2011 Price: $200
Light SeedLight Seed

Light Seed

Details: Watercolor, 8x10 inches, Spring 2011 Price: $600
Derrived from a sketch made while Kat tattooed my wife.

I have also posted a few new songs to soundcloud.

8/22/10

Salo web site completed!

Just put some finishing touches on the web site I created for the NYC jazz band Salo. Ben Gallina commissioned me to do the cover art for their recent debut release "Sundial Lotus". Following up with a web site that complimented the cover art seemed like the logical progression.
I also redesigned Ben's personal site www.bengallina.com.

Designed and implemented Derby Outfitters (www.derbyoutfitters.com) in early 2010. The site no longer exists unfortunately.

Salo websiteSalo website

Salo -website

Salo - Sundial LotusSalo - Sundial Lotus

Salo - Sundial Lotus

bengallina.combengallina.com

bengallina.com

DerbyOutfitters.comDerbyOutfitters.com

DerbyOutfitters.com

I helped Andrea Kinter set up a web site to promote her former photography business, Rainbows & Ribbons Photography. We used a flash-based template solution which allowed me to do a little design customization. I also created some marketing collateral for Andrea as well.

1/22/10

Recent Creative Endeavors

- Recently completed a design/build for the Derby Outfitters web site. Website coming soon!
- Recorded a song I've been working since October: thengin.mp3
- Documented a painting I completed a few months ago as well as a cut-paper creation:
LattisphereLattisphere

Lattisphere

Details: Acrylic, 9x12 inches, 12/2008 - 2/2009 Price: $200
Used for CD disk art on Salo's album 'Sundial Lotus'
Portal I - Vortex Entanglement - frontPortal I - Vortex Entanglement - front

Portal I - Vortex Entanglement - front

Portal I - Vortex Entanglement - shadowPortal I - Vortex Entanglement - shadow

Portal I - Vortex Entanglement - shadow

Portal I - Vortex Entanglement - angled viewPortal I - Vortex Entanglement - angled view

Portal I - Vortex Entanglement - angled view





12/25/09

Salo, Derby Outfitters and Flux

I have completed the lettering for the front cover Salo's new album.
- I wrapped up three design comps for Derby Outfitters. I'll post a link here once the site is done.
- Finally, I created a site for my friend Elisabeth Cadle to market her creative services www.mudflux.com. Her mural work recently appeared on the show Extreme Home Makeover, where Elisabeth painted a prairie mural in a bedroom of a New Hampshire home.