A.V. ARTIST PAINTS ART COLORED BY PASSION FOR JAZZ, AMERICAN CULTURE.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis is not only one of Thurman Hackett's favorite musicians but a source of artistic inspiration.

Hackett often relates Davis' notions about music and the creative process, drawing parallels between the art forms of jazz and painting.

``When they play music, they see images in colors. It comes out in the music instead of images on the canvas,'' said Hackett, 60, a retired interior designer. ``The concept is really the same.''

Not surprisingly, jazz artists serve as the subject matter for many of Hackett's paintings. His biggest seller, entitled ``The Musical Art of Jazz,'' depicts a 1940s-era African-American horn player clad in an elegant tuxedo with tails.

The figure is drawn in profile in simple black lines, but the background is infused with bright colors and bold, jagged shapes resonant of jazz-like riffs.

``People can identify with jazz. It's an original American art form,'' Hackett said. ``I painted a guy real classy with a tail tuxedo. Then, of course, there's the colors. The colors are bright and gay. People do respond to gay colors if they are not presented in a shocking way.''

Hackett himself was a jazz musician. When he was living in the Los Angeles area in the 1960s, Hackett performed jazz music as a hobby. An alto saxophonist, he would sit in with older musicians at local jazz clubs and learn from them.

``Back then, they had jazz clubs all over L.A.,'' Hackett said. ``I never really joined a band. I sat in with different musicians. It was like going to school.''

Hackett was raised in Fresno, where his father was a farmer. Hackett describes his mother as an artist in her own right who made shirts, trousers and hats for him with ease.

``She made her money by making things like clothing,'' Hackett said. ``I never saw her sit down with a pencil and draw a pattern. She would pick up a piece of fabric and make something out of it.''

Hackett has lived in the Antelope Valley for 12 years. He spent 25 years as an interior designer, the last 11 years running his own business. He retired in 1987 and began painting.

``I came to the realization of my artistic ability after I got into interior decorating,'' said Hackett, a self-trained artist. ``I had to do a lot of drawings, layouts for (homes), show colors. It became a natural thing with me.''

Hackett and his wife, Shirley, a computer program analyst, have two grown sons and one granddaughter.

Aside from jazz artists, Hackett paints American Indians, Egyptian figures, people engaged in sports, cars - mostly things to do with American culture and history. He also dabbles in abstract geometric works.

Not limiting himself to canvas, he has used tin foil, and pieces of wood and rock.

``Most of my painting is humanistic. It's about the human experience,'' Hackett said.

Sometimes, Hackett says his wife tries to steer him to paint pictures of a ``domestic'' nature, like people at a picnic, or with Norman Rockwell-type settings, but Hackett can't bring himself to do it.

``I try to be different from everybody else. I don't want to be influenced by what people do,'' Hackett said. ``My wife says, `Why don't you do it in such and such a way.' That's not my thing. I like to do historical things. I usually paint thing that have made an impression in history. I don't like to do things in a conservative manner.''

Hackett says painting is something he has become addicted to because it helps stimulate his imagination.

Before he starts to paint, he usually scours books on the subject. If it's jazz, he said he'll go to the library, look at jazz books with musicians and fill his head with those images.

``Miles Davis said to take ideas and pull them through a funnel and take the one out that you want,'' Hackett said. ``I take the information, come home, and think about it. I let it filter through my mind until I get the image that I want.''

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1--Ran in SAC and AV--color in AV only) American Indians serve as a subject for Thurman Hackett.

(2--Ran in SAC and AV--color in AV only) Painter Thurman Hackett's residence in Quartz Hill is filled with his collection of art.

(3--Ran in SAC and AV) Jazz music served as the inspiration for Thurman Hackett's creation ``The Musical Art of Jazz.''

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News