Seven or so weeks on in our Bowie-less world, and I'm still playing his music fairly incessantly. In between bouts of painting him and listening to him, I'm reading about him. I found an engrossing piece in Rolling Stone, relating how he'd had the first hint of illness during a sweltering concert in Prague, June, 2004. Towards the end of "Reality," a song confronting mortality, he suddenly clutched his chest and shoulder, and gasped for air. "He looked over his shoulder at me," recalls bassist Gail Ann Dorsey, "and he was pale, translucent almost. His shirt was drenched. And he was just standing there, not singing. I could see the audience's expressions in the front row change – from joy to kind of looking concerned." A bodyguard rushed onstage and helped Bowie off.
He struggled through one more show, but that night in Prague effectively ended his career as a public figure.
This is a one-off Original piece on Saunders Waterford 300gsm HP paper, using mixed media including Watercolour Paint, Acrylic Paint, Inktense Pencils and occasionally Unison Colour Soft Pastels.
Unframed: 760 x 570 mm
Framed: 1063 x 868 mm