Art & Sol: A Perfect Fusion of Music, Photography and Portraiture

During the 1980s, Solomon (Sol) N’Jie was responsible for the crowd safety management of spectators at various London venues where the world’s leading musicians performed. He used a 35mm camera to capture rare and unseen images from unique vantage points of pop stars. Painter and journalist Stella Tooth is a founding member of the Lots Road Group of portraitists and resident artist of the Half Moon Putney. She has a remarkable ability to capture stories through her paintings with brilliant effect. The two artists have collaborated for their latest venture titled ‘Art & Sol” at the Ealing Project,  a new multi-functional community space in the west London Borough of Ealing. We had the pleasure to speak to Solomon and Stella about the project, which fuses their love of photography, painting, and music.

Thank you for agreeing to catch up with Occhi Magazine. We’ve had the pleasure of following your career. Firstly, for readers who are unfamiliar with you and your work, how did you both get involved in the arts? 

STELLA

My connection with portraiture, music, and creating art began in childhood. My father studied watercolor portraiture for his own enjoyment and would draw me when I was young – a source of fascination to any child. He kept his past portraits in the understairs cupboard which, somehow, made their viewing illicit.  My sister and I would delight in finding delicate portraits of film stars like Myrna Loy, with her impossibly arched eyebrows.

Then, in the 60s, the man who has since become my brother-in-law – a fine art student who still plays mean blues guitar – entered our lives.  As an inspirational figure for my far-off future art career, John’s influence was far-reaching. When I was about eight, he asked me who my favorite Beatle was and, with me seated at his side, painted John Lennon in pop art-style with matt black hair and complementary blue and orange skin, in his Sargent Pepper’s green and pink uniform and round glasses and mustache.  I was enchanted!  It was he who also taught me the basics of guitar picking.

With my sister Lorna, 12 years my senior, I watched ‘Top of the Pops’ and clocked her moves as she danced with her dressing gown,  hooked on the back of her bedroom door, as her Dansette played Eddie Hodges ‘Ain’t gonna wash for a week” and Bobby Vee told us why he was ‘Stayin’ in’.  Birthdays meant albums and I memorized every lyric on the album sleeves from ‘Sargent Pepper’ to ‘There goes Rhymin’ Simon’.

When John and Lorna moved to digs just off the Kings Road in its 60s heyday, my parents and I visited frequently from Bournemouth. Music-wise it was such an exciting place. You rubbed shoulders with the likes of Elton John and, soon, each visit was marked with a gig. Other than folk music in pubs, my first major gig was the Rolling Stones at the Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre in 1976 where Mick Jagger thrillingly appeared atop a closed lily as it opened out to Keith Richards’ Honky Tonk Woman intro. Soon after our gigs were influenced by the American imports John would buy in Cheapos in Berwick Street Market like JJ Cale at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1976 and Little Feat at the Rainbow in 1977. I loved the intertwining of art and music in vinyl album covers – and my sister’s flatmate Martine Grainey, a graphic designer, even designed the 1970s poster for Led Zeppelin’s ‘Zeppelin Express’ Earls Court gig!

So, when I left home at 19, London drew me to it – but as a journalist, not an artist, on my mum’s advice to keep the art, I loved as a hobby.  Life drawing, museum visits, and gigs populated my free time as I explored the world and then moved into broadcast news pr at the BBC and Sky. Nearly 20 years passed before I finally swapped my blackberry for a paintbrush and retrained as a portraitist, finding a new visual way of seeing people and the natural world through observance, detail, character, rhythm – and color.

It took a further leap of faith a few years later to unite in my art my journalistic love of written and visual reportage with my enthusiasm for buskers, blending fine art with a more colorful, graphic style.  As a resident artist at the Half Moon Putney, a local haunt from when I first moved up to London, I now produce original artworks which resonate with the music fans who buy them, underlining the power of both art and performance to connect us.

Nick Mason playing the Half Moon Putney in the week he launched Saucerful of Secrets by Stella Tooth

SOL

While spending my school years growing up in Sheringham on the North Norfolk, longing to get back to London, I absorbed the changing face of 60’s rock and pop through the radio and local coffee bar. On my fifteenth birthday, I blagged my way into seeing The Who in Cromer. This was the first band I had ever seen live. It was extraordinary. Fantastic sound and energy culminating in Townsend smashing his guitar, Moon destroying the drum kit while Daltrey swung his microphone over the crowd and Entwistle stayed cool, calm, and collective on bass. My world changed and I realized live music would play a major part in my life.

In the 70s joining the RAF at the tender age of seventeen provided a sensible career path of Electrical & Electronic engineering. It also enabled me to take every opportunity to watch live bands and attend festivals. Before being posted to Cyprus a year later I had already seen the Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, T-Rex, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Donovan, Free, Pink Floyd, Jefferson Airplane, Frank Zappa, Santana, and many more plus The Who performing Tommy.

