Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Graceland
This painting is a houscape of Graceland . Graceland Chapel is in Las Vegas. The building looks just like this but the grounds don't look like this at all! We eloped to Las Vegas and got married before a gig at the Hard Rock Cafe (John managed a band called "Common Sense" at the time and they opened for "Hootie and the Blowfish" New Years Eve 1996. We chose Graceland because when John was 21 he worked for Col. Tom Parker (Elvis's manager) and even though the Col. was a tough guy I think John really respected him. He also met Elvis and spent a day once wearing Elvis's gold lame dinner jacket. John loves Elvis!!! He wanted to have an Elvis impersonator marry us but I had to put my foot down and we just had a regular ceremony. Believe it or not it was so heartfelt and sweet! We threw a charming reception several months later at the Oceana Hotel which is a very small hotel on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica. Our family and friends attended and fun was had by all! I made our reception invites and this was the art on the cover. The little marquee in front normally says something like Lorenzo Lamas got married here but I painted Valerie and John were married here.
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17 comments:
Very colourful and wonderful way to include those who couldn't be there at the time! (I like weddings that are a bit different - we got married in an old fort on a cliff edge!)
What a great story! (You should have allowed the Elvis impersonator, though :) Very memorable. Tell me how you achieve your colour and tone gradations in your work. This is also excellent for an invitation. The invitations to the party we had the day after our wedding were designed by me and I made the silkscreen stencil, then I had my art students (I was teaching high school at the time) pull them for me.
Love this,Val!What a neat wedding story.Nothing unusual about my wedding.(But John did propose on the third date,and we have been married 26 years.)
that is so sweet Janet! He knew you were the one! Redraider i knew she would love it! andrea my colours are pretty pure and the airbrush makes these beautiful blends and i have been doing it for so, so long as you can probably tell Maxfield Parish had a huge influence on me as a young girl! I love that you silkscreened your invites, i screenprinted for a master printer for years. Caroline that sounds so romantic, an old fort on a cliff edge! do you have any pictures? I so would love to see it! Thanks for coming by I have been so busy but I had an itch to post today!
I like the bird flying in the background - gives it a nice feel
Wonderful story and illustration! I think weddings should be fun and personal. My wife and I had a small wedding at a Butterfly Conservatory. It was just close family, friends, and a few hundred butterflies.
Val- Love the illo- fantastic!
I think i have worked out why my emails dont reach you- the error message i get means that your server doesnt recognise mine [aapt is only in Australia i think]
Do you have another email address? maybe i will try emailing you from Hotmail or something...speak to u soon :)
Lovely, like the colour graduations.
I always get this great feeling of anticipation whenever I show up at your door...And I'm always rewarded! A delight as usual, wouldn't miss it for the world!
(Thanks again for the prezzie:)!!!
Wonderful anecdote! A Vegas wedding must be a very special thing!
Graceland reminds me of Paul Simon's song!
This is a wonderful illo of the chapel. And I'm so envious of your fantastic wedding story. Congratulations on your anniversary.
val - this is great, glad you took a break to post it!
neat... hey valgal i just love the blue roof (must be after those blue swade (sp?) shoes!
I love your work! Very whimsical. My brother is getting married in Vegas this May. They are broadcasting the ceremony over the internet for those that can not attend and then having a reception when they get home.
OOOOH!! Sooo charming, beautiful little chapel!
Val
Hope you had a wonderful anniversary. I thin you did ;)
what a great story about your wedding and a lovely illo.
i rode a horse down to the aler on my wedding day so much for that but nice peice just the same
i like the stones
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