My Guitar Heroes

Guitar Hero Jimi Hendrix – by Miki

One week ago I announced the launching of my new artist website, www.mikidegoodaboom.com. The site is in its early days though, presenting only selections of my paintings and series. I will gradually add more and more paintings, trying to build up a complete repertoire of my artwork. Probably an impossible task considering the quantity of paintings I have! And I am speaking only about the last 8 years , as everything before has become lost, left behind, given away, torn up, cooked, eaten, etc…

Anyway I have started completing the music collection, as it is one of my favourite painting themes. But before I can do it , I first need some kind of musician classification to create sub-galleries from the main gallery “Painting The Music”. I have decided that one of them would be called “Guitar Heroes”, in which I plan to publish all kind of guys and girls on the guitar.

Poor naive me :  This morning I had an awful discussion with my partner the English rocker Kev Moore. He said:

“Guitar heroes is an appelation controlee, you can’t call any random guitarist a Guitar Hero!”

” Why not? For me any guy or girl playing the guitar beautifully or looking great holding the guitar is a guitar hero!”

” You are so wrong! A guitar hero means an internationally acclaimed and worshipped personality on the electric guitar, to whom every fan and guitarist looks up to!”

Me wrong? He usually says that I was born right! You can see why rock was called the devil’s music!

“Only electric guitar? You mean, I can’t put Tal Wilkenfeld under Guitar Heroes?

“Of course not, she plays bass!”

“But a bass guitar is a guitar and she is a virtuoso on it! She must be a guitar hero!”

“No way!!! But you can put Jennifer Batten there…”

At least the great Jennifer! She found my painting of her on the net once, left a beautiful comment and went and bought it straight away! But coming back to our discussion: at that point I started feeling such impatience, and frustration and injustice growing inside of me. I have some great artworks of people playing guitar and I had the feeling none of them would be allowed in the guitar heroes category.

Guitar Hero Joe Bonamassa – by Miki

“But Joe Bonamassa is one, isn’t he?”

“Yes, HE is one, of course!”

“And not Glenn Hughes?”

“No, he plays the bass!”

At that point I had had enough. By mentioning Glenn Hughes, I thought I would get him with a sucker punch, as he is his favourite musician. I thought he would become weak and let him through. But no, not one second of doubt: not even Glenn Hughes qualifies as a Guitar Hero! I was deeply shocked. “F…k” them all with their definitions!

But I did not want to renounce to the phrase Guitar Heroes as it sounds so great, so romantic and exactly describes my guitarists.

“Well, I will call the gallery “My Guitar Heroes” then!”

He was obviously not very impressed by that clever idea, and had not even a smile for me. Kev Moore not smiling at me, this was serious. He simply looked at me with an almost imperceptible expression of disdain saying: how dare she????

But he had had enough too, so he said:

“If you need to… but be prepared to get some hassle there!”

This was definitely enough. I was ready for a big rebellion.

” Leave me alone now, I call my galleries however I want!”

and I went away, furious. I went to my computer, created the sub-gallery “Guitar Heroes” – without the “my” well noted – and put in it all the beautiful guitarists I had painted. And among them, the most beautiful one of course: Kev Moore!

I thought with a deep pleasure how angry, or let us better say embarrassed, he would be to see himself among people like Joe Bonamassa, Jimi Hendrix, Jennifer Batten, Steve Stevens, Jeff Beck, etc. and on top of it with a bass guitar in the hands!!! God, I loved that revenge against the definitions, very rock ‘n’ roll indeed!!!!

My guitar hero Kev Moore  – By Miki

Later on, I showed Kevin my new gallery, already ‘live’ out there on the net. He was gracious enough not to say one word but his face spoke volumes of shame and blame!

But you know what: I don’t care! Kevin is a beautiful guitar hero to me. To many others certainly too as many strangers take loads of photos of him while he is on stage out there. So, if you want to give me his predicted hassle now, do it, I have no fear! I will be delighted to discuss the subject with you.

These paintings are available directly online as Giclee prints in many different dimensions, on paper or canvas, and also as greeting cards. Just click on the images themselves or on the widgets below to access my FAA Gallery.

Only Kevin is not for sale at the moment, but if you insist, I will put him on the market. But don’t think twice, ladies out there, only his image: the real guy is not for sale!

PS: I have  a little confession to make here. Before I put the gallery online, I did have a tiny little hesitation and went checking out Google guitar heroes. The first thing I found was an Australian site called guitar heroes, featuring many guitarists whom I had never heard of. This was enough to get my green light!

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www.mikidegoodaboom.com

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Want Some Moore?

Kev Moore - Photo by Miki

 

You have all probably heard of Kev Moore, “The Nice Guy of Rock”, as they call him in the milieu.

And in fact, indeed he is the nicest rocker in the World!

