Bradley Nowell - Sublime, "Back"

Bradley Nowell, "Back"

Portrait, 8 1/2 x 11 in
Lead on Paper

A young man was taken before his time.  His band was just getting ready to make their big break.  Now fifteen years later we look back on the tragedy with as much regret and fervor as ever.  Leaving a family behind is never easy but imagine if there were scores of fans that loved you so much that they would never let you go.  Maybe it's because we feel like we are part of Brad's family, and if you love someone you can never let their memory die that I chose to use a picture with some of Brad's face slightly obscured - you can see his tattoo well though and I thought that the smile on his face and the microphone in his hand spoke more about him than my lines ever could.  He was after all a man who lived for his music, who had to be gagged and drug off stage at times and never lost his passion for life even in death.  Won't you help him perform one more song?

Bob Marley - The Wailers, "Laugh"

Bob Marley, "Laugh"

Portrait, 8 1/2 x 11 in

Lead on Paper

Marley was a movement unto himself.  He didn't see himself as black or white, he didn't see himself as Jamaican or English - he saw himself as a divine creation of God like all other men and women.  And God had put him here for one reason - to spread love.  It was this unparalleled message of joy, happiness, peace and forgiveness that drove Marley's music and sky rocketed him into the international spotlight before his untimely death in 1981.  Likewise it was these same ideals that I tried to convey in the smiling visage you see before you.  Marley's smile was so strong it seemed like it could move mountains - his laugh jovial enough to raise the dead for one more joke.  Dreadlocks and a scruffy goatee were his visual trademarks but you still can't help but be affected by the peace and happiness that Marley was able to find in a world that seems to so dark atavistic at times. A light in a dark tunnel - at least now you can get a flashlight in the form of a print or poster...