special feature/part 2 of 2 part interview
it’s called ‘Rock Face’ and that involves painting musicians. I’ve opened with the
fi rst six at a gallery in Birmingham called St. Paul’s. I’ve gone with them because
they are known to have the largest collection of ‘Album’ cover art in the world!
[Th ey are by St. Paul’s Square in the Jewellery Quarter] Th ey get the rights to
reproduce these works as limited edition prints, have them signed by the artist
and the actual musicians and that’s the success of it really.
“We came up with the idea of painting serious portraits of today’s icons,
much as Lords and Ladies would have been painted in days gone by. Th is
summer I’ve painted Toyah, Paul Weller, Rik Wakeman, Nick Mason, Ocean
Colour Scene and Carol Decker. Th is is the fi rst set.”
Do you meet them?
“Oh yes, I must meet them. I need to understand them. Also when I’m
painting them, I listen to their music as well. So now I’ve moved on to a
diff erent level with my art. Previously the abstraction in my portrait was simply
about just fi nding the underlying emotion in that portraiture, whereas now,
I’m also exploring the music with the abstraction. Th is worked particularly well
with Rik Wakeman; his music is so multi-layered and so with my painting I put
layer upon layer with lots of diff ering colours.”
And are the gallery doing prints of these?
“Each portrait is limited to twenty prints, all signed and numbered by me as
well as the musician. Th ey’re really collectable pieces. Th eir reproduction quality
is fantastic.
“Rock Face has the possibility of growing hugely, just now I’m starting Katie
Melua’s painting, then I move on to Status Quo and the Gallagher Brothers
can’t wait too. I’m also going across to LA where I’ve got ‘Ozzie’ lined up.”
It would appear that all this work is tied up with the Nordoff -Robbins Music
Charity. [See page 11 of the May/June edition of Picture Business]. All the
musicians have a great involvement with the charity.
Melissa continued thus: “I really love meeting the subject and love painting
them as a real person, rather than the person that is seen on stage or screen. Th e
real ability of a portrait painter is to learn somebody’s reality before you actually
start painting them, so that when you do begin it’s that reality that goes onto
Toyah Wilcox for Rock Face
the canvas and comes out in the painting. I like to think that I
reach in and steal a bit of their soul, and that little bit of soul is
what goes onto the canvas and that’s what makes it so diff erent.
Th at’s why it’s so important to meet them. You’ve got to know
them, understand them and realise who that real person is and,
believe me, they’re all very diff erent.”
Th e writer enquires if there is anything else on the horizon at
all? Th is lady never rests on her laurels!
“Well I’m writing a 16th century novel at the moment, I’m
working on some fl oral close-ups and there is some talk that
I might be getting my own TV programme, but I cannot say
too much about this at the moment, suffi ce to say that when
I was young my hero was ‘Tony Hart’. His programmes were
so fascinating as were his abilities to try diff erent things, to
experiment and become part of the whole thing. I got such a
lot out of him and although his programme was for kids, I’ve
always thought ‘what if someone does something similar but
for adults’? So I want to present something that enables adults
to understand art, be able to realise that we all have the ability
to play a part in art and that it’s made up of our own choices
and what you like is important to you. It doesn’t matter if it’s
not somebody else’s taste because it’s still your art, the art that
‘does it for you’. Th at’s so important when you are buying art
because at the end of the day it’s not about following trends, it’s
not about listening to Mr Saatchi and thinking ‘oh gosh, this is
going to be worth millions for me down the road’. I still think
there are a lot of people who don’t have the guts, if you like,
to say actually ‘that’s what I like’. It’s important that you have
that belief in yourself and that you have that ability to make a
decision for yourself.”
She continued: “You don’t have to listen to other people, you
don’t have to care what other people think and it doesn’t matter
that it’s completely outrageous and everybody says ‘oh I can’t
stand that’ because if it really works for you then that’s great. If
Hairy Daisy: Prize-winner at the Art Business/Canon awards
24 picturebusiness
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