" DETONATOR"

There are only so many Where were you when...? moments in life. For my generation, and generations since, one could ask : Where were you when you first heard "Stairway to Heaven"?

Perhaps among the most important anthems of a time which followed the war in Vietnam, Watergate, Lunar Landing, Martin Luther King, The Beatles, JFK, RFK, the Cold War, and for Canadians: Expo 67 and Team Canada. It was a coming of age for a generation who practiced hiding under school desks in case of a nuclear attack. I was sixteen when I first discovered Led Zeppelin. It was 1971.

The arts, as always, provided the only true refuge. The Music scene, with all of the other arts, was keen to reflect this new direction. Alliances that seemed permanent were being broken in favour of new, more progressive ones, and in some cases, radically different ones. It was as if finally, the detonation had to happen. So who actually pressed the Nuclear Button in Music?

With all due respect to the great musicians of the period, the enduring impact of the "Big Blast" has to go to Zeppelin.

The privilege to complete a requested commission centered around one of the world's greatest guitarists has been a special one. I humbly thank Sandra and Craig. The included lyrics are from "Over The Hills and Far Away", a favourite of the collector, and my personal favourite, although it gets tougher to discern a "best" in such a wonderful body of work.

I will not delve into the band's history, or try to provide an essay to accompany the piece. The painting, like the cliche, is worth a thousand words. Perhaps tens of thousands. It does what it has to do: it takes you back to the feeling of the original impact through form and colour.

I'll only add this: Sometimes the only way to the light is by blasting open the darkness- and there lies the open road before you.

"DETONATOR", 70X64, mixed media on canvas, 2021, Commission, Private Collection