How's this for a blast from the past?

[graywarrior]

Several weeks ago, someone messaged me on my art fb page asking me if I was the artist that painted a Dylan portrait in 1968. After going back & forth messaging, I find out that I was talking to the daughter of a man I had given this portrait to in '68. She grew up looking at this painting and they still have it in the family.

I remember when and where I was when I painted this--in my purple walled bedroom, sitting on the floor near the window and listening to Bringing It All Back Home over and over and over until my father lost his mind.

I've thought of this painting often and wondered what happened to it. Now I am in touch with the guy I gave it to and I get to see it online. The internets rule!

[Denninmi]

1. That is pretty amazing.

Kind of like when someone finds a wedding ring that has been lost 40 years.

Very nice job, too -- do you still paint?

[graywarrior]

2. I pastel!

[Denninmi]

5. Well, I can almost draw a straight line.

Still can't color inside the lines, so I'm very impressed with people like you with artistic talent. Nice, nice.

Thanks for sharing with us.

[graywarrior]

6. Thanks, Denninmi!

[lastlib]

34. I flunked first-grade coloring......

...had to become a computer geek, to my family's dismay....

[sanatanadharma]

58. and you do it so well...

...the picture posted is swell.
Be well!

[bluesbassman]

7. Wow gray, that is an amazing story and an exceptional painting!

Thanks for sharing both of them.

[graywarrior]

10. Thank you, bluesbassman

That's back when I was fearless.

[taterguy]

3. Meh

I keed

I keed

Cool story and cool painting, even if Bob did fuck up my life.

[graywarrior]

4. He fucked up mine, too.

He owes me.

[MiddleFingerMom]

8. OH MY!!! That is Just stunning. I could sit for great lengths of time...

.
.
.
.. and just look at it -- and I'm not much of a Dylan fan.
.
Good chance I would be if I looked at that AND listened to his music.
.
No shit... I am in awe.
.
.
.
I saw some American Gothic in that face... and THEN I panned down and saw the pliers!!!
,
,
,
I could look at that for a long, long time.
.
.
.

.

.

[graywarrior]

9. Thank you, MFM.

I want to ask for it back...lol

[MiddleFingerMom]

21. I was honestly going to suggest that. Couldn't hurt to try.

[graywarrior]

22. Nah, I can be that mean

Or can I?

[LeftofObama]

11. That is just downright impressive!

What I wouldn't give to have a talent like that! Great job!

[femmocrat]

12. What a wonderful story!

You must be honored that they kept it all these years! Wow!

[graywarrior]

13. i am. All kinds of emotions came forward.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

14. wow ... comes full circle back to you. what a great story about a -great- painting...

one of these days I will be able to say: Yeah, I knew her when ...

[graywarrior]

15. If I can last another 10 years...lol

[Tuesday Afternoon]

16. hell ... IF -I- can last another 10 years! ... lol

[graywarrior]

17. Let's go out with a bang!

Not eachother though.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

18. consider it a deal!

If I don't see you before I will catch up with you in Ten

[graywarrior]

20. K!

[In_The_Wind]

19. That's really great.

[surrealAmerican]

23. That is so cool.

What's the story behind the pliers and portrait? ... or should I know this - I'm not a big Dylan fan.

[graywarrior]

24. I can't remember. I haven't seen the photograph I used to paint it.

Oops, here we go



Bent out of shape from society's pliers cares not to come up any higher but rather get you down in the hole that he's in....from It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding

[nomorenomore08]

36. "It's Alright Ma" is one of his best for sure. The lyrics alone are as good as anything by Ginsberg.

[graywarrior]

37. That's when he could pound out a song in 5 minutes

[nomorenomore08]

39. Immense talent + copious weed 'n speed = poetry for the ages.

nt

[graywarrior]

40. Yep!

[nomorenomore08]

41. Just think of the intro to "115th Dream" - dude just bursts out laughing.

Had to have been stoned off his ass.

Speaking of which, I think I'll step out for a smoke right now...

[graywarrior]

42. Inhale deep, bro

[nomorenomore08]

46. I always do!

[hibbing]

59. big hair

Hi Gray,
That is totally awesome, the work is magnificent. Got the pliers reference right away before I scrolled down to read the thread.

Peace

[graywarrior]

60. Thanks, hibbing!

[OriginalGeek]

25. THat is pretty excellent all the way around

Great portrait and great finding it again story!

[graywarrior]

26. !

[hermetic]

27. Oh my,

Gorgeous. Wow. Even if I didn't know who he was...

But I do know. His songs played a great part in my growing-up years. Never saw him live, though I lived in Minnesota for a long time. But he was my poet laureate. My soundtrack

Beautifully done, Ms. Warrior. Thank you for sharing.

[graywarrior]

28. Saw him a few years back in Maine.

I stood 5 feet from him. I was high for a month.

