Guns N' Roses - Civil War

"While painting my most recent Motley Crue piece, the studio was filled with sounds of the era (as usual). In addition to the obvious Motley albums, I also added to the rotation Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, Ozzy and of course, GnR."

"I usually paint with music playing and the TV on in the background, though I rarely pay attention to what’s on the screen. It was during GnR’s epic song “Civil War” that I happened to glance at the TV and caught footage of the Vietnam war protests from 1967, in which protesters were placing carnations into the barrels of soldier rifles. Although the protesters weren’t using roses, the coincidence wasn’t lost on me. I have long believed when the universe speaks, I best listen. It was a short leap from the images on the TV to a rose in a pistol and the title of the song playing to complete the serendipitous circle.

As a bonus, when I started to lay out the concept, it occurred to me that this might be what a realism version of what a Banksy piece might look like. This premise had a Pandora’s Box effect on me, opening endless concept possibilities." -Stickman