http://www.bobharperart.com Bob Harper Art Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:35:25 +0000 http://www.bobharperart.com en http://www.bobharperart.com/Always-Love-Dolly-Sold http://www.bobharperart.com/following/bobharperart.com/Always-Love-Dolly-Sold Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:35:25 +0000 Bob Harper Art 561248 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/561248/Dolly Parton.jpg" width="670" height="900" width_o="1920" height_o="2580" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/561248/Dolly Parton_o.jpg" data-mid="2575020" border="0" align="left"/>"Always Love Dolly" I think she has the most beautiful face, and on it is a song she could live a thousand lifetimes from. Like most of pieces it's mixed media but essentially watercolour. "Always Love Dolly" I think she has the most beautiful face, and on it is a song she could live a thousand lifetimes from. Like most of pieces it's mixed media... http://www.bobharperart.com/Just-Jack http://www.bobharperart.com/following/bobharperart.com/Just-Jack Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:36:26 +0000 Bob Harper Art 4023104 <img src="http://payload86.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/4023104/BHA_Just_Jack_2950_W_.jpg" width="670" height="898" width_o="682" height_o="915" src_o="http://payload86.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/4023104/BHA_Just_Jack_2950_W__o.jpg" data-mid="21066276" border="0" align="left"/> "Just Jack" The Art School was buzzing with talk of a new film in 1969. Unusually it was being screened at His Majesty's Theatre on Aberdeen's beautiful Union Terrace Gardens. Much of the attention was focused on a new actor to most of us, the guy playing the lawyer in "Easy Rider," and was my first sighting of Jack Nicholson. In a cameo role he was thoroughly magnetic in that film and (along with the soundtrack) stole everyone's hearts. Over his career he has built a catalogue of memorable performances in some of the epoque's standout movies. We probably have a common consciousness about these so I won't list them. Suffice to say that some of his lines keep finding space in my memory, and a scene will often drift through my head. If there is a duff Nicholson movie out there I haven't seen it yet. Those expressive looks; a vulnerability that can switch to fierce aggression in a blink; his eyebrow gestures; the dismissive eyes; his raffish attitude and totally unkempt hair are Jack's trademarks. By all accounts he is the sum of many of his parts in real life, and you really wouldn't want to cross swords with this amazing man. He has added colour and spice to my time here, and I'm grateful to him. Roll on Jack. Original Size: 560mm x 790mm Float mounted in a solid dark wood frame Limited Image Size: 58cm x 43cm Limited Framed Size: 81cm x 66cm Edition Size: 195 The Original and Limited Editions of Just Jack are available exclusively through Breeze Gallery. "Just Jack" The Art School was buzzing with talk of a new film in 1969. Unusually it was being screened at His Majesty's Theatre on Aberdeen's beautiful Union... http://www.bobharperart.com/Rod-Stewart http://www.bobharperart.com/following/bobharperart.com/Rod-Stewart Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:32:30 +0000 Bob Harper Art 4023087 <img src="http://payload86.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/4023087/BHA_Rod_Stewart_MR.jpg" width="670" height="899" width_o="2048" height_o="2750" src_o="http://payload86.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/4023087/BHA_Rod_Stewart_MR_o.jpg" data-mid="21066136" border="0" align="left"/> "Rod Stewart" For my sins (and a deep education) I was living in apartheid Johannesburg in the summer of 1970. The record shops (plaatwinkels in Afrikaans!) were always well stocked with fantastic vinyl bargains... troughs of great stuff that the South Africans hadn't bought into, so I'd arrive home every Saturday lunchtime from Hillbrow with armfuls of really cheap masterpieces. Along with Steely Dan's "Can't Buy A Thrill and "Desperado" from the Eagles I clutched "An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down." It was Rod Stewart's first solo album, which I bought on the strength of his work with Jeff Beck. Those 3 albums were the soundtrack of that summer for me, and I drove the Dutchmen mad with it. In fact, I received more than one bloody nose due to a combination of high volume, higher spirits and excessive alcohol intake. Stewart's rasping vocals and the exuberant acoustic guitars blasted over the veld, and set me up for great stuff from the Faces in the first half of the decade back on my more familiar continent. There was no photograph of the singer on the sleeve and no TV in SA then, so I had to wait till I returned to Scotland till I had my first look at the face behind the amazing voice. I knew instantly he'd follow me through my lifetime, and it was no surprise when "Maggie May" became the soundtrack for the following summer. Original Size: 560mm x 790mm Float mounted in a solid dark wood frame Limited Image Size: 58cm x 43cm Limited Framed Size: 81cm x 66cm Edition Size: 195 The Original and Limited Editions of Rod Stewart are available exclusively through Breeze Gallery. "Rod Stewart" For my sins (and a deep education) I was living in apartheid Johannesburg in the summer of 1970. The record shops (plaatwinkels in Afrikaans!) were... http://www.bobharperart.com/The-Days-Before-Rock-n-Roll http://www.bobharperart.com/following/bobharperart.com/The-Days-Before-Rock-n-Roll Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:26:55 +0000 Bob Harper Art 4023056 <img src="http://payload86.