What my work sounds like

One of the awesome things about using the materials that I use, is that there is such a story each piece tells just beyond what it looks and feels like. If you read sheet music you can probably find snippets of music here and there that you can hum aloud and get a feel for what it sounded like.

While it is so fun to be able to look up a song on YouTube and hear what it used to sound like, sometimes I am hesitant to do so. A lot of times I make a piece listening to my iPod and have a certain “sound” or feeling in mind, and I want to take the artwork in another direction than the emotions it was originally meant to convey. Does that make sense?

But sometimes curiosity also gets the best of me. So today I want to share with you how a few of my pieces “sound”.

In my Etsy shop

This box I made using all material from the sheet music for a song called “On the ‘Gin ‘Gin ‘Ginny Shore” from 1922. I had to be pretty careful about what lyrics I showed on this piece as some of them were pretty racist (as was some of the cover art I omitted). Even though it is labeled as a foxtrot I thought it would be a bit melancholy and nostalgic. Take a listen to this old recording of it on YouTube and see what you think! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u71ITMsIE5I

In my Etsy shop

Remember this box? I did the little tutorial on how to decoupage with it? Well, I always thought this would be a fairly upbeat, fast song. I was pretty surprised when I heard this recording of it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEqu1NUUFRg

In my Etsy shop

Ok, I never really knew what to make of this one. “The Old Oaken Bucket” cover illustration is bizarre to say the least. It depicts a family bundled up and staring down the deep, dark, well. Apparently mom and dad felt it was worth educating little Tommy there about the nature of wells and buckets. I really had no idea what this song would have sounded like. Luckily someone posted a very old recording of it on YouTube and I satisfied my curiosity! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI4ej8b1VeE

In my Etsy shop

I made this plaque from an advertisement for a song called “Ragging the Scale”. It pretty much looks like a devilishly fast, crazy song. I didn’t expect many surprises here, but it was really fun to hear how it used to sound! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF_EKCXVsV0

So I'm curious to hear what you think, were you surprised by any of these songs? And in your own work, do you design/create with certain music in mind? What would you describe the "sound" of your art as?