The Meaning

“Creation of the Blues” was done during the time I was playing a lot of open jams at Knuckleheads in the east bottoms of Kansas City. Frank, the owner, was kind enough to let me display this piece inside his gift shop for a while.

God Given Talent

I believe God Himself created the musical genius of greats such as John Lee Hooker, Etta James, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Janis Joplin, and Eric Clapton (seen on the bottom).

This piece expresses my amazement of the talent God gave to humans to create such beautiful and meaningful music that millions of people enjoy which makes life better for us, especially in hard times.

The Process

I have always been fascinated and inspired by Michelangelo‘s work on the Sistine Chapel in Italy and I believe his influence shows in this piece, as well as many of my other pieces such as, “Grace Under Pressure” and “Pieces of the Puzzle.”

The Creator

First, I began the piece by drawing out the face of God, his cloak, and musical notes wrapped around Him. Then, I began to sketch out many different musicians that I believe had deep roots in gospel, blues, and rock and these characters were the ones who made it on the illustration.

Definitive Shadows

During the production of this oil painting, I began to develop a more definitive style of shadows on the faces of my characters which give them a lot more depth.