Music has always been a part of my life. My parents rearranged our childhood home a few years ago so that all the instruments would be right in the front foyer. I love coming home to a Martin guitar left on the chair, sheet music sprawled over the piano, and a spontaneous jam sesh.
One night, years ago, we were cleaning out the basement storage as a family and my dad came across all his old records. We pulled out the record player, dusted off the Fleetwood Mac album and set the needle. We all just sat there, listening. People don’t do that anymore. We don’t just sit and enjoy the music. That night the hours filled quickly with stories of my dad buying his first records, saving up for the entire $20 that his first Beatles album cost, and begrudging the curse of supply and demand and the now $5 Beatles albums you can find at any record store it seems. It was hours of all of us dancing on the couch as my siblings followed the music down the stairs to the basement and my brother did a terrible impression of Stevie Nicks.
I love that I grew up in a family that cursed pop radio, that reminisced about the “good music,” and taught me how to share and make music. It’s something we still share today.
I love incorporating music into my art. Sometimes that’s dissecting lyrics, sometimes it’s just the feeling you get enjoying live music, and sometimes it’s a tribute to the women who changed rock n roll, like this WOMEN WHO ROCK series. This project started as a commission for my bosses, a dynamic duo of women who know how to get stuff done. Our annual work party centered around the theme of women rockers and as we jammed out to Joan Jett, Stevie Nicks, and Madonna all week leading up to the party I felt so empowered. Maybe it was just all the impromptu dance parties, but music transports us. It helps us sort through the tough times, dance out the good days or even the long days, and it helps us connect. Music is home.
This series (and hopefully the more to come) pays tribute to the women who changed rock n roll. Who left for a great adventure of moving to a big city, who gave it their all, who rocked the night away even when people told them they couldn’t, who wrote something so spectacular and vulnerable and shared it anyway. And we love them for it.
Acrylic on birch canvas with a restricted palette of blues, yellows, and pinks—blue for feeling, yellow for passion, pink for making it a girl’s world. All the titles are lines from famous songs by the artist.
GO YOUR OWN WAY
Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac
WOMEN WHO ROCK
Madelynne Jones
Series. Acrylic on wood panel
10in x 10in
$70
Named one of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time, Stephanie Lynn “Stevie” Nicks always encouraged us to go our way, even if we have to call it another lonely day.
“I am pretty fearless, and you know why? Because I don’t handle fear very well; I’m not a good terrified person.”
– Stevie Nicks
SUCH A FOOL FOR YOU
Dolores O’Riordan, The Cranberries
WOMEN WHO ROCK
Madelynne Jones
Series. Acrylic on wood panel
10in x 10in
$70
Always recognized by her pixie haircut or buzzed head, the iconic Irishwoman Dolores O’Riordan led The Cranberries to the forefront of the 90s alternative rock. Her openness about the struggles in life was as apparent in her singing and lyrics as her often bare feet.
“It just feels comfortable and honest to pull your toes along the ground.”
– Dolores O’Riordan
TAKE ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE OF MY HEART
Janis Joplin
WOMEN WHO ROCK
Madelynne Jones
Series. Acrylic on wood panel
10in x 10in
$70
Janis’ work is about as psychedelic as she was. One of the most successful female artists of the 1960s and 70s, her ability to blend blues and rock at electric levels of feeling propelled her to iconic status. She died of a heroin overdose at the age of 27.
“I’m a victim of my own insides. There was a time when I wanted to know everything … It used to make me very unhappy, all that feeling. I just didn’t know what to do with it. But now I’ve learned to make that feeling work for me.”
– Janis to Rolling Stone writer David Dalton on the Festival Express tour.
DON’T GIVE A DAMN
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
WOMEN WHO ROCK
Madelynne Jones
Series. Acrylic on wood panel
10in x 10in
$70
The Queen of Rock n Roll and the Godmother of Punk herself. Joan Jett took her mother’s maiden name as her stage name after her parents’ divorce. She was a founding member of the girl band The Runaways before going solo, a move which propelled her to royal status.
“Other people will call me a rebel, but I just feel like I’m living my life and doing what I want to do. Sometimes people call that rebellion, especially when you’re a woman.”
– Joan Jett
WHERE WILL I BE
Emmylou Harris
WOMEN WHO ROCK
Madelynne Jones
Series. Acrylic on wood panel
10in x 10in
$70
Most often titled as a protégé of Gram Parson, Emmylou’s vulnerable lyrics captured the world of country music in the 1970s and continues to today. Her heartfelt ballads and long, dark hair brought a soul-filled presence to the scene, establishing her as an award-winning songwriter.
“Years ago I had the experience of sitting around in a living room with a bunch of people and singing and playing, and it was like a spiritual experience, it was wonderful. And I decided then that was what I was going to do with my life was play music, do music. In the making of records, I think over the years we’ve all gotten a little too technical, a little too hung up on getting things perfect. We’ve lost the living room.”
– Emmylou Harris in 1989
LIVING IN A MATERIAL WORLD
Madonna Louise Ciccone
WOMEN WHO ROCK
Madelynne Jones
Series. Acrylic on wood panel
10in x 10in
$70
Lauded as the best-selling female recording artist of all time, Madonna Louise Ciccone has been the Queen of Pop since the 1980s, pushing the boundaries of mainstream pop-rock with controversial lyrics, often inspired by the spirit of rebellion she was known for in her childhood. She dropped out of college in 1978 and moved to New York with only $35 in her pocket, eventually becoming a beloved pop star and fashion icon of the 1980s.
“I was a lonely girl who was searching for something. I wasn’t rebellious in a certain way. I cared about being good at something.”
– Madonna
