Jesus Laughing

At Grace Point, we are blessed with two absolutely wonderful youth pastors, Steve and Ryan.

After recently painting a picture of Jesus for the staff (9/2 ), I wanted to do one for Steve and Ryan. But it had to capture a different side of Christ. One that showed a joyful spirit. One of Jesus laughing.

For reference and insight I turned to Steve Sawyer, a wonderfully talented and accomplished artist based in Kentucky (and Diane Sawyer's cousin). He allowed me to use one of his pieces as a reference for this one. I think it turned out well. My sincerest thanks, Steve.

The orange parts in the corners? Recently, Ryan gave a message about the importance of parents partnering with pastors. On average, pastors only have about 40-50 hours with children every year while parents have in the thousands. So why then do we assume that pastors will do more of the heavy lifting when it comes to our children's spitiual teaching? He used the analogy of yellow and red paints. We must come together for the good of our children.

Herb Ritts

One afternoon in front of a rural gas station somewhere outside of L.A., a young Herb Ritts snapped a few pictures of his friend, an aspiring actor named Richard Gere, posing in a ripped T-shirt and jeans. The pictures were a huge hit. And Ritts never looked back.

Over the 80's and 90's Ritts photographed the likes of Christopher Reeve, Dalai Lama, Cher, Magic Johnson, Elizabeth Taylor, Ronald Reagan, Steven Hawking, Edward Norton, Madonna, Dizzy Gillespie, Annette Benning, Cindy Crawford, and many others. And for years he was "the" cover photographer for Interview, GQ, Harper's Bazaar, Rolling Stone, Vogue, Vanity Fair and Elle. But Herb Ritts was more than the photographer that made the beautiful and famous look fabulous. He was the photographer whom they trusted. He was their friend.

I wish I had a funny story about this guy. But I don't. Herb Ritts was the consummate fashion photographer. Smart enough to let his work take center stage. And modest enough to let it speak for itself.

In early January of 2003, I did a shoot with a wonderful photographer in San Francisco, Michele Clement. She told me that a dear friend and fellow photographer had passed away the day after Christmas from complications due to AIDS. His name was Herb.

Here's a nice video compilation of his work. Great music, too. (Nude body alert.)

Georgia O'Keeffe

Truth be told, I never fancied her work. I respect it. Admire it. And value it. But I would never hang it. (And Lord only knows what she'd think of my work.) But when it comes to Georgia O'Keeffe the person, I am the hugest fan. So many words make up this small-framed woman. Strong. Talented. Confident. Independent. Free. Alive. Yes, truly alive.

And, oh yes, she's originally from Wisconsin.

Above is one of my first pieces from 1991. It's from a photograph taken by her husband, Alfred Stieglitz, in 1932. I plan on doing another soon. A great head-on shot of her in her later years. Still beautiful and strong. Stay tuned.

Lastly, here's a nice piece of footage I found of her sharing her Ghost Ranch in New Mexico as well as its surroundings. Watch the whole piece. Her last line is the absolute best.

Meryl Streep

After starting her career in the theater, and eventually Broadway, Meryl Streep auditioned for one of her first motions pictures, King Kong. The film's producer, Dino De Laurentiis, thought she was so wrong for the part that he commented to his son in Italian, "She's ugly. Why did you bring me this thing?" Streep stunned them both when she replied to them in fluent Italian.

Although she didn't get the part (it went to Jessica Lange), Meryl Streep went on to receive 15 Academy Award nominations (winning two) and 23 Golden Globe nominations (winning six), more than any other actor in the history of either award show. Her work has also earned her two Emmy Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Cannes Film Festival award, three New York Film Critics Circle Awards, five Grammy Award nominations, a BAFTA Award, and a Tony Award nomination. And her work and list of awards only continue. Today, she is regarded as one of the most talented and respected movie actors of the modern era.

Bravo!

Elvis Costello

In a Columbus, Ohio Holiday Inn hotel bar, during one of his first U.S. performances, a brassy 24-year-old Elvis Costello engaged in a drunken argument with Stephen Stills and Bonnie Bramlett. It's said that the young Costello shouted racial slurs against both Ray Charles and James Brown. Charles, who later forgave the young performer, said, "Drunk talk isn't meant to be printed on paper!"

But Costello, who had already changed his name from Declan Patrick MacManus, had already changed on the inside. He worked extensively on Britian's Rock Against Racism campaign. And the incident inspired "Riot Act!" from one of his early breakthrough albums, Get Happy!!

