When The Boxmasters took the stage on May 2, 2009, at Willie’s Place, everyone was looking for Billy Bob Thornton. I suppose most people never would have believed that Billy Bob Thornton, who has had a very successful acting career and whose marriage to Angelina Jolie still continues to be chronicled, would leave the Hollywood world to travel with musicians on a bus.

But, like his character in many movies, Billy Bob Thornton continues to mesmerize his audiences. His most notable band mates, J.D. Andrew and Michael Wayne Butler offer an indelible background with their guitars and vocals, and other band members, all dressed in black, also offer an act that spells professionalism.

Seeing Billy Bob behind the microphone though, is an entire different story, and as I watched from the sidelines, behind the stage, I found myself being somewhat slightly start struck. And that does not happen very often, as I’ve been exposed to countless celebrities during my past 30 plus years as a photo journalist and artist.

After their performance, it had been arranged for me to meet the Boxmasters in their tour bus. Not knowing what to expect I was very pleased to find that Billy Bob and the guys were indeed very courteous, attentive and funny as heck. The kind of fellows you’d like to dunk some beers with at any given bar. They were very pleased with my painting of The Boxmasters and we all joked around about their likenesses and their unusual signing session. Meeting these guys in their bus was a unique sparky experience, and it made me acquire a deeper respect for Billy Bob, a man who obviously has the courage to take the leap at something new, throw his heart out into space and not bother to look back. As most creatives know, one of the hardest things we do is re-invent ourselves, as often as we can. I guess some people get comfortable with one discipline. But I remember my grandfather telling me at a very young age, to chose between art or music. He really believed, as some people do, that you can’t be really really good at two professions. I went against his advice, and to this date I have no regrets for taking on so many creative outlets, music, art, photography, sculpture, just anything creative and productive. Did I accomplish greatness?… probably not…….. yet… but I have enjoyed my journey thoroughly in this crazy life of mine.

Much success is ahead of Billy Bob Thornton and the Boxmasters! Billy Bob will keep re-inventing himself and in the process he will delight audiences world-wide. Not bad for a “bad boy” gone good!

The Boxmasters will return to Willie’s Place at Carl’s Corner in Hillsborough sometime in May of 2010. I encourage anyone to look out for that concert and buy tickets, as their last two concerts with Willie Nelson have been sold out Stop by at Willie’s Place gallery to see the original painting, signed by all of the Boxmasters, plus Willie, Lucas Nelson, Woody Harrelson, Carl Cornelius, among others. A real treasure. Price: $4,000.
To Purchase: http://lamberto.com/product/the-boxmasters/

–Lamberto

Recently, a friend, was pondering over my painting of Anna Nichole, and she rattled a few questions: What was your initial reaction upon learning of her death, and why did you paint her the same day of the news, and why her, as so many famous people die all the time?

Well, I heard about Anna Nicole Smith’s death on television, February 8, 2007, six years ago, while watching the news. As you can imagine, I knew that it was a significant event because she was an icon, much like Marilyn Monroe. Even though she was embroiled in a lot of controversy, I still admired her tenacity, especially because she came from humble beginnings. So, my initial reaction was sadness, disbelief, and inspiration. Yes, many people die every day, celebrities and such, but I felt that this moment would be good to capture in canvas. I had a large canvas already stretched, and right after dinner I began to paint. One thing that I wanted to avoid, in due respect to her fresh passing, was NOT to focus on her sexuality. I did not want to paint her in the provocative poses she was famous for. Instead I wanted to focus on Anna Nicole, the person, who even though was surrounded by money and fame, she was truly a person filled with confusion and sadness. And that’s what I wanted to capture. Her expression says it all. She has always been portrayed as sexy, showing a lot of her feminine figure, laughing, but that’s not what was lying underneath. The green color around her symbolizes the “money” she was surrounded with, and the lose weaving of colors, especially black, represented the chaos that she was going through, the tangled web of accusations, the dark people that surrounded her, the way the media portrayed her.

I did not begin with the idea of creating a memorial painting of her. Fact is, I painted her with no purpose whatsoever. That is the reason why it has never been exhibited, other than a hair design salon in Colleyville, and not put up for sale. Now that time has passed, I believe that it needs to find a home, a good venue that will present this as a true remembrance of Anna Nicole, the beautiful starlet. The chaos and money is subjective. Not every person will capture that idea, but to me, it was ever present, and it was much more so before her death.

I painted really late into the night, that evening, listening to nostalgic music and hearing more reports about her death. The painting was not based on any one single photograph, but rather an impression of many that I saw. I completed the painting that same night, or rather, morning, at 6 a.m. I must admit, that at times I was overwhelmed by emotion, pretty much the same way it happened while I painted Selena after her untimely death. When someone young dies without a reason, it just fills my heart with sadness, and a bit of emptiness. It’s feels like a candle has been extinguished before its time.

Lamberto®