When various artistic fields combine into one event, it can be a great experience. I attended a private view at an art gallery in London a few weeks ago, where some of Ronnie Woods’ artwork was being showcased alongside works by Michael Donald and John Pasche. All of the pics were taken with my mobile, so I apologise for their quality in advance.

I was particularly excited about this event, given who the artist was. The exhibition was called Ronnie Woods Invites. Upon arrival, a member of staff showed me around and talked about the artwork being exhibited. The exhibition was a collection of paintings, photographs, sculpture and other artworks. There was also a video being projected with images from one of The Rolling Stones gigs, including music. That was awesome! He also had a few guitars on display in one of the rooms.

Ron Woods is the artist-in-residence at the gallery. He’s been painting for decades. So, this is not a new career. His private studio is also located on the top floor of this gallery, which intrigues me. He probably has another one at his home too. Anyway, the good thing about it is that I could see it! Even better, the curator of the exhibition gave us a few insights regarding this exhibition. It couldn’t get any better than that!

There were many paints with the Stones, so I guess that the fans amongst the mixed crowd gathering there must’ve been as delighted as I was. Here are some examples:

However, he also paints other subjects. We found many pictures of horses, some portraits and ballerinas. This last subject was interesting, as these paints reminded me of Edgar Degas painting. There was one in particular which contrasted quite fiercely with some other work, where he depicted his own ‘demons’. We were not allowed to photograph many of them.

His private studio consisted of two big rooms. The first one contained a pool table and a huge TV set, as well as a some of this artworks, which included some painted beach chairs and the ballerinas. The second room contained several big paints and really nice portraits of his current wife.

We were told that Damian Hirsch gave him a new set of brushes to keep him focused on his work the last time he came out of rehab. Now, that’s a friend.

Photographer Michael Donald had recently won a prize for his portrait of Charlie Watts, which is part of a series of portraits. Here’s the artist himself next to one of his photographs. Can you recognise the subject?

John Pasche had been put forward by his rector at the Royal College of Art to design the artwork for a forthcoming album by the Stones in the early 1970’s. He created the iconic lips and tongue logo in 1971.

This one was made with badges, and each one depicts a member of the Stones or something related to them.

Here is another one here made with empty cans of beer. Unfortunately, this one was hidden in cloackroom for some reason.

It was a good evening, and I thank Castle Galleries for their invite and their time there.

Thanks all of you for reading this post!

A Londoner from Afar