Chris Simonite's Cubo-Weirdism Blog! A Blog about Chris Simonite's Art by Chris Simonite. Who the Hell else?
Musicians are My New Bread and Butter. Hence, the Man in Black!
The Man in Black, 14" x 11", oil on canvas, 2022.
One thing you learn in this here art business, is you never know what is going to sell. Well, I will say that sometimes I finish a painting and I'm pretty confident I will be able to sell it. That doesn't mean it will sell right away, of course. Case in point, my painting of that iconic moment in The Shining when Jack Nicholson says "Here's Johnny"! You know that scene. Anyway, that painting sold at the Manitoba Art Expo in October. It took a while, but I knew as soon as I finished it that someone would buy it.
I was also confident that my paintings of Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Neil Young, Mick and Keith from the Stones, and David Bowie would find good homes. But I also knew that paintings of iconic musicians was a common subject matter for painters. So I did think there would be a fair amount of competition. But sure enough I didn't have to wait all that long to sell all the above mentioned paintings. Okay, some took longer than others, but they are all in private collections.
I mention this because I have some paintings of musicians that are still available. Most of them have had lots of interest. So it is likely a matter of time before my paintings of Prince, Stevie Wonder and Bob Marley find their way out of my studio and into someone's living or rec room. So if you're interested in any of them, you will want to act soon! I also have a number of other paintings of musicians. They're not all on the website as of this writing, so you can always drop me a line to see what is available.
The Man in Black, 14" x 11", oil on canvas, 2022. Available.
This all brings me to my new painting of the late-great Johnny Cash. This is a painting that I wish I could give to my late mum. She was a huge fan of old timey country that she always called "cowboy music". And we have that in common. The trouble is, when she was still around I hated all forms of country music. It wasn't till after she was gone that I started to appreciate the genre. I even started to write songs for my musicial/comedy/performance art alter ego, Stan Dickie in a style she would have appreciated. I don't know what she would have thought of their satirical lyrics, or of Cubo-Weirdism. But she always supported me in whatever I did. I suspect she would have been baffled by my work, but would have told me she thought it was great!
Anyway, if she was around, I'd give her the Johnny Cash painting. Or maybe I'd do a "normal" portrait of Johnny for her.
Having said that, she was once introduced to Cash when he was in Winnipeg for a concert. She had a promoter friend who told her she could meet him at The Bay in downtown Winnipeg (a department store). So she went while Johnny Cash was shopping for a pair of jeans and the promoter said, "this is Judy, she's a huge fan". And that's when Johnny Cash looked up at my mum and grunted. He then went back to his shopping. Needless to say, she was a bit deflated and less of a fan after that. So maybe if my mum was around I'd do a painting of Hank Williams for her. Hey, I should do a painting of Hank Williams! Stay tuned for another iconic musician Thursday on Instagram and Facebook!
