It begins with the music. The first few gentle notes of a sonata drift through the studio as the artist stands before a large, empty canvas. This white void serves not to intimidate him, but to provide an expansive playground for the possibilities of his imagination. Today he will be painting the portrait of a man he has known well for years but whom he has never met. With a decisive first few brush strokes, Cabada quickly breaks up the empty space by loosely mapping out the major landmarks of the face. Once this has been accomplished, he immediately dives into color using broad, sweeping applications of thick paint with the palette knife. As indications of light and shadow begin to emerge, he continues to sculpt the planes of the face with a series of long, jagged brush strokes that twist and turn with a bold spontaneity. The mood of the music gradually builds as the painterly elements of line and form intermingle with one another. Cabada continually steps back to contemplate his progress every so often. It is a dance guided by the sounds of the piano and intuitive response. This process continues for several hours until at last the image of Ludwig Van Beethoven is fully realized.

 LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN