Monday, July 27, 2015

Getting the Work Out Part IV - Bruce!

Bruce on 3rd
Oil on canvas
24x30 inches
1985


Bruce on 2nd
(Pink Cadillac)
Oil on canvas
24x30 inches
1985


Rockin' at the Garden
Oil on canvas
24x26 inches
2001
NFS


30 Years!
Oil on canvas
12x8 inches
2006


August will mark the 40th Anniversary of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's "Born To Run" release, one of my all-time favorite albums. Whenever I am feeling tired or uninspired, I put the music on and my spirits are lifted, my energy returns and I'm ready for anything. Such is the power of music, and BTR is what works for me, and has done so for all these years.

Bruce on 3rd depicts a stretch of 3rd Avenue in the 50's. I substituted my own billboards for those on the construction wall, picking out images from the Born in the U.S.A. album that had recently been released. Bruce on 2nd is a stretch on 2nd Avenue uptown and was inspired by the song "Pink Cadillac." I took photos of a Honda and a Subaru as mentioned in the song and always pictured a big pink Cadillac from the 1950's, a car Elvis might have driven. Rockin' at the Garden is my favorite and is hanging in my home. I was at one of the the Live in New York City concerts at Madison Square Garden and it was truly one of the best concerts I'd ever attended. The CD was playing while I was painting this piece and I had a chance to relive the experience again and again. 30 Years! was inspired by the 30th anniversary of BTR, 10 years ago now. I saw these billboards pasted on some scaffolding on the side of the Lexington Avenue Armory and thought the combination with the old brick building worked as a subject.

I'm still painting and Bruce is still rockin' and may he do so for many years to come!

For all of you Springsteen fans out there, I'm offering 3 of these 4 paintings for sale as I'm in the process of reorganizing my studio. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

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