Whisper II: Jack

My Contribution to the Whisper Gallery II

In case you are unfamiliar with the Whisper Galleries that have taken place so far, please check out @mrblinddraw's original post about this round here.

I am the 3rd artist in this current Whisper Gallery. It took a few days for me to really figure out what I was going to do for my contribution in the Whisper II. I would have to say that both of the previous pieces contributed to the inspiration for this one. Here are the previous two pieces - so you can see how they inspire the next piece: They are both amazing & inspiring!

#1. 'Fête de La Musique II', by @manouche (link to original post)

#2. 'Dance', by @soyrosa (link to original post)

Here's what I did:

At first I was trying to figure out what previous art pieces I had already done that perhaps could be constructed to create a similar feel to @soyrosa's collage. And, I had a couple ideas. But then life happened, and I got busy dealing with our injured cat, leading my daughter's 5th grade class in an egg tempera project (that's finally done - yay!) and other stuff.

A couple days ago - I realized I really needed to get going on my Whisper art piece!! I revisited @soyrosa's post and her art piece again - 'Dance'... hmm... And, almost all at once - it sort of just happened. I was reminded of my late friend Jack's song - "Dancin'". Jack passed away earlier this year in late January. He was a dear friend to both me & my husband. His death was really unexpected. We had just visited him and his partner during my birthday weekend about 2 weeks prior to his passing, and he was fine when we saw him. He was a great host - made great coffee, played his guitar for us, and we all went to the beach a couple times. He died from an aneurism. His death really saddened all of his friends, as he was such an amazing, peaceful, loving spirit - who had always been there for all of us. My husband and I had only known him for a few years, but his friendship was truly a blessing.

Anyway, once I decided I was going to paint Jack, I realized I was going to have to paint fast! I only had a couple more days! I dove right in. I painted for a couple days - almost straight - between shuttling my kids back and forth to school & work, and dealing with animals.

It was all done in acrylic - on a plywood panel that is 32" X 21".

I had to deal with a couple knot holes that were in the wood - one was right in the middle of his face. Ugh! I ended up filling them with extra paint.

I originally thought I'd put roses around Jack, since he used to like to sit outside in his garden and smoke his cigarettes and watch the birds at the bird feeder. But, I painted the background - with colors going around him in a circle - it started looking like a record/album. I didn't really completely let go of the idea of having roses in there until the very end.

I had a really hard time getting his face just right - it's tricky getting people to really look like themselves, and painting people isn't really my forte. I can do it, but it's hard for me. I think I did finally capture him pretty well, but I ended up repainting him many times - adding lights, darks, more skin tone, more darks, more white... over & over.

I also had the idea to put musical notes coming out from his guitar - placed similarly to the birds in @soyrosa's collage. But, that morphed, too. I was listening to Jack's music while painting last night. I realized that the musical notes really should be hearts - since the main theme of many of his songs is love. And, actually that worked better that musical notes would have - because the background was so dark - the musical notes would've had to be white. I think the hearts are much more fitting.

Jack's Music

Jack played the guitar. He wrote all his own songs - most of them about his own life. He frequented the "Open Mic Night" in the small community of Williams, and would often bring his guitar along to potlucks and parties. He played his guitar here, in my living room - when we had our house-warming party. Many of his songs are about love & life. They are very inspiring.

During our last stay with Jack, he played guitar on Sunday morning. I remember I was in the kitchen and my husband, Jack and his partner were all in the living room - lounging around. Jack started playing guitar. The song he played was so pretty. I hadn't heard it before. I asked him afterwards what it was called. He said it was called "Dancin'". He told me there were links to his music on his Facebook page.

After he passed away, I ended up going to his online site where all his songs were - and there was "Dancin'". Some of his songs that he uploaded are a bit rough-sounding, since they weren't recorded professionally. I ended up putting them onto a CD for some of his friends, and cropping off some of the extra "space" at the start and end of each song. What a gift to have all his songs still! I get "Dancin'" in my head sometimes. It's a great song, and it's totally Jack!

Here is a link to listen to his music. I believe that "Dancin'" is the first song on there.

Here are the lyrics (the best I can figure from listening):

Dancin’

Never was one for rules or regulation

Had a tendency to daydream in my school

Had trouble with direction

Tried to avoid detection

Running through sunny fields in my mind

Tried my best to fit into the system

Things they taught me, hurt me to my soul

Took time to learn my lesson

My life is an expression

Lovin’ life, shining bright!

And I’m dancin’ to the beat of my heart

Dancin’ to the light of the soul

Dancin’ to the beat of my heart

Dancin’ out of control.

Never was one for rules or regulation

Had a tendency to daydream in my school

Had trouble with direction

Tried to avoid detection

Running through a sunny field in my mind

I’m dancing to the beat of my heart

Dancin’ in the light of my soul

Dancin’ to the beat of my heart

Dancin’ out of control