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We may dance with the devil, 

we may struggle across the desert, 

we may be wrapped in briars, 

but our tears will nourish

joy, 

dreams, 

beauty,

love.

I hope that my works of art stand on their own, without explanation; nevertheless, I include here my thoughts about this triptych combining music with art.

I chose three pieces of music with the thread of love tying them together. I began with Robert Schumann’s melody and Heinrich Heine’s text of a love that is made of the much loved rose, lily, dove, and sun. 

Tom Waits’ “The Briar and the Rose” carries that thread of the narrator’s love through the image of the briar and the rose. Despite the pain of the prick of the briar, tears will fall to make love grow.

Finally, Brandi Carlile’s “The Joke” offers encouragement to those who are struggling to find their place,  whether a quiet boy with gentle ways or a tired mother carrying her baby across the desert in search of home and safety. I felt it important to include the strong words of a contemporary female artist in this triptych.

I created abstract images to accompany the themes. Abstract images of the rose and the lily are scattered throughout the landscape, a landscape which begins with the stream in Brennan’s Glenn, which may be seen as the Rio Grande River where the young mother struggles across the desert with her child. Often a symbol of peace, the dove forgoes an olive branch, and instead carries a briar leaving drops of blood/tears to make love grow. 

I hope you enjoy the work as much as I enjoyed creating it.