Rush in (my) art

Right, so this page compiles all the stuff I've done (well, at least that I can find) that relates in some way to the band Rush...remember please, I primarily do abstract mark making so don't be expecting a technical portrait of the Rocinante or a sequential illustration of the 2112 story...the connections here are all in my head...

So probably everyone had dozens of these in their notebooks...yes? I labeled this extensive doodle (from 1987) "Didacts and Narpets." I know the words "Seals," "Rush," and "Peart" (as well as "Aquabee" which was my CB handle as a kid) appear in there, and there's probably some others...titled after the almost all drums piece from Caress of Steel's "The Fountain of Lamneth."

An unused design for the cover of a cassette for the band Stoic. - 1987(?) - Jay, "E," and Mike Crum were probably three of the most talented musicians I'd ever heard, and were a "power-trio" just like...Rush. The connection though is that the star map is actually of the constellation Cygnus, and I think the border is directly related to the stone tablet on the gatefold of Caress of Steel. In high school I guess I dreamed of these guys making it huge and me becoming their Hugh Syme and Ray Daniels. Too bad they broke up, I think because they basically hated each other, oh well...ah those "Middletown Dreams..."

Nothing too exciting but kinda cool that 21 years after I put this in a sketch book (in 1989) I completed my book of digital paintings "FEAR: Terrible Lie" (in 2010.) (lyrics from Moving Pictures' "Witch Hunt.") I remember my grandparents had a subscription to Reader's Digest and I kept submitting Rush lyrics for "Quotable Quotes." They never published any.

One of many large watercolor and ink compositions I had started doing, this one quotes lyrics from Hold Your Fire's "Open Secrets" - 1989

One of my little abstract illustration deals - 1990 - I printed this one on the inside back cover of Leaf #2 which was the comic book I published with Phil Avelli from SVA. The words are from Grace Under Pressure's "Between the Wheels," I love that song! That issue of Leaf featured a painted cover by Bill Sienkeiwicz that had actual shell casings glued onto it. Phil & I were ecstatic to get Bill to to that cover, but actually a little disappointed with his contribution. We used illustration legend Marshall Arisman for the first issue and had hired George Pratt, Tim Vigil, and Mike Mignola for upcoming issues. Too bad the comic really wasn't very good and we folded after just two issues.

Along the left side of page 11 from "Hand Gestures," (1991) is a quote from "Hemispheres." (Click the image to go see the book.)

If you look carefully through "Phoenix" (1999) you'll find a couple Rush song titles because the book chronicles my trip to Virginia with Frank, along the way documenting the songs we were listening to at any given moment. I also noticed that one of the moments recorded was 2112 hrs...(Click the image to go see the book.)

These six pieces (2002-2003) were all done as gifts for family. Actually, three of them were sympathy cards, using Rush lyrics to express my feelings. Peart is so much better than Hallmark! The first is "Subdivisions" (from Signals) for Andrea, my (step-)daughter the quiet rebel..."conform or be cast out!" Number two is "Distant Early Warning" (from Grace Under Pressure) for Rob, my (step-)son, probably some kind of genious but he'll never let on..."and I worry about you!" Next is "Nobody's Hero" (from Counterparts) which was done for my mom in memory of Alex Coleman, a lifelong friend of hers (and almost my step-dad) who passed away suddenly that year. After that is "Between the Wheels" (from Grace Under Pressure) done in memory of my great-aunt Leone Heller. I think the original got to Gerry (her son who is my mother's cousin and my Godfather - oh yeah he should be listed in here as another reason I love Rush...he did too. I thought he was cooler than anyone when I was little so I emulated him and if he liked Rush, so did I! He also influenced my love of Disney World and (for a while) my hatred of tomatoes.) I don't know what lyrics were quoted or why they're missing. Number five is another tribute, "Afterimage" (also from Grace Under Pressure) in memory of Jeffrey Nacht given to his brother Larry...at the bottom are some lyrics from Larry's song "I Believe In Angels." Finally, there is "One Little Victory" (from Vapor Trails) for my son Dylan. In my book "Hand Gestures" I wrote "it really don't matter, somebody already did it." So I figure, why bother trying to write expressions of my feelings...Neil already did it (better!)

"WIP2: You've Got To Want It" (2002-2003) is a book of 68 digital paintings that online (and if I ever get to print it) feature the lyrics of four Rush songs. It's the second book of digital paintings which stems from lyrics, the first being "WIP: mad season" which was done for my (ex-)wife Janet and features Matchbox 20 lyrics from their song of the same name. The title "You've Got To Want It" is actually a quote from "Runaway Train," a song on Geddy Lee's solo effort My Perfect Headache. The songs in WIP2 are "Marathon" and "Mystic Rhythms" from Power Windows and "Time Stand Still" and "Mission" from Hold Your Fire. They don't appear exactly in order in the book but if you pay attention to typefaces you can easily discern the proper sequence of the lyrics. A digital version of this book with a soundtrack by John Tabacco was shown at ArtExpo in 2005. That same year I applied for a New York State grant and for Rush's permission to reprint the lyrics within the context of this art project. Both ignored me. (Click the image to go see the book.)

A Rush fan may assume that the title of these two series of pieces, "Vital Signs," is a reference to the song from Moving Pictures. But it's not. Vital Signs is the annual conference for EMS providers in New York State. That's where I made these arts. You can go look at 'em anyway by clicking on one of the images above.

So that brings us to "FEAR: Terrible Lie." (2009-2010) Probably three of my all time favorite songs from Rush is the Fear Trilogy, spanning Moving Pictures to Grace Under Pressure, in reverse order of course. This book of 54 digital paintings was released in three parts; part I "The Enemy Within" (9/9/9) with lyrics from the song on Grace Under Pressure, part II "The Weapon" (1/1/10) with lyrics from the song on Signals, and part III "Witch Hunt" (5/5/10) with lyrics from the song on Moving Pictures. (A few lyrics from "Freeze" (from Vapor Trails) which is part IV of the trilogy are thrown in for good measure.) I think Neil wrote somewhere that the trilogy is a lyrical analysis of the three segments of fear; within, without, and group. My use of his words are reflective of my feelings regarding the current socio-political landscape. More than anything that fear is a weapon to be used (by our "rulers") against us. The quote "ignorance, prejudice, and fear walk hand in hand" is stunning in its simplicity and its truth. While discussing my little art project with fellow Rush fan and long-time friend Vinny, he asked me when I was going to do "Freeze." I told him I had no plans to do a part IV. He did, however, share that he loved the lyric "Mind going down into a dark night of desperate panic or a tempest of blind fury," which I had actually already included as part of this book...so I kinda highlighted page 44, which has the end of those lyrics on it, by making the recurring triangle, square, and circle red, yellow, and blue instead of white, and by putting his "VK" logo in there for him. The "book," as usual, is presented here on digitalpaintings.com with the Rush lyrics. I plan to print the book and produce an album (under the name Echo System) of my cover versions of these three Rush songs, along with some other nuggets, to be released probably 9/10/11.

(that's dried blood on the paper towel that the tattoo artist used to cover my tattoo)