An artist's best
A few weeks ago, the well respected artist Mary Pratt was asked to name her favourite painting by a New Brunswick artist.
She said it was one of a salmon or trout by Fredericton artist Stephen May. "Wonderful paint quality and elegant greys," she wrote in Salon's Questionnaire.
When contacted by the Telegraph-Journal, May mentioned in passing he planned to write Pratt to thank her. That little gesture seems to say something about the sort of person he is. A little old-fashioned, appreciative, kind and humble. A follower of the Golden Rule.
May, who was featured in a solo retrospective at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery last year, has written that the process of painting for him is to present the very best of himself.
"I've come to understand art as the embodiment of the artist," he writes. "When you encounter a work of art you have the privilege of being with the best of what that artist could find within himself or herself to offer. You can be nurtured, inspired, comforted, challenged, et cetera.
"My hope for my paintings is for them to make us feel bigger, feel larger in spirit...
"I want to feel and make felt the wonder of being. I think it's a tragedy to ask too little of art."
Here, May shares his favourite songs, those that nurture, inspire, comfort and challenge him as he goes about his day.
- Telegraph-Journal
1. Old Dan's Records - Gordon Lightfoot
Simple and yet completely original. Where do these things come from? One of four albums produced between 1969 and 1973 that for me constitutes his golden age. In general, Lightfoot is romantic and beautiful, making the best of it in the face of the fundamental sadness of life.
2. J.S. Bach and Glenn Gould
Not an album but a time-warped collaboration or meeting of souls. I would even go so far as to say both artists would be diminished without the other. 'The French Suites,' 'The Goldberg Variations,' piano concerti, anything. If I go into the music store and the disc has those two names on it, I will like it.
3. Beethoven's 9th Symphony
I've heard several versions. Arturo Toscanini's and Herbert Von Karajan's are the two I'm most familiar with. The first movement is good, the second is very good, the third is sublime, and the fourth is a miracle.
4. Bone Machine - Tom Waits
Romantic and twisted. Full of black humour. Another way of dealing with the fundamental sadness of life. Quite theatrical, you either love it or hate it.
5. Night Vision - Bruce Cockburn
An embarrassment of riches so I'll pick the one with the cool Alex Colville painting on the cover.
6. A Tribute to David Oistrakh - David Oistrakh
Bach, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Shostakovich and Vivaldi violin concerti.
7. Amelia - Joni Mitchell
The version on the 'Hejira' album. My vote for the best song ever. The rest of the album's pretty good too but I like 'The Hissing of Summer Lawns' better.
8. Don Quixote - Gordon Lightfoot
Goes hand in hand with 'Old Dan's Records.'
9. Asylum Years - Tom Waits
Double album with tracks from eight early albums. Ranges from really sappy love songs to the gritty atmosphere that culminated in 'Bone Machine.'
10. Let It Die - Feist
My current favourite. I had a hard time choosing between 'Let It Die' and 'The Reminder.'
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