Friday, January 23, 2015

"Life is Strange", My Marc Bolan/T.Rex Tribute for Jan's Nibbefest Art Contest






"Life is Strange":  Acrylics on a 7x9 chunk of found hardwood






 So, this month's Nibbefest Art Contest theme
was an interesting one...:  

"A Subject Beginning with the 3rd Letter 
of Your Given First Name"   


What a mouthful, eh?  Well, obviously for me, that's "T".  Easy enough ... or at least you might think so.  Only it wasn't!  For whatever reason I had the devil of a time coming up with my concept this month.  What could be so hard about coming up with something for "T"?   I really can't imagine why it was such a hang-up.  Guess the theme a little TOO broad...?   I pondered "T", ruminated "T", and meditated "T".  Ideas would come and go -- but nothing compelling enough to really sink my teeth into.   Time was ticking away, and I remained uninspired.  It was starting to get frustrating!  It even crossed my mind to maybe just sit this month out -- crazy, right...?  But, happily a friend came to the rescue, letting me hash out the jumbled thoughts in my head, while offering input and suggestions.   It helped, because finally at the last, I conjured up a vision of this:  a whimsical tribute to Marc Bolan, the legendary founder of the 70's era Glam British rock band, 'T.Rex'....:



70's Rock God, Marc Bolan, as a T.Rex/Human 'hybrid'


As I've written before in here previously, my earliest musical experiences were heavily impacted by what I heard my older siblings playing around the house.  The youngest of four children, by many years, I was barely in kindergarten when my teen brothers and sister would take turns commandeering the one stereo kept in the living room of our home.   The things they played made quite the impression on me at times.  They also loved blasting our car radio as well (whenever my parents would allow it, that is).  I'm certain the old, 70's era British band, 'T.Rex', and their biggest hit, "Bang a Gong", must have played often because I can remember those lyrics from WAY back.   Still, despite that song being such a classic, my own personal favorite tunes of theirs have always been "Children of the Revolution", and of course the lovely, psychedelic ballad, "Cosmic Dancer".  In fact I can recall gently teasing my professional danseur son when he was a kid and taking his early ballet classes by singing it to (at...?) him:  

"I danced myself right out the womb. 
Is it strange to dance so soon? 
I danced myself right out the womb."
 ~From 'Cosmic Dancer', by Marc Bolan



As I recall he wasn't super crazy about that, heh.....



"Life is Strange": side view showing the painted thick hardwood edges


The following is my auction/entry description...:




My entry for this month's Nibblefest Art Contest (NFAC),  the theme for January being 'A Subject Beginning With the 3rd Letter of Your Given Name' (which for me, means "T"), features a whimsical portrait painted in loving tribute to the 70's era British rock band, T.Rex, and its legendary founder, Marc Bolan.  Entitled "Life is Strange" (from a popular T.Rex song), and painted in acrylics upon a found, 7"x9" piece of heavy hardwood, this original is signed and ready to hang....

For my tribute to Marc Bolan, the charismatically flamboyant founder of the Glam rock band we all know and love, T.Rex, which can still be heard as a mainstay of classic rock radio stations today, I wished to portray him in a fun and unique way as befitting a pioneering rock-and-roll icon.  Tragically, Marc Bolan's life was cut short by a tragic car accident in England in 1977, just weeks shy of his 30th birthday.... 


RIP Marc Bolan (1947 - 1977).  
Life is strange indeed.




..............