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About the GuitARTISTName: Duncan Reid
Hometown: Norwood, MA Guitar Title/Theme: Music of the Spheres About the GuitARTThis 5-foot fiberglass electric guitar was inspired by a quote Duncan read from Jim Lovell, where he mentioned that when looking at the Earth from space, he could cover the entire planet with his thumb. Duncan felt this was a potent and sobering metaphor for the fragile world we live in. He has been working on space-program themed pieces for a while, but when he read that quote, he felt it was perfect for GuitARTS.
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Please tell us a little bit about your background in art? Art school? Mediums used?
I grew up in an artistic household, and what I didn’t learn from my mother or other art teachers, I taught myself. I started out with ink and watercolors, then moved on to oils and acrylics. I briefly attended the Rhode Island School of Design, as well as the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. I have worked in theater, film, and sound design. I have also been a graphic artist for more than 30 years, an occupation that lends its tools and ideas directly to my work.
When did you get interested in art?
My parents met as students at the Rhode Island School of Design, so I have been an artist since before I was born.
What is your favorite art piece that you created?
I have made so many works of art, I have no real favorite piece. It’s often simply the piece I am working on at the time that could be considered a favorite. If it flows out and is rendered with ease and passion, it can turn out really well.
One particular painting created with this kind of energy won me Best of Show two years ago at the Arts Affair at Marina Bay in Quincy. The piece is called The Unfathomable Distance and it’s simply an astronaut couple gazing out at the stars on an alien world. It’s their relationship to each other and the world around them as well as the composition and style that, I suspect, is what garnered me the prize.
What inspires your creativity? Who are your influences?
Most art is ruined on the first stroke. You just have to keep going and try to finish a piece, mistakes included. You can’t wait for lightning to strike and allow you to suddenly make your definitive masterpiece. There’s no substitute for practice. You have to work at each piece until you’ve asked enough questions of yourself that you get the answers you need to make something close to the piece you first imagined. It’s rarely close to the piece you first imagined – but if you work at it, it can be better.
I have a museum full of influences. Chief among them though are Salvador Dalí, Maxfield Parrish, Jean Giraud (Moebius), the Wyeths (N.C., Andrew, and Jamie), as well as Norman Rockwell. I am also influenced by the local artists I know, such as Pat Keck and John Gonnella.
I grew up in an artistic household, and what I didn’t learn from my mother or other art teachers, I taught myself. I started out with ink and watercolors, then moved on to oils and acrylics. I briefly attended the Rhode Island School of Design, as well as the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. I have worked in theater, film, and sound design. I have also been a graphic artist for more than 30 years, an occupation that lends its tools and ideas directly to my work.
When did you get interested in art?
My parents met as students at the Rhode Island School of Design, so I have been an artist since before I was born.
What is your favorite art piece that you created?
I have made so many works of art, I have no real favorite piece. It’s often simply the piece I am working on at the time that could be considered a favorite. If it flows out and is rendered with ease and passion, it can turn out really well.
One particular painting created with this kind of energy won me Best of Show two years ago at the Arts Affair at Marina Bay in Quincy. The piece is called The Unfathomable Distance and it’s simply an astronaut couple gazing out at the stars on an alien world. It’s their relationship to each other and the world around them as well as the composition and style that, I suspect, is what garnered me the prize.
What inspires your creativity? Who are your influences?
Most art is ruined on the first stroke. You just have to keep going and try to finish a piece, mistakes included. You can’t wait for lightning to strike and allow you to suddenly make your definitive masterpiece. There’s no substitute for practice. You have to work at each piece until you’ve asked enough questions of yourself that you get the answers you need to make something close to the piece you first imagined. It’s rarely close to the piece you first imagined – but if you work at it, it can be better.
I have a museum full of influences. Chief among them though are Salvador Dalí, Maxfield Parrish, Jean Giraud (Moebius), the Wyeths (N.C., Andrew, and Jamie), as well as Norman Rockwell. I am also influenced by the local artists I know, such as Pat Keck and John Gonnella.
About the Guitar
What is your inspiration for your guitar design?
I have been working on space-program-themed pieces for some time now. In my research, I read a quote by astronaut Jim Lovell, that looking at the Earth from space he could cover the entire planet with his thumb. It’s a potent and sobering metaphor for our fragile, little world.
When I got the application for the Music Drives Us GuitARTS project, this was on my mind. I used this as a starting point to explore how this could relate to music.
Why did you want to be a part of this public art project?
I am an artist, and I am dyslexic. As a kid, I was lucky enough to go to a special-education school. So I view the importance of education through a very particular lens.
At the school I attended, we were taught how to learn – how to sound out words and look them up in the dictionary and what some of their Latin roots meant so we could associate them with other words. We were taught how to create a network of meaning that unlocked the mystery of letters and numbers for us. They gave me a perspective I could use to learn on my own.
The subjects of music, the arts (drawing and painting, theater, dance, etc) and sports – the subjects American education mostly considers “extra-curricular” – are the nurturing grounds where we apply what we have learned, in all the other subjects, to our actions. Math is integral to music, geometry to art, English to theater, and so on.
Through scholastic activities such as music, students are able to gain practice and experience by using the tools of their educations, and I am pleased to take part in something that helps to support that.
What does music mean to you?
If I wasn’t an artist, I’d have to be a musician or a DJ or something like that. I love music. I am addicted to it — all kinds. Classical, jazz, blues, rock, whatever… I always have music playing. When I come home, I turn on the lights and then the music. It puts me to bed at night and wakes me up in the morning. It’s playing as I write this.
I have been working on space-program-themed pieces for some time now. In my research, I read a quote by astronaut Jim Lovell, that looking at the Earth from space he could cover the entire planet with his thumb. It’s a potent and sobering metaphor for our fragile, little world.
When I got the application for the Music Drives Us GuitARTS project, this was on my mind. I used this as a starting point to explore how this could relate to music.
Why did you want to be a part of this public art project?
I am an artist, and I am dyslexic. As a kid, I was lucky enough to go to a special-education school. So I view the importance of education through a very particular lens.
At the school I attended, we were taught how to learn – how to sound out words and look them up in the dictionary and what some of their Latin roots meant so we could associate them with other words. We were taught how to create a network of meaning that unlocked the mystery of letters and numbers for us. They gave me a perspective I could use to learn on my own.
The subjects of music, the arts (drawing and painting, theater, dance, etc) and sports – the subjects American education mostly considers “extra-curricular” – are the nurturing grounds where we apply what we have learned, in all the other subjects, to our actions. Math is integral to music, geometry to art, English to theater, and so on.
Through scholastic activities such as music, students are able to gain practice and experience by using the tools of their educations, and I am pleased to take part in something that helps to support that.
What does music mean to you?
If I wasn’t an artist, I’d have to be a musician or a DJ or something like that. I love music. I am addicted to it — all kinds. Classical, jazz, blues, rock, whatever… I always have music playing. When I come home, I turn on the lights and then the music. It puts me to bed at night and wakes me up in the morning. It’s playing as I write this.
Social Media
Website
www.duncanreidart.com
www.duncanreidart.com