She's Leaving Home...

The year was 1966 and 17-year-old Barbara McVay decided she really needed to get to the U.K.

The problem being? She lived in Maryland, which in whatever way you try to swing it was tragically not in any way connected to the U.K.

So there was only one thing to do and that was to run away from home.

So lets see...

Why did she do it?

And what was her chosen mode of transport?

We know it's 1966.

The Beatles have an attraction with teenage girls...

The song "Yellow Submarine" had just been released.

This is starting to make some sense!

So Barbara slipped past officers guarding the British submarine, which was docked in Baltimore on a goodwill visit, she hid herself  inside a conning tower compartment of the HMS Walrus

I kid you not... goo goo g' joob!

Where she stayed for 12 hours before making her presence known, due to the fact that she was on the edge of fainting from carbon monoxide fumes.

The compartment would have slowly filled with water when  fully submerged.

As it was, they were only four hours into its trip when the crew found her.

So they turned the sub around and dropped her back off at Baltimore

Barbara told police:

"I like English boys, I couldn't go legally, so I had to do it illegally.

Right on Sista'!

Euro Crime And Steampunk at one of it's best!

This week I stumbled upon the comic book series; The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec.

Attracted by the art and its subtle hues it was presented in a hard back book.

All together there are 10 stories and at present we are on book five of those translated into English.

1. Extraordinary Adventures

2. Adèle and the Beast

3. The Demon of the Eiffel Tower

4. The Mad Scientist and Mummies on Parade

5. The Secret of the Salamander

First published in 1976 and written and illustrated by French comic’s artist Jacques Tardi these  books were originally printed on a Sunday in the newspaper Sud-Ouest.

The character to whom we follow is heroine Adele Blanc-Sec who within herself is a popular fiction writer; inspired by secret sects which history has long forgotten.

She is cynic and it’s this cynicism which leads her into a mystical world of crime. We get corruption, the occult, incompetence which leads to the dangers of patriotism.

The majority of the stories are set within Paris in real life locations during events throughout the 20^th century.

The book starts off pretty light hearted in the year of 1910 and is an excellent parody of books and illustration of that time, but as we move forward, we see the mood get darker as World War 1 is just around the corner.

The thoughts and ideas of Adele becoming a nurse soon get over turned by her feisty nature, and of course, a lady was not allowed to fight.... BUT she gets injured.

Here we see the sudden leap into what we affectionately know as STEAM PUNK!

This is one of its finest.

Adele gets cryogenically frozen…. And I’m not going to give any more away.

The impression I got was though the author wanted to keep the time line historically correct he didn’t want this character entangled within war which is why we get this leap in genre.

SO...

It’s a thrilling ride and if you like disregard to the law, crime, scull duggery and a magic carpet ride then this book is for you!

One of things thing I like about it; is the story takes you on one of the wildest journeys but you never loose the feeling that you’re sat reading by gas lamp, the pictures and colours never betray the reader or story.

Backstage Pass To The Ronnie Wood Exhibit!

Over the next few months I have various celebrity art openings to attend and I hope to blog about each one in turn.

To kick this little section of my blog off, comes with someone and a band very near and dear to my heart.

Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood.

I was able to attend a special showing to the Ronnie Wood art exhibit in association with the Castle Gallery here in Manchester.

Art is something not new to Ronnie and apparently, though he is best known as lead guitarist for the Faces and the Stones, you're as likely to find him sketching as with guitar in hand.

Ronnie was born in Middlesex in 1947.

He grew up surrounded by music of the great jazz legends and was strongly influenced by his dad, who was a jazz musician.

At the age of nine, he picked up playing washboard with his brother in their skiffle band!

Ronnie went to Ealing College of Art, and has continued painting, drawing and printmaking for over 35 years.

Throughout his musical career – first as a member of the Jeff Beck Group, then the Faces, and since 1975 the Rolling Stones – Ronnie has continued painting and drawing, his subjects ranging from self-portraits, to musicians, to family and close friends.

Ronnie Wood has used many mediums to capture legendary Rock n' Roll, Pop and rhythm & Blues performers which include Jimi Hendrix, Chuck Berry, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, Bob Marley, Eric Clapton, John Lennon and Madonna – all people he admires.

The portraits, featured in this exhibition were his fellow Rolling Stones band mates.

This solo exhibition has also been held in New York, Las Vegas and Tokyo, as well as retrospectives at the Modern Art Museum in Sao Paulo and the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame.

He builds limited edition silk screen prints in much the same way as working in the studio with overdubbing; you find the more defined ones are the things that stand out as the viewer.

Ronnie has even implied this himself as to when he is creating his art and it is certainly something which shines through as you stand in front of his art.

As a viewer we were given a very elegant A4 sized program reminiscent of a tour program which introduced us to who Ronnie Wood is and filled with interviews and comments about his art and his feelings on certain pieces and as to why he created them.

It focuses solely on his THE FAMOUS FLAMES project, glorious Stones inspired pieces set into a back drop of flames with names such as Rip This Joint, Wah Wah and Got Me Rockin’.

Alongside the program was a matching price list, prices start at £795 for heavy weight giclees print to larger framed box canvases for £10,250.

 

There is a choice of Ronnie Wood display items that can be added to an order from presentation wallets and frames, which all have the classy slick black look with Ronnie Wood signature logo.

If I was a richer lady, I would be sure to hang one of these on my wall!

 

I came out impressed and inspired and it made me kick out the jams with the album Some Girls for journey home!...

Next UP! The legendary Bobby Dylan!