Since then, Costello has evolved, reinvented himself time and again, and worked with some of the most respected names in rock, country, classical, jazz, pop, and R&B. His unlikely collaboration in 1998 with Burt Bacharach for the equally haunting and romantic Painted from Memory (worth the click) silenced even his harshest critics. Few performers have experimented and turned constant trial into resounding success as Costello.

In 2003, Elvis Costello married singer Diana Krall at Elton John's estate in England. Earlier that year he released North, an album of piano-based ballads concerning the breakdown of his former marriage, and his falling in love with Krall. Together, they have twin sons, Dexter Henry Lorcan and Frank Harlan James.

Proof that everything, especially people, can get better with age.

Our Saviour

Here's one that came together rather quickly. Divine intervention? (smile) It's one of my largest at 24x30".

I made it as an outward symbol of "thankfulness" for being blessed with the mere ability to paint. I then gave it as a gift to the church I attend, Grace Point. What a wonderful bunch!

If some tiny voice inside of you feels as if you're taken in by this "fallen" world (lonely, angry, frustrated, selfish, sad, bitter, hurting) then I have a short video for you. It's a brief version of a French film that was nominated for an Academy Award a few years back for Best Short Film. But it speaks volumes.

Peace.

Jim Fiscus Completed

Here's the final product. I have to think for a moment, is this the first painting of someone I actually know? Just might be. Aside, of course, from the large portrait of Jesus Christ that I did for Grace Point Church. I'll share that one in a future post. Pamela has been asking me for years to do paintings of our girls. And an accomplished painter whom I've recently been in touch with has encouraged me to seek "subject inspiration" beyond magazine photos. Maybe I'll have to start listening.

If you missed my initial write up on Jim Fiscus, click here.

Comments are welcome. And as always, enjoy.

Charlie Watts

In the mid-1980's, an intoxicated Mick Jagger phoned Charlie Watt's hotel room in the middle of the night asking where "his drummer" was. Watts, the quiet, reserved and mega-talented fellow member of The Rolling Stones, reportedly got up, shaved, dressed in a suit, descended the stairs and punched Jagger directly in the face, saying, "Don't ever call me 'your drummer' again. You are my f___ing singer!"

Charlie Watts is far more than a drummer for a legendary rock band. He's also a talented graphic artist (starting his career in advertising, thank you), an award-winning composer, and a collaborator on several highly successful jazz/big band records. One of which, Long Ago & Far Away (1996), captivated me. Here are a few samples.

But what perhaps impresses me the most about Charlie Watts is that through all the tours with The Rolling Stones, all the all-nighters, and all the partying, he is legendary for remaining faithful to his wife, Shirley, whom he met and married in 1964. Together, they have one daughter, Seraphenia, as well as a baby granddaughter.

I have never met Charlie Watts nor toured with a rock band, but I would imagine that he and I would both agree that some of our best produced works are our children. This painting is one of my first ... and very favorite.

Fiscus in Progress

Here's a work-in progress of Jim Fiscus. See my previous posting on him for more about the man. Hopefully, I'll have this one done in a few days. Or weeks.

I plan to have between 15 and 20 pieces, including this one, at my first gallery showing. It will be in the early part of next year in Delaware, Ohio.

Marilyn Completed

Just a follow up to my previous work-in-progress posting on Marilyn Monroe. This piece is 20"w by 16"h. I sketched it out many years ago. It only took me about two weeks to paint.

Well, 16 years and two weeks.

Up next: continue painting Jim Fiscus as well as sketch one of Jesus for Grace Point Church's teen room (should be very cool). I have come to find that artists are very ADD and enjoy working on multiple pieces at varying stages simultaneously. 

Meg Ryan

You know the scene at the end of When Harry Met Sally. Billy Crystal is walking alone in New York City, realizing that he's truly, hopelessly fallen in love with Meg Ryan. The story is so convincing that every guy in the theater had already fallen moments prior. (Go on, click the link. The "build" is worth every bit of the seven minutes.) And you know, Meg Ryan isn't drop-dead gorgeous. She's just real. Or at least Nora Ephron totally convinced us so for two hours. She reminded us that love is not about being together under the sheets. It's about being together over years. Laughing. Crying. Growing. It's about the stuff that matters ... and what we remember. Oh, and just to clarify, my "Sally" is Pamela.