On my return back to the UK and a fortunate posting to West Drayton near Heathrow, I started playing rugby for Wasps. The MD of Wembley was also a member of Wasps rugby club and had a major problem with the GLC licensing authority who were threatening to revoke their entertainment license due to chaotic, unrulily, and out-of-control concerts.

The rugby players were invited to step in and provide some semblance of security to enable the shows to continue. This was heaven for me, watching bands playing for free although it took me and a couple of colleagues six months before we provided the stability needed to satisfy the GLC.

Little did I realize that this temporary intervention would span the 80s, enable me to see the world’s top band and performers plus landmark events such as Live Aid and the Princes Trust concerts.

Sol N’Jie’s photo of Mick Jagger and Stella Tooth’s interpretation of it

 

Stella,  you studied portraiture at The Heatherley School of Fine Art in Chelsea. How much has academic study prepared or guided your career? (Note: please provide details of your research, any influences, themes or particular memories that impacted you- how have you used your skills, and experiences to manage or develop your career opportunities)

I’m an Ealing-based figurative artist specializing in telling the stories of people, including performers.

I have 14 years experience in traditional painting and drawing, along with a Diploma and Post Diploma in portraiture from The Heatherley School of Fine Art in Chelsea.  I’ve also had private tutoring that has helped me develop a style for my performer art that explores the boundaries between fine art and illustration. I’ve taken part in exhibitions and art fairs both at home and abroad and have undertaken many private commissions.

My influences are many and varied and drawn, for different reasons, from artists like Van Gogh, Hockney, Freud, Klimt, Schiele, and photographers like David Bailey and Annie Leibovitz. But the artist that most speaks to me is Ian Drury (Ian Drury and the Blockheads).  I just love his pop art pencil drawings.

I aim to use my skills and experience in oil on canvas, mixed media, and digital paintings, as well as drawings, to help people explore and celebrate their stories through meaningful, inspiring artworks that enliven the walls of their home – and their imagination. And, uniquely, as an ex-journalist and broadcast news pr, I can tell their stories in words – adding to the legacy aspect of portraiture.

I hope my performer art brings people’s personal enjoyment of music, comedy, dance, or circus acts to their homes. With the same attention they give their playlists, record collection, or ringside seat, they can select the performers they know, those they’ve yet to discover – or a statement artwork that evokes the soundtrack of their life, or their experience of a live act.  I also enjoy collaborating with musicians to capture them in a way that is in step with their brand, licensing artwork for album covers and posters.

A few years back a woman visited my September open studio as part of the Borough of Ealing Art Trail (BEAT) and asked if I could draw her and her husband as musicians.  I said, sure, what do you play?   It turned out they didn’t! But they had made an unexpected connection between my portraiture and my musician art and wanted the experience of being rock stars and of my capturing that moment in a piece of art.  It sounded fun.  So I said yes and the Rock Star Experience was born!

So now wannabes can commission me to give them the next best experience where we’ll discuss the clothes they’ll wear, music they’ll move to, instruments they’ll play and poses they might strike. Then they’ll take to the Half Moon stage while I photograph them in action! Their permanent reminder of their 15 minutes of fame will be my photos of them preparing – and my drawing or oil painting of them.

Rock star experience portrait by Stella Tooth

Here’s what my first would-be rock ‘n’ rollers had to say about the experience: “A hugely enjoyable experience – with a unique artwork at the end! In another life we’d have been rock musicians, only neither of us can sing or play an instrument. This was no barrier to taking on the persona of a rock duo on stage, to be immortalized by Stella in one of her vibrant portraits. She quickly helped us overcome our self-consciousness and was even able to offer guidance on how to convincingly handle the instruments. We had a blast singing along to our favorite numbers – luckily to an imaginary audience. Stella makes the creation of the portrait itself a real collaboration, from choosing the best photo together, to regularly emailing images of the work-in-progress for comment. It was magical to see the picture grow, and it will never stop being a thrill to see our own wonderful portrait on the wall.”

3- Stella, you have portrayed well-known sitters, such as the BBC Journalists Kate Adie and John Humphrys. Please tell us more about how you secured these commissions and what would you say has been the most memorable project to work on?

I started work at the BBC as a Production Assistant on Radio 4’s From Our Own Correspondent, which Kate Adie now presents, and researched for Special Assignment – feature programs whose correspondents look behind the scenes at the lives of others. It meant that when I crossed from journalism into news PR, with its more sociable hours when our children were small, I knew many of the correspondents well, and through PR-ing programs they worked on began to promote both them and news presenters from Panorama to the Today program, the BBC World Service and Sky News.

