Forty @ Forty

These are some of my idols… they have shaped the way you and I see and feel the world. For you perhaps some of them will achieve this more than others. At a personal level… all of these individuals have enriched my life and my understanding of the world. Granted, a few of these folks really just headed a band hoping their drunken legs could hold out for an hour longer… yet they very much had honest things to say about the life we all share as human beings… and delivered it with style.

… There are no world leaders who have impressed me as much as those displayed here. Their voices can be very affecting, and very often more effective in accessing the real public. Their influence in the evolution of human social existence I find profoundly interesting to ponder. The powerful experience and venue from which they deliver their message is monstrous… it’s no wonder they have had such play in how we live, dress, interact, behave and enjoy our lives. Music is such an art… that accesses the very soul quite unlike fine art… plus it comes with a lifestyle…

Really, in some ways, it is one art piece, as much as it is forty. You might say, “what about Johnny Cash, Muddy Waters or Bono”. I know. It really could have been my top five hundred. This could only be a drop in the bucket. Really, I could envision a very huge, huge show some day. It was a blast of a project to do…at the end of August, with my fortieth birthday approaching, I decided I would paint some of my faves… which became the Forty@Forty show.  ~ Clint McCartney

Rick Danko (The Band)

Brian Jones (The Rolling Stones)

Gram Parsons (The Band, The Byrds...)

Joni Mitchell

Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters)

Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin)

David Bowie

Keith Moon (The Who)

David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)

Pete Townsend

Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)

Neil Young

Marvin Gaye

Janis Joplin

Ray Charles

Jim Morrison (The Doors)

Jack White (The White Stripes, The Raconteurs)

Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam)

Roger Daltrey (The Who)

Hank Williams

Wayne Coyne (The Flaming Lips)

Elvis Presley

JJ Cale

Sam Beam (Iron & Wine)

Debbie Harry (Blondie)

David Crosby (The Byrds, Crosby Stills & Nash)

John Lennon (The Beatles)

Bob Marley

Bob Dylan

Mick Jagger (The Rolling Stones)

Jimi Hendrix

Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones)

Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac)

Gerry Garcia (Grateful Dead)

Paul McCartney (The Beatles, Wings)

Beck

Willie Nelson

Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)

Leslie Feist

Michael Jackson (Jackson 5)

This all comes from the "Forty at Forty" art show of Clint's that opened on October 27th at Gabriola Artworks. He started this series off with the painting of Bob Dylan back in the last week of August. He liked the colour palette that he chose so much, that he decided he would do more portraits just like it. That thought brought him to thinking of painting 40 portraits by the time he turned 40 on October 1st. By the time our living and dining rooms were covered with painted canvases of cool rock stars, I was thinking..."holey moley, these are looking amazing all scattered around...imagine what they would look like up on the walls of a gallery!" (I get quite excited by Clint's crazy talent and how amazing and lively his portraits feel...he gives the spark in the eyes that gives them life.) At that time there were only about 16 or so started, mid-Septemberish...only 24 to go. I spoke with gallery owner Kathy Ramsey at Gabriola Artworks and she had a 3 week space for a showing and would LOVE to have Clint's pieces up. Woo hoo! "Get cracking now hon!" What a feat...I am so proud of him for putting together this amazing series of portraits of super cool and influential, to him and millions more...Rock Stars!!! 

~Pam McC (super enthusiastic wifey!)

Show is up on the walls at Artworks (9-575 North Rd. Gabriola Island) until November 23rd.