Musicians

I tried, during the Fifties, to paint musicians but it wasn't time yet. In 1992, I felt now's the time. It began with small oil sketches and drawings in July of Ed Mari and Bruce Krasin, both of whom gave me as much time as they could find. They also advised me as to the proper fingering of the instruments. I've always been bugged by paintings of musicians that portray us as a bunch of "Looney Toons"...the sax player grabbing a horn as if trying to kill a boa constrictor. In short, many times musicians are portrayed disrespectfully. I tried to portray the men and women while working their craft and art. Cliff White gave me precious Saturday mornings, posing and playing as he posed, lending me a tenor sax as a model. All of the musicians played as they posed. It was very inspiring to have them playing in front of me as I painted. That is what I wanted to capture - some of that fire. This then, is a show of paintings from my life experience as a working musicians. This is the heart of real people-musicians-with eyes that open and close and legs that walk. These are not paintings of dead people. No man, these cats are meat eating, tax paying citizens of the United States. We are everywhere. Painting as silent art, and music as sound and words. - Charles Miller