Assunta's Biscotti, Claudette's Banana Bread, Zosh's Sour Cream Coffee Cake, Brownies, Blondies, Choco-Chip Cookies
The Birthday Playlist
The Birthday Playlist: #19 When the Saints Go Marching In
This song is dedicated to A.J. Rossi
"The Birthday Playlist:
#19 When the Saints Go Marching In" 6.75"x6.75"x2" glass and ceramic mosaic on wood with photos and text ©Diana Maria Rossi 2016
Yes, this is an altered image. Something is/was not working with this, so pardon the experimentation.
I am not completely satisfied with this piece. (I might have to excavate....)
I am not completely satisfied with this piece. (I might have to excavate....)
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Click above to listen to Fats Domino's live version of "When the Saints Go Marching In". Or Click below to listen to Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra's rendition. I believe this one was recorded in the 1930's. |
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"The Birthday Playlist : #19 When the Saints Go Marching In" (detail) ©Diana Maria Rossi 2016
I included two versions of “When the Saints Go Marching In” on my playlist, because it was one of my Father’s favorite songs and also, because it is one of those tunes that lends itself to improvisation and just about every version sounds different from the last. The origins of the song are somewhat in dispute, but it is known as an American gospel hymn that is performed by jazz bands. The lyrics are numerous and
can change.
For my interpretation, I chose to use New Orleans Mardi Gras colors. (I spent 3 years of my growing up in Southern Louisiana, one of those years in New Orleans.) The Mardi Gras colors were selected in 1892 and purple connotes justice, green faith, and gold power. Those sound like Saints’ colors to me!
I thought of those three ovals on the facade of the heart as generic faces with the mirrored gold as auras or “halos”. Under the face ovals I used photos of lilacs (kind of faint and not too recognizable — but that is ok). Lilacs are in my personal pantheon of “favorite flowers”. I wanted flowers because I had been thinking of one of my revered childhood saints, St. Therese of Lisieux who was called “The Little Flower”.
Around the heart, I created a full body nimbus with the words, “I want to be in that number”, inscribed over and over and over. This is in reference to the very same repeating line of the verse. Originally I had intended to use the line, “you ARE in that number”, but I think that might have been on an unusually optimistic day, and I decided to go with “reality”.
I needed to include a piano keyboard because “When the Saints Go Marching In” is forever associated by me with the surprise farewell party that my extended family threw for us when we moved to Louisiana in 1967. We walked into the surprise party in an upstairs reception hall and one of my cousins (was it Johnny Tuch?) was tapping out the melody on the piano.
I was able to expand my color palette in this piece by using the purple ceramic in combination with my more usual glass. In my opinion, purple is such a glorious color! worthy of a saint.
can change.
For my interpretation, I chose to use New Orleans Mardi Gras colors. (I spent 3 years of my growing up in Southern Louisiana, one of those years in New Orleans.) The Mardi Gras colors were selected in 1892 and purple connotes justice, green faith, and gold power. Those sound like Saints’ colors to me!
I thought of those three ovals on the facade of the heart as generic faces with the mirrored gold as auras or “halos”. Under the face ovals I used photos of lilacs (kind of faint and not too recognizable — but that is ok). Lilacs are in my personal pantheon of “favorite flowers”. I wanted flowers because I had been thinking of one of my revered childhood saints, St. Therese of Lisieux who was called “The Little Flower”.
Around the heart, I created a full body nimbus with the words, “I want to be in that number”, inscribed over and over and over. This is in reference to the very same repeating line of the verse. Originally I had intended to use the line, “you ARE in that number”, but I think that might have been on an unusually optimistic day, and I decided to go with “reality”.
I needed to include a piano keyboard because “When the Saints Go Marching In” is forever associated by me with the surprise farewell party that my extended family threw for us when we moved to Louisiana in 1967. We walked into the surprise party in an upstairs reception hall and one of my cousins (was it Johnny Tuch?) was tapping out the melody on the piano.
I was able to expand my color palette in this piece by using the purple ceramic in combination with my more usual glass. In my opinion, purple is such a glorious color! worthy of a saint.
