claire reika wright

Paintings and illustrations inspired by the songs of the sixties and seventies

About ‘It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll’

20 years ago I ran a small recording studio in Perth, Australia, and one long hot night, listening for the nine hundredth time to a rather mediocre performance, trying to pull 'something' out of the mix, my mind wandered and I had the idea for a series of paintings based on the rock songs that had originally inspired me to become a sound engineer.

During the ensuing twenty years, as I settled into becoming a professional artist, I mulled over the concept a few times but the time was never quite right - until now! 14 years of concentrated painting and a couple of years studying Graphic Design and Illustration at Oxford & Cherwell College and I felt ready to attempt the project. This exhibition represents the first stages of the concept which I hope to develop a lot further in the next year or so.

Having grown up in the 60's and raised a family of budding musos in the 70's, worked as a roady, band manager and run a studio, the music of the time had played a big part in my life. What could be easier than interpreting the songs I knew and loved! Or so I thought! In fact the research for ‘It’s Only Rock and Roll’ turned out to be far more exacting than I expected - when you come to study closely the words of songs, probably of any era or genre, they often have a far greater depth than one would have imagined. In fact some, like the Stones’ ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ turned out to be amazingly erudite while others were unexpectedly devoid of substance! And, of course, how many times did I think I knew the words of a song only to find that what I had been hearing all those years hearing was not even close!

Choosing the songs and bands was great fun and I could go on with the series for ever there is so much material to work on.
I have not worked closely with musicians for many years and I do miss the excitement of recording and mixing live gigs and the team work involved - perhaps that is why I have enjoyed producing these paintings so much. I have been getting the best of both worlds! I hope you enjoy the work too!