Barbara Carroll

Top 100 2000: Barbara Carroll
4.75" x 20"
oil on wood, 2001/2013

I was showing my sister Annemie some of my paintings the other day on my computer. She took a liking to this portrait of Barbara Carroll that I did 12 years ago. I told her I'd send it to her. When I found the painting in my attic, where it was stored for a long time, it suddenly struck me why she liked it. The Barbara Carroll portrait (at least the one on the left) reminded me (and I think—unconsciously perhaps—her too) of her daughter, and my niece, Sabijn. The painting was rather dirty and damaged after all this time in the hot attic, so I took out my paint brushes and touched it up. I probably spent as much time touching up then it took me to paint it in 2001. I hope she likes the "enhancements". The song illustrated by the painting is Morocco composed by Harold Arlen. The Barbara Carroll Trio performed it as an instrumental in 1949. A recording of it appeared on Forty Years of Women in Jazz.

M.I.A. at Letterman

M.I.A.
4" x 4"
watercolor, 2013

I know, it's been awhile. Life's been taken me places. But then the top 100 is kind of my life, so it will continue, in one form or another. The only painting I've able to churn these last two months is this tiny M.I.A. portrait done with watercolors. It took me a whole week to do it (to illustrate where my mind is at right now.) But it's M.I.A.! so I will take this opportunity to butter you up to her art (which is performance art.) I had already been mesmerized by her song Born Free since the day it was issued. It's been ranking high in my lists ever since its release in 2010, and it's steadily moving up the ranks of my all time favorites list ever since. There are three versions of the song now contributing to this rapid ascend up the list: First there's the album version on her CD Maya (that also appeared on The Believer 2010 Music Issue), then there is the 9 minute official video which is one of the most horrific I've ever seen (http://vimeo.com/11219730). It's a piece of art that video, but what I consider the real piece of art capital "A" is her performance of the song on Letterman. The keyboard player plays with his fists, creating a soundscape as punk as punk gets but the real treat is M.I.A. with her many clones. The video ranks with best music performances I've ever seen. I should not fail to mention that the song is based on the classic Suicide tune Ghost Rider, in itself a top 100 veteran.