All That Jazz

Reorganizing the studio is a good time to say good-bye to "old friends" -- paintings that date back a ways and for various reasons remained in the studio, through several re-locations and several years. "All That Jazz" is one of those works. Time for it to find a new home where it can be displayed rather than tucked away in my studio storage.
"All That Jazz" was painted in 1988. I was studying anatomy at the (then) Alberta College Of Art (in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.) I supplemented my in-class live model sessions with visits to Calgary's various live theaters to sketch/draw during performance rehearsals. "All That Jazz" captures one of those performances where singer and musician seem to intertwine and boundaries between them (and the audience) become fluid until everything is in the moment.
The painting was done on stretched canvas. To protect the work from damage, I unstretched it and kept it in a flat file for a number of years. Recently I decided to mat it flat rather than restretch it. It is currently listed for sale at my etsy store at http://www.etsy.com/listing/89090029/blues-jazz-singer-saxaphone-is-subject
Here is "All That Jazz" and some close-up detail photos (click photos for larger images):

Even after the interim of 23 years, I still find this to be a good work. (Wow! almost a quarter century! Does that make this a vintage work?)

I should note here also that this painting served me as a reference for a portion of a mural commissioned by Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. You can see that mural at my web site at: http://www.poppenga.com/ReidCampusCenterMural.html