Inspired by an old music notebook of my wife's who learned the accordion as a teenager, I began by embellishing the four handwritten songs on the first pages. The quaint Czech titles reflect the themes of love and longing in these traditional folklore songs.

I then proceeded to write my own "compositions" on the remaining empty pages, using only the horizontal lines of the staff as a point of orientation.

Several years after the initial series was completed, I decided to revisit this theme. Utilising a number of songs as well as empty pages from a second notebook, my goal was to depart from the predominantly graphic character of the original works and achieve a more painterly effect. A major difference in the new works is also the complete incorporation of the background. In those pictures which don't adhere to a song as a starting point, gestural marks divide up the picture plane, leaving the lines of the staff to play an entirely subordinate role.