Isabella Rosselini

She is the daughter of legendary actress Ingrid Bergman (Casablanca) and Italian director Roberto Rossellini. And by the time she was 28, Isabella Rossellini was the exclusive spokes model for Lancome and had worked with the likes of Annie Leibovitz, Richard Avedon (see my first posting), Robert Mapplethorpe, Norman Parkinson, and Helmut Newton. But she is much more than a pretty face. Today, Rossellini is an activist for wildlife and conservation issues, as well as a writer and co-producer of several short-film series. Her talent comes from within. And it shows.

My portrait of her is one of my first. Truth be told, I never liked it.
I thought it was plain and devoid of character. But many who saw it just loved the piece. They would say, "Isabella Rossellini! You really captured her ... in very few lines." And over the years, I must confess that she is capturing me in return. Her inner beauty is emerging. In a recent article on how she is going back to school to study animal behavior (so very cool) she said, "If you follow your heart and do what you like, there's a better chance that that is where your talent lies."

Smart. Beautiful. Love it.

Marilyn

Artists love Marilyn Monroe. Warhol is a good example.
And yet I believe that the best photos of her are the natural ones. No posing. No studio session. No fakeness. She defined natural beauty. And we consumed her with our obsession for pretty.
(A beautiful deer staring precious seconds too long into the headlights of an oncoming car.) I found this shot years ago in a Nike ad and loved it. (Thank you, Janet Champ and Jim Riswald at Wieden+Kennedy.) I did a little research and found that it was taken of her after a long day on the movie set. Wrapped in a terry cloth robe, leaning out the window of her dressing room for a bit of fresh air. Click. And she still looks radiant. If you open the pic above you can see my pencil sketches ... almost done.

Philip Johnson

What an extraordinary life and talent. You may not have ever heard of Philip Johnson, but there's a good chance you may have experienced his work. In 1956, he collaborated with Mies van der Rohe as the New York associate architect for the 39-story Seagram Building. It would be his first of several postmodern masterpieces that would adorn New York City. Others include the the AT&T Building (now the Sony Building) and the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center. He perfected the harmony of glass and metal in structures. Still, it wasn't an overshadowing skyscraper that would be his masterpiece, but a small home in Connecticut. In 1949, Johnson designed and built a home for himself with exterior walls that were entirely glass. "The Glass House" (worth clicking the link) is an essay in minimal structure, geometry, proportion, and the effects of transparency and reflection. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1997. The house was the place of Philip Johnson's passing in 2005 at the age of 98. After Johnson's death ownership of the Glass House passed to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which opened it to visitors in April 2007.

I painted this portrait of Johnson in May of '94. It was the first of what would become many 20"w x 24"h portraits. I just like the size. It creates a decent environment. As did Johnson.

My Reservoir of Possibilities

I just discovered my "reservoir" of possibilities: an overstuffed folder filled with pictures torn from magazines. I spent about an hour culling down the pile. What's left are about 18 portrait candidates, ranging from David Bowie to Georgia O'Keeffe to Johnny Cash to Walter Cronkite to Daniel Day-Lewis.

As I reviewed my 18 possibilites, I realized that my style has truly evolved. I started years ago by mimicing Patrick Nagel. His work was incredible and perfectly captured the sexiness and energy of the 80's. He died too young. But now I have gravitated to faces with more character. Wild hair. Wrinkles. Zesty expressions. There's one of Keith Richards that's begging to be produced.

Heck, with that criteria, he may be my masterpiece.

Current work: JIM FISCUS

I had the pleasure of meeting and working with Jim in February of 2008. (Another handsome bald man.) We shot throughout L.A. for one of my day job's larger pharma accounts. Jim has a coolness, style, perception, and vision like few others. Having worked with several photographers for ad shoots over the years (both large and small gigs), Jim was one of the best. Inspiration enough for a painting, yes? So, I contacted his rep and she sent me a hi-res of the pic here. Perfect. I sketched it out the other night and, Lord willing, will be applying acrylic to canvas this weekend. So, stay tuned ...

Check out Jim's fab work here.

Richard Avedon

I paint people whom I admire. Or, I admire their work. In this case, both. Avedon's photography has always fascinated me. Not as much for his glamour work. But more for his gritty real-life pieces. Born in New York City, I believe he remained faithful to his cosmopolitan roots by becoming an acclaimed fashion photographer for such publications as Vogue, Harper's and Life. Conversely, you truly get a sense of Avedon's great creative spirit in his book In the American West. Here, his work is much different and larger-than-life. Literally. His "west" pictures are often produced at sizes of 3-feet and larger. It's worth Googling. Having passed away in 2004, his work lives on at his foundation's web site.