But if you want to see his ‘hidden face’, and listen to the kind of Moaning Monster that I (delightfully) spend my life with, and will always do, then read on!  He has started a new blog “Want Some Moore??!” As he writes himself:

“… He’s also prone to get quite pissed off about War, Religion, Slow drivers, Crazy people, Normal people, Peace, God, Crap music…..well, he’s prone to get pissed off about pretty much everything really. If you want to come see where he ‘vents’ – this is the place to be!  “

Entry forbidden to delicate souls though…

But if you are tough, and love the (verbal) fight, Get him started, you won’t regret it!

Valentine and my Bulls

Published in Euro Weekly, Costa de Almeria, 10-16 February 2011

Just found out that I got some extra advertising for mu bullfight paintings in our weekly newspaper: it is very well appreciated,  thanks everybody!

More important though is the upcoming of the Valentine Show tomorrow. Kevin  just brought there our two Valentine paintings, and the ones from

Pamela Allegretto

and

Emmanuel Baliyanga.

I am immensely happy that our friends, respectively from the USA and Rwanda, will be there with their he-ART! Thank to Curtis Helm for giving us this opportunity!

Kevin told me that there are many exciting pieces to be seen, Fine Art and Craft Art. I can’t wait to see all that tomorrow!

Austin Nights 04 – Nutz McGee

One night in February 2010 in Austin Kev Moore – the greatest musician of all time… you don’t know him” Shame on you! – climbed up a tree with his guitar and had coffee and cookie with his favourite friend

Nutz McGee

one of these Austin cute squirrels!

Austin Nights 04 – by Miki

Now Kev Moore did a wonderful close-up portrait of Nutz Mcgee

Nutz Mc Gee - By Kev Moore

And here are his words about him:

“Nutz McGee is one of a dying breed of rare blue squirrel, found in the Mississippi Delta and parts of Texas. Nutz has made the blues harp his instrument of choice, and following a long stint in the Betty Ford clinic, has managed to resist stuffing the money he makes busking into his cheeks and collects it in a plate instead. He doesn’t eat much, but likes to take Coffee and Cinnamon swirls in trees with other musicians when the occasion presents itself.
Now I know it’s a bit mental, a squirrel taking up the blues harp, but well, he’s Nutz isn’t he?”

And if you are interested in buying a Giclee print of these paintings, they are available in many different sizes and on different supports – Papers, canvasses, etc.) in our FAA Gallery. Just click on the widgets please, and here you are, ready to spend money! 

Austin Nights 01

After Memphis and Nashville nights, I have now started the series of Austin Nights, commemorating that wonderful time we spent in the USA in January/February 2010. This series is a little bit weird, almost surrealistic, bringing elements together I had seen in the towns. Most of the time they will feature musicians playing some instrument somewhere, and most of the time, on roofs, traffic lights, trees,  etc… I always loved Marc Chagall’s Fiddler on a roof, this might be an unconscious reminiscence of it….

Austin Nights 01 - By Miki

As in many other American towns, I was fascinated by some skyscrapers. Before America, I never thought I could ever be aesthetically attracted by these kind of buildings! Well, this one in Austin was gorgeous, especially by night. And it will haunt some of my Austin paintings, this is for sure! On the traffic light holding his guitar is Stevie Ray Vaughn, Austin’s legendary guitarist. I had seen his statue in the town park, the painting of him is based on it.

And if you are interested in buying a Giclee print of this portrait, it is available in many different sizes and on different supports – Papers, canvasses, etc.) in my FAA Gallery.

We have in the family another product resulting from that trip: Kev Moore’s CD “Blue Odyseey”

18 track CD over 75 minutes running time, celebrating Kev’s trip around the Music Heartland of America in the early part of 2010.

It is presented in a full-colour 6-panel Digipak with original artwork & photos.

Featuring guest musicians from America and Europe.

Cover Design by lil ol’ me!

Blue Odyssey - By Kev Moore

Available online in Miki’s Mart

The second Coffee Cup is served…

… Get it if you missed the first!

But if you don´t like my coffee, and prefer my paintings, here is my very last one, “The Golden Dog”, from the series “Lunacies”. I painted it yesterday. It was inspired by a weird dream I had the night before, it had to do with the Knight Templars and the Saracens. I think the dream came about because Kevin mentioned that the Vatican had released secrete files on the Knight Templars the other day.
And the Golden Dog… well, perhaps The Templar and The Saracen are fighting over whose pet it is!

Hans up, who wants to paint?

Hans called me yesterday and booked the next lesson, which, I guess, will be the last one for a long time.
Last time we had started together a new ink and pastel painting, a view from his balcony to the sea and to the mountains. The painting will be a present, so the stress was immense, and Hans´hand was trembling more than a little as we started!
I can understand that: even as a professional painter, your own expectation when you make a painting with the intention to give it as a gift is much higher than when you paint for yourself or to sell.
It is a difficult theme he chose, but a wonderful composition. The mountains make 50% of the whole painting, and if you don´t pay attention to the subtle changes of colours and light, it is only a grey mass. This is the point where personal interpretation and creative representation are asked of oneself!
“I would not have dared alone…”
he said. I´m not sure I would have dared myself!