BBC’s Kate Adie with her portrait in oils by Stella Tooth

After retraining as a portrait artist, to join up my past and present careers visually, I approached some of the correspondents and presenters whose public profiles I had looked after, asking to portray them in this more personal way.  I needed to keep their portraits so I had pictures of well-known faces in the frame to show future commissioners!  Kate Adie, John Humphys, George Alagiah, Sky’s Adam Boulton (now Talk TV) and Julie Etchingham (now ITV News) were kind enough to oblige.

I found what three of them said about the experience insightful…

“It’s rather odd having someone do your portrait while you’re working. They say the camera never lies…sadly, neither does the artist. I rather hoped she might iron out the wrinkles.” John Humphrys

“Because we are looking out from ourselves most of us don’t know what we really look like, let alone what impression we make – a portrait is the best way to find out and Stella has an artist’s eye and professional insight when it comes to people from the media world like me.” Adam Boulton

“Being scrutinized by an artist’s eye is a world away from sitting in front of a news camera – a far more personal and exposed experience – but the fact I know how gentle and endearing Stella is made it an altogether easier time than I’d imagined.” Julie Etchingham

My most memorable portrait is always the last and I have just finished a commission that came to me via the Royal Society of Portrait Painters (RP) of Chandra and Kasmira Naik who wanted to be portrayed in traditional Indian costume and jewelry for their 50^th wedding anniversary. Many of my portraits of adults similarly mark special moments in their history – or act as a daily reminder of where you belong. My child portraits conversely chart the progress from tots to teens and strengthen children’s self-esteem and confidence. It’s perhaps interesting that the commission had its roots in my portrait of Kate Adie being selected for showing at the RP’s annual show.

This is the story of the commission:
https://stellatooth.co.uk/blogs/news/the-story-of-a-commission-via-the-royal-society-of-portrait-painters

4- Solomon,  during the 1980s you were responsible for the crowd safety management at several London venues. How did this role transcend into photographing some of the world’s leading artists?

Stewarding and security of major events were in its infancy during the 1980s. However, once we developed systems that worked reasonably well and had sufficient man power to cover the gigs my life became easier. I was able to delegate most customer-facing tasks and only dealt with bigger problems that had been through a three-layer filter of stewards, security and supervisors.

Managing significant numbers of spectators at venues where the world’s leading artists and bands performed became the norm. I always believed there is a timeline to activities and at some point moving on is inevitable. While watching the performers I wondered how this period in my life would be remembered given I’m not into collecting memorabilia or autographs. Photography has always been of interest, enthusiastic amateur would best describe me at the time with pictures taken on a point-and-shoot camera. I tried this at a couple of concerts and failed miserably. A professional camera with the range to cater for the extreme conditions at gigs was required.

Armed initially with a newly purchased (much loved) Olympus OM2N camera, a single roll of 35mm film per concert, it took over a year of trial and error to get reasonable results. Understanding the interaction between Aperture, Shutter Speed, Film Speed, Lighting, and Exposure within a constantly changing and demanding environment proved to be a major challenge. Very little time was available for framing, focus, and exposure, with snapshots often taken from within a passionate audience while having to deal with constantly changing light levels. So learning to quickly capture the moment (point, adjust, shoot) became a priority while taking advantage of unique vantage points I was able to access while performing my role as the event crowd manager.

Wasps became one of the biggest stewarding entities in London and was called upon to support gigs outside of its regular Wembley Stadium and Arena base. Support was provided at Earls Court, The Rainbow, Knebworth, Sobell Centre, Guilford Civic Hall, Crystal Palace, London Parks, and assorted large tents that all provided further photographic opportunities.

Meat Loaf, Karla DeVito, Dead Ringer tour, 26-30 April 1982 Wembley Arena. Photo by Solomon N’Jie

Solomon, you used a 35mm camera to capture rare and unseen images from unique vantage points of pop stars that had become global phenomena. How was this received by the artists, your employers, and other photographers professionally hired? 

The photographic convention at the time was the professional snappers would have access to the pit in front of the stage for the first three songs. They would depart to provide photos for their respective newspapers and magazines. Occasionally I would bump into the tour photographer with an All Area Access pass but I mainly had the concerts to myself. There were exceptions such as Live Aid where a photographic platform was assembled, front of stage which turned into a bun fight as to many photo passes were issued. .

The artists, Wembley management, and other photographers never saw my photos. It was a ‘hobby’ that got slightly out of control. In the early 90’s I had to make a choice between carrying on with the gigs, in the evenings and weekends, while also managing time between a career and family.

The crunch point came in 1992 when Microsoft offered me a job, that I accepted, as the European Group Manager which meant extensive travel abroad so Wembley, et al. had to stop. My photos ended up in a box stored in the attic for 25 years, before I had them digitized, while I got on with my career in the computer industry.