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/4023056/BHA_Van_Morrison_the_days_before_rock_n_roll_W_.jpg" width="670" height="900" width_o="701" height_o="942" src_o="http://payload86.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/4023056/BHA_Van_Morrison_the_days_before_rock_n_roll_W__o.jpg" data-mid="21065947" border="0" align="left"/>"The Days Before Rock 'n' Roll" Van certainly splits opinion. I love the guy, I love his soulfulness and his disregard for current trends. He is truly enigmatic and thought provoking, demonstrating to me that soul is not always upbeat and joyful. Van can be grumpy as hell but still in touch with an otherness that most have lost sight of. I love his love of all things Caledonia. I love the way he reminds me of my late father-in-law. In this image Van's glasses are mysterious. He's looking into the mystic, into mirrors, he's in some wonderland place that only he can discern. That's what attracted me to this view of the Belfast man and I had to find some way of making it appear a bit magical. Chalks, watercolours and careful smudging. 850 x 1060 mm For more information on this piece please enquire through Breeze Gallery. "The Days Before Rock 'n' Roll" Van certainly splits opinion. I love the guy, I love his soulfulness and his disregard for current trends. He is truly enigmatic... http://www.bobharperart.com/Lose-Your-Dreams http://www.bobharperart.com/following/bobharperart.com/Lose-Your-Dreams Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:21:08 +0000 Bob Harper Art 4023014 <img src="http://payload86.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/4023014/BHA_Jagger_Lose_your_dream_.jpg" width="670" height="898" width_o="697" height_o="935" src_o="http://payload86.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/4023014/BHA_Jagger_Lose_your_dream__o.jpg" data-mid="21065715" border="0" align="left"/>"Lose Your Dreams" This is a particularly animal Mick, the caveman looking for a carcass to feed his woman. His animal magnetism is unmissable and no-one would miss this guy entering a bar. I remember the first time I saw him, on "Ready Steady Go" back in 1963, when you could see Cathy McGowan going weak at her knees during the performance. 5 fresh faced English kids doing some blues and reworks of favourite songs... they were instantly marked down in my mind as a band to follow. Their musical path has echoed the lines on their faces. It's been a wild and turbulent journey for them. I do wonder what Mick would look like if he had followed a career in economics? Speculation perhaps, but I don't think he would be this amazing. 850 x 1060 mm For more information on this piece please enquire through Breeze Gallery. "Lose Your Dreams" This is a particularly animal Mick, the caveman looking for a carcass to feed his woman. His animal magnetism is unmissable and no-one would... http://www.bobharperart.com/Mr-Zimmerman-I-Presume http://www.bobharperart.com/following/bobharperart.com/Mr-Zimmerman-I-Presume Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:16:29 +0000 Bob Harper Art 4022988 <img src="http://payload86.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/4022988/BHA_75x57_Mr Zimmerman- I Presume_W.jpg" width="670" height="876" width_o="816" height_o="1068" src_o="http://payload86.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/4022988/BHA_75x57_Mr Zimmerman- I Presume_W_o.jpg" data-mid="21065527" border="0" align="left"/>"Mr. Zimmerman I Presume" He's grizzly and wrinkly, but the face says a lot about how he's been observing all these years. You can see him plying up and down the Mississippi a century and a half back, watching the high rollers at the tables on the river boats. He's thinking about that girl in St. Louis, and wondering if her eyes are still blue. The words are Dylan reflecting on how he came to folk music, from the simple pop tunes of late 50s/early 60s US charts. If I ever have the time I'm going to take a month going through his back catalogue chronologically, on an amazing journey down Highway 61 through the American landscape of hope, dreams and despair. 850 x 1060 mm For more information on this piece please enquire through Breeze Gallery. "Mr. Zimmerman I Presume" He's grizzly and wrinkly, but the face says a lot about how he's been observing all these years. You can see him plying up and down the... http://www.bobharperart.com/Laughs-Like-Jagger http://www.bobharperart.com/following/bobharperart.com/Laughs-Like-Jagger Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:09:50 +0000 Bob Harper Art 4022911 <img src="http://payload86.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/4022911/BHA_75x57_Laughs Like Jagger_W.jpg" width="670" height="888" width_o="808" height_o="1072" src_o="http://payload86.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/4022911/BHA_75x57_Laughs Like Jagger_W_o.jpg" data-mid="21065311" border="0" align="left"/> "Laughs Like Jagger" A jovial Mick, looking forward to a Saturday at the Lord's Test Match? He's just so iconic and earth worn. If faces were landscapes, Mick would be the Grand Canyon. An insect would toil to get from ear to ear over the course of one night... assuming he ever sleeps that is. There's not a day goes by that I don't give the Stones a blast in my headphones, and the strange thing is the older I get the more I play the early stuff. At the moment I'm reliving "Aftermath" on a worryingly frequent level. I'm 15 once more, innocent and free (apart from impending O Levels). When the 1949ers hit old folks' homes we'll all be lost in this music, girating our zimmers at fading memories. Original Size: 560mm x 790mm Float mounted in a solid dark wood frame Limited Image Size: 58cm x 43cm Limited Framed Size: 81cm x 66cm Edition Size: 195 The Original and Limited Editions of Laughs Like Jagger are available exclusively through Breeze Gallery. "Laughs Like Jagger" A jovial Mick, looking forward to a Saturday at the Lord's Test Match? He's just so iconic and earth worn. If faces were landscapes, Mick... http://www.bobharperart.com/Keith-Still-Rockin http://www.bobharperart.com/following/bobharperart.com/Keith-Still-Rockin Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:03:53 +0000 Bob Harper Art 4022894 <img src="http://payload86.