But Hans is courageous and singleminded, so he gets what he wants. I remember how he convinced me to give him lessons…

He had already made the drawing at home, with pen, on grey paper. We put ink on some contours to enhance the most important elements and went on with pastel chalk. Pastel can be a very rewarding material, if you apply it in a way which follows the structure of the mountains, of the sea, etc. Then with a little bit of rubbing in some places, and you already get a very lively and 3 dimensional impression of the landscape.

Hans continued alone at home, and we will finish it tomorrow together. To my question on the phone yesterday
“Is the painting beautiful?”
he answered:
“My wife says it is!”
Funny! Well, this is the kind of answer I give myself too, always. I rarely feel competent to judge my paintings, or at least, I don´t really like to judge them. I just love painting, and if it is good or not, I leave it to my public

So, I´ll show you next time Hans pastel painting N°2.

And to entertain you in the meanwhile, there follows the small film “Gouache over Me”, a selection of my fantasy landscape paintings in Gouache, with music from…. KEV MOORE , of course!

The Sunshine of your School

I cannot resist!
I have to tell you what my new pupil Angely thinks about Goodaskool´s teacher-me!-:

“… well, i think you’re going to be a good teacher. i think you are a very sunny person with a very bright attitude and i like a mentor who’s very optimistic and radiates this very positive aura coz that would be very inspiring. hope to hear from you soon!…”

Isn´t it a wonderful thing to say to a teacher? Thanks so much, Angely!

I remember when I was at school, most of the time it depended only on whether I liked the teachers if I liked or not the stuff they taught me! I guess many people are like me. I think the most important quality for a teacher is not his qualifications, his knowledge, etc. but his ability to motivate his pupils. To inflame some kind of enthusiasm or passion in somebody is a wonderful gift to give that person, and even humanity.

I remember when I was a mathematics student, I used to give maths lessons. And you know how it is with maths: there is no in-between: one hates it, or one loves it, and in 99% of the cases, one hates it!
So I always had to deal with kids, who hated maths. Their hate always resulted from how their teachers were, and the way they taught mathematics. I daresay, risking to get my tongue cut out by the maths teachers community: that most of them didn´t have a deep enough understanding of mathematics -and certainly not psychology!- to be able to teach it!

I can say with pride: I was a good maths teacher for my kiddies, they all stopped hating maths, made progress and some of them even started to like it!

It is of course far easier in art as we all love it, and most of us would love to be able to paint.

So, when do YOU join Goodaskool with the sunshine teacher?

KEV MOORE´s Illustration to this entry

Goodaskool – Drawing lesson on Earth

Fate plays strange games with me. In the instant that I wanted to open a
painting school on Planet Goodaboom, I was “forced” to reopen my
drawing school on Earth. I think I told you of it in a previous entry: a
German man insisted on getting lessons from me and I could not refuse! He
wanted them so much, and I am always ready to help and support people who
really want something, and not only to follow a mood or a mode.

We were lucky: our first lesson took place on a sunny, warm and wind
free day, with views to the sea and the mountains behind. Coming from
an architectural field, my pupil already has a solid background in
drawing, and he just wants to learn a more artistic way of doing it.
He showed me the last pictures he drew, from Altea, a wonderful
spanish village here. The drawing was perfectly correct, dimensions
and perspective were right, but the whole lacked any artistic
impression. It simply was “too” correct, and looked indeed like a
technical drawing. And it took hours to reach such (useless)
perfection.

I already had such pupils in the past, architects and engineers, all with
the same problem. Even my former colleague, a Russian painter with
an engineering background, a very talented drawer of people, found it
difficult to free himself from all the “straight lines” when he was
drawing landscapes or still lifes…

And straight lines are poison: they kill the vivacity of a drawing!

I have decided to start Goodaskool giving a first lesson consisting
of some tips for architects and engineers, in fact all of you whose
drawings are lacking in vivacity and spontaneity. I hope that someone
outside there will find them useful!

MIKI at www.goodaboom.com

Look at MIKI, her paintings & her videos on Planet Goodaboom
GOODASKOOL´s Lessons!
Read here Miki´s Diary!

First Step to Goodaskool

In the meantime I have thought a little bit about Goodaskool, my painting school. It is quite difficult to start, above all because our site Goodaboom is so young, published only about one month ago, and consequently still has low traffic . But one thing is sure: I definitely want to adapt the school to the needs of the hobby painters, as most of those I met in the “real world” going to a painting school or taking lessons were quite frustrated. So unlike in a normal school, YOU should DECIDE what will be taught
So I think I will put a form online asking that the interested persons consult me and give me info about which kind of lessons they would like to attend.
Soon I will also put online my first service, proposing you to send me a painting or a drawing. I will send it back, with corrections or comments, whatever you want.

By the way: look on Planet Goodaboom in the section “Give me a Title”, a competition requiring some imagination and thought. You can win a Miki hand-signed print of the painting featured there!

MIKI at www.goodaboom.com