Paint by Number

Gallery 42 calls the event “Art and Music Jam” – the experiment held every Saturday between 1 and 4 pm at the Juddville gallery. One might also refer to the event as “Paint by Number” (musical number that is). As guest musicians (most of them accomplished jazz players) play their initial notes, Gallery 42 owner Tim Nyberg stands facing a large empty canvas, closes his eyes, listens to the music, and waits for an image to come to mind. He grabs a hold of the first inkling of an idea and starts flinging paint.

“Sometimes it’s a shape, sometimes a color, a texture, a rhythm, whatever the music gives me,” says Nyberg. “The trick is to get it onto the canvas quickly – before it disappears.”

He works fast, often in time with the music. The image appears quickly, then changes, and changes again. He turns his head, then the canvas, and keeps painting. Working in acrylic, Tim works fast and does not seem to mind changing direction mid-course.

“The paintings seem to build themselves. Sometimes they’re successful, sometimes it was just a fun few minutes of observing whatever happens,” explains Nyberg. “But it gets really cool when the musicians watch what’s happening on the canvas and start to improvise to what they see. That’s what really makes the process a dance of creativity between artist and musician – both of us taking turns leading.”

When it all works just right, the painting process ends perfectly with the last note of the music. The dance ends, the partners look at each other and smile (or sometimes shrug their shoulders and laugh). The onlookers applaud.

The “dance” continues Saturday, August 9, when Lawrence Music Conservatory’s jazz keyboard professor, Lee Tomboulian, returns, bringing his wife, Betty (who just happens to be a fantastic improvisational vocalist).

The Art and Music Jam will continue each Saturday through August. Gallery Forty Two is located between Egg Harbor and Fish Creek on Highway 42 at the intersection of Juddville Road. Complimentary wine and iced tea is served. For more information call 920.868.4567 or visit galleryfortytwo.com.