Charles Neville, Open Letter

Charles Neville Portrait

36"x48" oil on canvas

An Urban Shaman

Open Letter to Charles Neville

Dear Charles,

I hope that you like your portrait.  I took liberties while painting it,  hope you don't mind.  In order to paint you,  I wanted to know about you.  I reviewed times past when our paths crossed. We met only once, that was in the early 90's at a spiritual retreat.  And, back in my bad old days, the 80's, in New Orleans I saw you and the bro's many times. At the best damn bad place on the planet, Tipitina's, with the sweat dripping off the walls. To research for the px, I surfed the web to gather some info and images of you. I found a snippet of information and some low rez publicity px's.

So, really I did not have a lot info to go on.  Not to worry, under informed?, not a problem.  I just used my hyperactive imagination.  

 

The cool hat and tie dye t-shirt, came from publicity stills attire.  Of course, there had to be your magic wand, sexy sax, close to your heart.  The mustache, which reminds me of a Chinese monk, is exaggerated,  because it looks so effin awesome.  High cheek bones reveal your Native American genes.

 I studied the low rez images of you harvested from the web, and converted the blurry face to paint on canvas.  Time consuming, fun and satisfying work.  While painting, stories floated on the screen of  my mind.  I saw you as mythic man,  a heroic urban shaman. A powerful explorer of life on Earth  An adventurer on the highway of consciousness.

There had to be a gator in the px.  He is your totem, a spiritual animal power partner. Gristly Gator, the mighty, mighty Honey Island swamp beast,  the cohort of Loup Garou,  is your unseen supporter. Do you sense him?

I had painted St. Louis Cathedral previously, so, it went in the picture as the spirit of New Orleans.  Radiance from the crosses borrows technique from Van Gogh.  The crosses are a salute to the many righteous people who gather solace and joy from churches.

After painting for a while, I looked at the px and saw that the Cathedral looked Gothic.  Kinda spooky.  I was mystified by what I had painted. The dark blue arches looked like ghosts.  They reminded me of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" painting.

Just as an aside, I have frequent arguments with my muse, my artistic inspiration.  My intention is to paint pictures filled with light and love (and a bit of humor).  However,  dark images sometimes creep into the paintings.  I blame this on my muse, she takes over my brush.

The Cathedral,  supposedly a beam of hope, looked like a set from a cheap horror movie.  Then I saw the justice in this. The horror stemmed from millennia of  abuses perpetrated by organized religion.  So, I was OK with St. Lou as painted.  The good side represented by the radiant crosses, the bad side showing up in the creepy ghosts.   

St. Louis Cathedral is reflected in your glasses.  The glory and horror is in your eyes.  This is the experience of your soul.  

There is a water fountain in front of St. Lou.  Maybe, this signifies the baptism of the spirit.  Or maybe, I am reading too much into it.  Maybe, it is just a beautiful picture.

This portrait will be exhibited at the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center, for seven weeks.  Opening reception Saturday, June 23.  Closing reception, White Linen Night, Sat August 5.

Thanks, Charles, for this picture.  It was a joy to paint.

Sincerely,

Janet