[nomorenomore08]

32. I guess he can still put on a show. But I've seen some live clips that were slightly distressing.

Obviously everyone ages, and Dylan is no exception. Never seen him myself, but some of his more recent performances, from what I've seen and heard, have really showed his age - especially in his voice.

[graywarrior]

33. This video sums him up

&feature=share

[nomorenomore08]

35. "Lookin' for Alicia Keys..." Heh, I remember the teeny-tiny amount of "controversy" over that.

Good song. Recent Dylan may not stack up to his best 60's/70's stuff - then again what does? - but it's got a charm of its own.

[nolabear]

45. Yeah I like that scratchy old voice.

Don't always work, but when it does it's exquisite.

[nomorenomore08]

49. Yeah, I once saw a fairly recent (2006-ish) clip of "Don't Think Twice" that was rather painful.

The combo of awkward arrangement, and what almost sounded like a mild case of laryngitis, was just a trainwreck.

[nolabear]

52. Too bad. That's one of my favorite songs.

[nomorenomore08]

53. Mine too. Quite possibly the greatest bitter love song ever written.

"Gave her my heart but she wanted my soul..."

*Edit: corrected spelling error.

[nomorenomore08]

31. Almost inarguably the greatest "pop" music lyricist ever. With Leonard Cohen a distant second.

nt

[graywarrior]

47. Sometimes, it's a tie between the two

[nomorenomore08]

50. Cohen's great, don't get me wrong. His best stuff is only a small notch below Dylan's best.

The "gothic folk" style of his first several albums is stunning. I even named my first novel ('You Know Who I Am') after a Cohen song.

[graywarrior]

51. I want to read your novel

I saw a documentary about Cohen before he became a musician. He read his poetry and was a big deal in the early 60's. Much as I love his writing, Dylan's writing is "like a corkscrew to my heart." It hurts so good.

[nomorenomore08]

54. Here's the Amazon link for it:

http://www.amazon.com/You-Know-Who-I-Am/dp/1440417091

I have two other books out, a short story collection and another novel. And I'm hard at work (sort of) on my third novel as we speak.

[graywarrior]

55. Awesome, I will order one of them

Thanks!

[nomorenomore08]

56. Thank *you* for the support! Very much appreciated!

[Tom_Foolery]

29. Wow! Just wow!

You do beautiful work.

[nomorenomore08]

30. That's great! Very well done.

Did you ever pursue art/design as a career? Just curious...

[olddots]

38. that is a great painting

how do I see more of your work ?

[graywarrior]

48. You can go here. And thank you!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lyn-Lutrzykowski/131601186907490

[nolabear]

43. Okay, that needs some 'splainin'.

Dylan with pliers and Gertrude Stein? Great painting. You got his expression beautifully, and hands are really tough. But...pliers?

[graywarrior]

44. Go to post #24

It splains everything

[Ellipsis]

57. Sometimes...

I really feel lucky to have found this place.

[pangaia]

61. Oh, Warrior..thank you, thank you, thank you..

After so many, many years, I finally heard/saw him live 2 years ago..40 feet away, up close.... I was in tears when he walked out on stage.

[graywarrior]

62. Me, too pangaia !

I hope some day I can meet him and thank him for inspiring my creative world.

[maddiemom]

66. I've seen him live a couple of times, but remember almost as well the times I

MISSED seeing him. I was counselor at a camp near Woodstock for a couple of summers in the mid-sixties. Most of the more local counselors knew where his "backup band" were living and he was rumored to often be there ( You can't miss the house; it's pink!). We spent many day-off Sundays cruising the back road past "Big Pink." We saw various guys around, but never Dylan. Now I realize we probably were seeing various members of The Band.

[Pab Sungenis]

63. Wow.

I would have thought that was a photo someone had digitally painted over. Amazingly lifelike.

[Raffi Ella]

64. That's so cool.

You're talented, gray.

[Call Me Wesley]

65. You know me,

I'm not posting here much except to ...

Awesomness. I'd buy this.

[graywarrior]

67. I know you, Call Me Wesley

[xloadiex]

68. I've seen him about 6x

You never really know what you're going to get. He plays what he wants to play. One show he played the whole time facing his band with his back to the audience. He's either really good or really not so good. What's sad is his hands look to be arthritic and painful.

[graywarrior]

69. He performs like we don't exist.

I think he plays for himself, which is way cool.

[truedelphi]

72. I went to see him in the Monterrey area -

Mid Nineteen eighties. He was with the Grateful Dead.

Jerry asked him why he hadn't played one or two of the songs that the Dead really loved, and was hoping to hear that weekend. But Dylan wouldn't play them.

Later on Dylan admitted it was because he no longer remembered the words to the songs. The guy has written so many songs, he simply can't always remember the words!

[graywarrior]

73. lol, that's hilarious!