Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Hair!


Dance model Katie C sitting on stool, leaning against the bar. Detail of a 15 minute conte and pastel. Delightful poses last night and a good group of 7 artists. Music by the 5th Dimension, hence, the "Hair!" title. Here's a little music trivia:

In 1969, the musical "Hair" was on Broadway. It was interesting how the Fifth Dimension ended up recording "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In". Florence said, "It was a real fluke. We were performing in New York City and Billy lost his wallet in a taxi. The man who returned it invited us to see a play he produced. The play of course was Hair. Well we heard Aquarius and we all just looked at each other and said ‘We’ve got to sing this song. It’s great.'" It was producer Howe who suggested splicing Aquarius together with lyrics from another number in the musical which became "Let The Sunshine In". He got together with arranger Bob Alcivar & put the two songs together, making them work as one single. "We recorded that song in Las Vegas, in this small studio," says LaRue. "Our voices were all tired, we’d been performing there for over a month. It was the quickest thing we ever recorded and it was one of our biggest hits." They were very close to the railroad tracks, and while they were singing the final chorus, a train rumbled by. You can still hear the locomotive, though, just barely, on the final master.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Last Dance



Final on the painting of Robin V and Chelsea S. 24x30 oil on canvas.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Life Portrait



Montage portrait of Jessica C. I like to call something like this a "life portrait" because if shows a person at different stages of their life. Jessica is shown as a baby, as a child with her grandfather, and as a 16 year old. Also shown is a scene from an annual trip she takes to whale camp. Oil on alpha mat(museum board). Painted for her grandmother. Beautifully framed in Newnan by Perfect Composure. Approximately 28x28 image area. Click on images to see a larger version.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

I may have been a Jeopardy Question!?



My mother-in-law told me some time back that she saw a painting of mine on Jeopardy...as part of a video question. It was about Custer's Little Bighorn battle. I've not been able to confirm it but she knows my work pretty well and described the painting shown. The painting shows the Indian village from the vantage point of the bluffs where Custer first saw it. Anybody know somebody connected with Jeopardy??

Monday, January 10, 2011

Snow Day Free Offer


My daughter has revamped and renamed her Etsy/blog. Check it out. Links below. It'll go quick, but first person to make a purchase from her, $35 or more, also get's this drawing. "Boots". Conte and pastel.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/braceypate
http://braceypate.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Embracing the New Year


New, unfinished painting of embracing dancers. Chelsea S and Robin V were the models. Love the emotion here as well as the pyramidal design. "Last Dance" is the working title. 24x30 oil