About the CD cover ~
Moon: 1
Acrylic on canvas 40 x 50cm
2017
Inspiration
I had several ideas in mind for the cover art; a silver rose in black and white for the Rosenkavalier tie-in, and a re-working of an earlier painting of two figures intertwining. However things took a 'turn for the red' following a bizarre discussion on Facebook; when this CD was in the final stages of editing, there was lots of discussion about how long a CD can be. Friends were delving into their collections to see what was the longest CD they had. Then someone mentioned Metallica's 'Load' album which is exactly 79 minutes long. Comforting as it was to find that it's been technically possible to take a CD length right up to the 79 minute mark since 1996, what really made me sit up and take notice was Andres Serrano's artwork. What a striking cover.
Until recently, most of the really iconic album covers have tended to be from the pop and rock genres. I was also mindful of the fact that whilst it's usual to put a photo of the musicians on the cover of classical CDs, I didn't want to look back in 20 years and think how dated the hairstyles or fashions were, and I really didn't want to end up on Classic FM's hysterical list of Worst Album Covers Ever!
My aim was to create an image that made the listener feel warm and relaxed, whilst drawing them towards the CD.
Moon: 1 was painted on the first day of the new moon, and blends the rose idea with the themes of rebirth and being drawn inwards.
I thought it would be fun for the central vortex (which is printed on the disc itself) to be rotating inside the CD player, even though you can't see it happening!