Bob Marley by megavisual

Trolling for some economical art on ebay (some one told me some strike it rich stories so I had to try it myself) I ran across these portraits on records, which I have to say look very cool. They are spray paint on a record, and look quite nice, with a bunch of artists to choose from. I don't have a clue what megavisual's real name is, and he is not exactly the friendliest person to trade email with (sticking to business) so I don't have any other info about him. Good for the cost, although he says a comission (I wanted one of Matisyahu) would be $100 upfront, which is out of my comfort zone for someone I don't know who seems to more concerned with mass production, not that there;s a single thing wrong with that. Sorry dude! Good for the price.





The other piece is PJ Harvey by Merrilee Challis, owner of the Bottletree, a local hangout for all sorts of cool happenings. It is drawn on a piece of glass, and deserves a better frame.

Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" by Matt Rinard

The angle is messed up in the picture... I was having trouble not getting some glare on the glass. Oh well. I really like this piece from Matt Rinard. I found his gallery in New Orleans over New Year's 2008 and had to get this one. The writing is from an interview with Miles out of a magazine, though no one can remember quite where from.



It's a print, with the trumpet at the bottom on the matting drawn in. More of Matt's art is here.

Patti Smith by Paul Wilm

Patti Smith rocks, and Horses is a favorite album of mine. If you look very, very closely you might see the typewritten lyrics of "Redondo Beach" on her face. Looks great on the purple wall, don't you think?

You can't tell from this angle but Paul used the surface of a small table for the painting (so it sticks out from the wall a few inches.)

Linda McCartney Photographs

These are from a calendar of Linda McCartney photos that my girlfriend harvested and framed. These 4 are Ray Charles, Jimi Hendrix, BB King, and Aretha Franklin.

Coltrane by Ahmad Austin

Ahmad Austin is a Birmingham based art teacher and painter. I saw his booth at a local art show and asked him for a piece. He says Coltrane is his favorite jazz musician, and that's fine by me. His other work is generic jazz figures, so I feel fortunate to have this piece which is also a bit brighter color wise. Austin's site is here.

Frank Sinatra by Paul Wilm

I like the blue of this piece, it is quite a difference from many of the other pieces I have. If you look closely, there are lyrics handwritten in the white area on the hat and face. It is the lyrics for "In the Wee Small Hours," one of my favorite songs (and albums) by Sinatra. The piece is thick acrylics on plywood.

Paul is becoming better known with his cartoonish and unique pieces, and has become a friend and I have several pieces by him that will pop up here. (guest appearance by Wendell the cat)

Welcome

I have always liked art and a few years ago, decided it was time to grow up and buy some. Not having much of an art education (or an eye, considering most of what passes as art looks like a joke to me) I took the advice "buy what you like." Next, I figured if I was going start spending some hard earned money and start hanging this stuff on my walls, I may as well choose a theme for all the pieces. See, I had visions of crappy art (since I know I would choose some extreme looking crap) greeting visitors to my heart that was entirely random, so I figured maybe having a theme will hide how inept my artistic sense really is.

Putting these two ideas together... I like music and consider myself having varied and astute tastes, so that would be my theme. I've also discovered that artists don't like starving and might to anything for a buck, so I have taken to approaching artists with unique styles and asking them for a commission, hopefully of an artist them feel an affinity for. Most of these pieces are like that - one of a kinds commissioned for my collection. The title of the blog is Rock and Rocll Art but it is not all rock and roll by any means, but there are a couple of pieces that complement the 6 guitars in my living room, so it sounds like as good a catchy a description as any.

This blog is going to be real simple... just photos of the art in my collection, along with who the artist is, and maybe something about the piece. If you like, great, drop me a line or leave a comment, and I'll also be happy to get you in touch with any of these artists.

If you happen to be an artist and want to contribute, ask about that too. Artists I like tend to have a unique, different style that is recognizable after you see their art once.