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/4022894/BHA_75x57_Keith Still Rockin_W.jpg" width="670" height="880" width_o="822" height_o="1080" src_o="http://payload86.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/4022894/BHA_75x57_Keith Still Rockin_W_o.jpg" data-mid="21065142" border="0" align="left"/> "Keith Still Rockin" A stoned Stone, I suspect, looking forward to being anywhere. I see Keef more as a glacial feature, with new fissures opening almost on a daily basis to let liquids drain. I first saw the Stones in Aberdeen's Capitol Cinema, 1965, and it was pretty wild. I'll always recall Keef writing in his book..."Hamilton, just outside Glasgow...they put a chicken wire fence in front of us because of the sharpened pennies and beer bottles they flung at us - the guys didn't like the chicks screaming at us. They had dogs parading inside the wire." I don't remember any of that in Aberdeen, but I do recall a baying mob round the back in Justice Mill Lane, howling up at their dressing room. An unpleasant waif hurled a mini boulder through their window, only for Mick to hurl it back into the mob with frightening gusto. When you read Keef's recollections, it's little wonder such frustrations manifested themselves. Original Size: 560mm x 790mm Float mounted in a solid dark wood frame Limited Image Size: 58cm x 43cm Limited Framed Size: 81cm x 66cm Edition Size: 195 The Original and Limited Editions of Keith Still Rockin are available exclusively through Breeze Gallery. "Keith Still Rockin" A stoned Stone, I suspect, looking forward to being anywhere. I see Keef more as a glacial feature, with new fissures opening almost on a... http://www.bobharperart.com/Young-Bob-Dylan http://www.bobharperart.com/following/bobharperart.com/Young-Bob-Dylan Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:59:32 +0000 Bob Harper Art 2304307 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/2304307/BHA_Young_Bob_Dylan_WEB.jpg" width="670" height="899" width_o="2048" height_o="2749" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/2304307/BHA_Young_Bob_Dylan_WEB_o.jpg" data-mid="11569121" border="0" align="left"/> "Young Bob Dylan" "Keep a cool head and always carry a light bulb." Well, he always has had a uniquely outsider way of expressing himself, and his words are not pre-meditated. George Harrison & the other Wilburys were constantly amazed at recording sessions when Bob would re-run a verse in countless versions, without thought or rehearsal. He seemed to be channelling the words from an outer source, and he was merely acting as the vehicle of delivery. I think that's how it really works, but we have to forget all the stuff, all that propaganda we've been fed. We need to be very open to possibilities and prepared to really open ourselves up. This image is from the "Highway 61" sessions... sessions that enriched my secondary school years, and found me badgering English teachers to get Dylan installed in our syllabus. "They're selling postcards of the hanging...." Original Size: 560mm x 790mm Float mounted in a solid dark wood frame Limited Image Size: 58cm x 43cm Limited Framed Size: 81cm x 66cm Edition Size: 195 The Original and Limited Editions of Young Bob Dylan are available exclusively through Breeze Gallery. "Young Bob Dylan" "Keep a cool head and always carry a light bulb." Well, he always has had a uniquely outsider way of expressing himself, and his words are not... http://www.bobharperart.com/The-Boss http://www.bobharperart.com/following/bobharperart.com/The-Boss Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:54:57 +0000 Bob Harper Art 2304277 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/2304277/BHA_The_Boss_Springsteen_WEB.jpg" width="670" height="899" width_o="2048" height_o="2749" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46045/2304277/BHA_The_Boss_Springsteen_WEB_o.jpg" data-mid="11568958" border="0" align="left"/> "The Boss" Bruce at 61, three months younger than me. Our lives have run in tandem with 3,000 miles between us. When I was playing in the woods as a kid, chances are he'd have been doing the same. We stared out of different school windows on the same days, dreaming about our futures. We both left home that Wednesday in 1962 wondering if we'd see our parents again... Jack & Mr. K. saw to it that we did, but it was very scary! I have felt an affinity because of our birth year. He's staring down the world with immense power in his eyes. He's from a blue collar family in New Jersey, knows (and remembers) all about the difficulties all of us have to endure. On interview he is the most eloquent of his generation, and surpassed himself at Clarence's eulogy when he spoke so truthfully about the Big Man. Original Size: 560mm x 790mm Float mounted in a solid dark wood frame Limited Image Size: 58cm x 43cm Limited Framed Size: 81cm x 66cm Edition Size: 195 The Original and Limited Editions of The Boss are available exclusively through Breeze Gallery. "The Boss" Bruce at 61, three months younger than me. Our lives have run in tandem with 3,000 miles between us. When I was playing in the woods as a kid, chances...