VOL 17 ISSUE 10 | October 2022 |
Sharon Skinner has a new book out and although I am a little bit biased, I think the cover is awesome! The story for this cover starts way back on July 26th, 2014 at a charity fundraiser for the senior care facility Oakwood Creative Care in Mesa, Arizona. The event was the brainchild of Bob Nelson's 'Geeks4Good' organization and it was held at Gotham Comics in Mesa. To help support the cause, I donated art for a 'book cover' to be auctioned off and the high bid of $320 went to author Sharon Skinner. Some time passed as we discussed ideas for books that she was working on and then she mentioned this title. Fast forward to 2019 when I met model Lindsey Lockwood at my booth at Phoenix Comicon and I just thought she would be perfect for this concept that I had for the cover. I did a mockup using a picture of her from her Facebook profile and sent it to her and also to Sharon for approval to move forward. Once everyone was on-board, Lindsey and I did the photoshoot in my studio in front of the $800,000 chandelier and some strategically placed photography soft boxes. I bought a bouquet of roses for the shoot and brought some stage blood. Lindsey did her own makeup and her wardrobe was just wearing one of my dress shirts. There were quite a few great shots to choose from, including the close-up shot of the rose on the back cover.
Fast forward again to 2022 and the book was ready to be published. I did some photoshop effects on the cover including blood splatters and revised lighting and Bob Nelson (publisher at Brick Cave Media) added the awesome fonts for the titles. The image above is from the first book signing event that happened to be just down the street from Gotham Comics where this all started. You can support Sharon by getting a copy of the book here https://brickcave.media/index.php/books-by-genre/fantasy-books-category/114-blood-from-a-rose-by-sharon-skinner . Contact me and I'll see what I can do about getting copies signed by Sharon, Lindsey, and I.
I had the priviledge of being one of the selected concert photographers for The Who concert here in Phoenix on October 30th at Ak-Chin Pavilion. They were inducted into the the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and wrote tons of songs that I grew up with. I wrote the review of the concert for Burning Hot Events and you can check out my story and my shots at https://www.burninghotevents.com/2022/11/03/the-who_mike-campbell_10-30-22/ . The opening band was Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs and although Campbell isn't as much of a household name, he is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) with his work with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Speaking of the RRHOF, another band that I photographed for Burning Hot Events was Judas Priest who were just inducted this year. I started wondering how many Hall of Famers I have photographed in my relatively short career as a concert photographer. In additon to Roger Daltry, Pete Townshend, and Mike Campbell from this show and Rob Halford, Ian Hill, Glenn Tipton, Scott Travis (Judas Priest), I came up with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr (both with the Beatles and Solo); Neal Schon and Gregg Rolie (Journey and Santana); Jonathan Cain, Steve Smith, and Ross Vallory (Journey); Rick Allen, Vivian Campbell, Phil Collen, Joe Elliott, and Rick Savage (Def Leppard); Duff McKagan, Slash, and Matt Sorum (Guns & Roses...although I photographed them as Velvet Revolver); and Alice Cooper and Joe Perry (Alice solo and Joe with Aerosmith, but I photographed them with Hollywood Vampires).
Honorable mentions - I have some good, but not professional shots of Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac and solo) and her keyboardist Benmont Tench (formerly with the Heartbreakers) that I took this November. I have some nose-bleed-seat shots of Kiss. I didn't see Van Halen, but I got some iPhone pics of Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony (The Circle) this summer and I saw David Lee Roth on the Eat 'em and Smile Tour (no pics though). Concerts that I've seen, but didn't get any pictures of add K.K. Downing and Dave Holland (Judas Priest), Dolly Parton, The Foo Fighters, Michael McDonald (The Doobie Brothers), Bon Jovi, Pearl Jam, Steve Miller, Deep Purple, Chicago, Cheap Trick, Joan Jett and the Black Hearts, Rush, Heart, Black Sabbath (actually it was Heaven and Hell with Ronnie James Dio), Steely Dan (no cameras allowed), Eagles (plus Joe Walsh solo and Randy Meisner in an all-star band), Elton John, Brian Wilson (Beach Boys). Probably some others that I'm forgetting.
Oh, and here are some concerts I've seen on the Country Music Hall of Fame inductee list - Marty Robbins, Dolly Parton (on both lists now), Charlie Pride, Porter Wagoner, Kris Kristofferson, Alabama, Mel Tillis, The Statler Brothers, Don Schlitz, Jerry Reed, Brooks and Dunn, and I think there are others I saw as a kid, but those memories have grown a bit foggy.
Lori and I had a wonderful trip to wine country, Sonoma, California. We did wine tasting and toured the caves at two very cool wineries: Gundlach-Bundschu (pictured above) and Nicholson Ranch. Our host at Nicholson Ranch was Mike Stone who is the host of the TALLMIKEWINE podcast. The best part of all of this was it was complimentary as part of a factory tour for Vode Lighting that I was attending along with some of co-workers at Creative Designs in Lighting. We also had some incredible food from Layla at McArthur Place, Valley, Tasca Tasca, and El Molina Central. I took a morning hike of the overlook trail which brought me back through a very interesting cemetary...you'll see clips from that in an upcoming music video of mine for sure. And so, the world wine tour continues!
E-ya later,
Mark Greenawalt
Mark@MarkGreenawalt.com
My gift to you is my music. Please kindly accept by going to these fine streaming services to download and stream! I hope you like some and consider them for your favorite playlists!
copyright Mark Greenawalt, Future-Class X Publishing - Phoenix, AZ 85044
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