In Focus: Local Bemidji Artist Finds Art Inspiration Through Music

“It would be like me re-writing the song, only I’m rewriting it in a different medium,” said local Bemidji artist Charles Alberti.

Alberti has been painting for as long as he can remember. His new art collection titled “Thematic Painting With Music” is being featured at Gallery North in downtown Bemidji.

“I know that I’ve always listened to music while I paint, but I never really thought about if it influenced what I’m painting or drawing,” Alberti said.

There’s over 50 acrylic paintings in his collection, and it took around eight months to complete. Each painting in the collection is an interpretation of a song. Alberti says he paints every image and color that comes to mind.

“It may be something for someone else who listens to that piece of music or they say, ‘I don’t understand how you got that out of that.’ But it’s what matters what came out of me and my thoughts at that time,” Alberti said.

A viewer at Gallery North says he notices a lot of sun and moon imagery in Alberti’s pieces.

“I’m really interested in images, and to think that they came from songs is a whole other thing. I haven’t even tried to wrap my head around the music that goes behind the creation of these things,” Mike Schlemper said.

Alberti says the process of creating the collection involved him listening to a song and painting. Other times he would paint while the music was repeatedly being played. The music genres range from pop, rock, classical, and Broadway, and each art piece is named after a song that it was inspired by. One art piece titled “In the arms of an angel” is inspired by Sarah McLachlan’s song. In the art piece, Alberti points out that you don’t see an angel, but a light being reflected.

“It’s not something that you can grab onto, it’s just surrounds you,” Alberti said.

Alberti says his inspiration comes from the drive of creating something that didn’t exist before on a canvas.