Public Art

Giocoso 2017 - Painted Piano

In 2017 I was chosen to be one of 12 artists to participate in Pianos on State, an interactive musical experience that takes place in Santa Barbara during Arts and Humanities Month in October. Pianos are painted by local artists and are then displayed at various locations on State Street for impromptu playing as well as scheduled performances.

My piano was located in front of The Red Piano at 519 State Street.

The design was inspired by my love of both cats and music, which includes musical terms and notations attributed to the various cats. (Click on the photos for descriptions and meanings.) The title of my piano is Giocoso, which means fun and joyful. Hope you like it!

Dolce means sweet, cause just look at them!

The musical phrase is from the song "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat."

Scherzando means joking, lighthearted or playful.

Calando is on the left of the resting cat and means a gradual decrease in tempo and volume. The symbols around it are a whole rest, a quarter rest and an eighth rest.

I wrote "Coda" on its tail which literally means tail.

On the right of the resting cat is a series of p's, or pianissississimo...very, very, very soft. And the mark at the end is decrescendo, to get softer.

The "f" symbol is forte and means loud. Therefore "ffff" is very, very, very loud! Stentato has a couple of meanings but one that I found is a musical direction to play loud or boisterous. The symbol next to his claws means "double sharp."

Stentato has a couple of meanings but one that I found is a musical direction to play loud or boisterous. The symbols underneath are crescendos, to gradually get louder.

The "p" stands for piano and means soft. Misterioso is mysterous. The symbol next to the cat's tail is a Coda, which literally means tail!

The "p" stands for piano and means soft.

Misterioso is mysterous. The symbol next to the cat's tail is a Coda, which literally means tail!

The symbol next to the cat's tail is a Coda, which literally means tail!

Grazioso is the musical direction, graceful, to play with grace.

Giocoso is the title of my piano and it means fun and joyful. At the end of Giocoso is a symbol telling you to go back to the beginning and repeat over and over again, so basically have a fun and joyful life.

I put fermatas on either end of the keys.

The pattern below the keys is made up of little sideways "s" symbols which are musical "turns" and glissando which surrounds the center segno.