Solomon, what has been the most difficult shot you’ve captured?

Live Aid provided one of the great photo opportunities of the 80s with all the prominent people from the rock and pop industry present. Unfortunately, my camera had been stolen two weeks before and I could not get a replacement. My girlfriend at the time managed to borrow a Canon from her friend which was unfamiliar and untested.

While I managed to shoot several rolls of film and take reasonable shots of most acts the seminal moment of the day was Queen’s performance and Freddie stealing the show. The photo platform was full with snappers hanging off the side, so I shot from the pit about 3m below the stage. The result was a satisfactory photo of Freddie although I feel below the standard of many of my pictures from that period.

Freddie Mercury, Queen, Live Aid, 13 July 1985 Wembley Stadium, London. Photo by Solomon N’Jie

 To date is there a particular experience that has either shaped or changed your perspective on photography. If so, what was the lesson learned?

Take the shot. There have been many times where I have struggled with a variety of situations that caused difficulties with lining up the ‘perfect’ shot. Only to find having pressed the shutter and gone through processing I sometimes ended up with a great photo. Moments in time cannot be repeated and if the opportunity presents itself then go for it. One of life’s metaphors generally.

The early years of poor results with more than 80% of photos consigned to the bin and my inability to provide consistent pictures were disappointing. Over time understanding the mechanics of photography, for the concert environment, together with learning through trial and error, resulted in me keeping the vast majority of photos. Perseverance pays off.

 

Prince – Prince and the Revolution Parade Tour 12 – 14 August 1986 Wembley Arena. Photo by Solomon N’Jie

 

Stella, you’re a  resident artist of the Half Moon Putney. For those unfamiliar with the venue, please tell us more about the venue and your relationship with it.

As resident artist of the legendary music venue the Half Moon Putney I practice my art in another community and I find myself in good company, as former resident musicians have included Elvis Costello and Steve Marriott.

The Half Moon Putney is one of the capital’s longest-running, and world-renowned, live music venues, synonymous with The Rolling Stones, where, since 1963, some of the biggest names in popular music have performed.

Over the past seven years, I have produced many original artworks from household names to relatively new kids on the block. I aim to capture the creative energy of performing live: the excitement of adapting on stage to things that go wrong, with instant audience feedback. It fascinates me as it’s so different to my creative process, which is more akin to performers rehearsing their sound and ‘look’ before a gig, with a gap before the viewer tells you what they think of it.

For me a good gig is music and whether a good vibe is created between the performers and the audience.  Visually I’m interested in the ‘look’ of the band, what they wear, the shapes they throw as they move to the beat, and the way they interact with their instruments.  Stage lighting also helps to create atmosphere and contrast – important in helping recreate the illusion of 3D in 2D media like painting or drawing.

In a way, I fall in love with whichever band I’m portraying at the time. It’s exciting drawing or painting bands that have written their own music as, the first time they play it’s like me exhibiting a new body of artwork.  So, when Catfish launched their new album ‘Broken Man’ under the ‘New Moon’ banner at the Half Moon Putney, you could sense their anxiety, their growing confidence at the audience reaction, and their pride.  I have also gained insight and respect for tribute bands – like The Rollin Stoned and the Ultimate Beatles – who help audiences understand and appreciate the works of others using their own skills to recreate their ‘look’ and sound without letting their own personality dominate.

I trained as a portrait artist working from life.  But, as I find it impossible to draw in a venue with lights down, I take photographs a step apart to help me recreate in the studio the binocular vision that allows us to see in 3D.  As a former journalist and news PR, reportage interests me so my drawings and paintings at the moment seek to portray not only the likeness, personality, and mood of the performer but their movement and relationship with the other band members with the audience.  By abstracting the backgrounds I hope to create the mood of the music.

Please, tell us more about your collaborative project ‘Art & Sol’ and what audiences can expect? 

Art & Sol is the launch exhibition for the Ealing Project of iconic 80’s rock and pop musicians photographed live in concert and reinterpreted through digital portraiture to produce some remarkable modern representations of these moments in time.

The 1980s was a decade of great pop culture, from big hair and tight clothes to epic guitar solos and incredible voices – one of the music eras that influenced many of today’s musical genres. Back in the 1960s many of the global bands and singers photographed and reinterpreted in stunning digital paintings played the Ealing Blues Club – the cradle of British rock music which started a music revolution that spread first to London clubs, then the world.

Art & Sol brings together Stella Tooth, resident artist of the Half Moon Putney, which has been playing live music since 1963, and Getty rock photographer Sol N’Jie who deliver classic 80s photo images of these iconic performers, seen through the lens of a modern, nascent artist.  The exhibition provides an insight into the performances of these extraordinary artists and reveals striking images and natural moments in time that provide a nostalgic, pictorial journey through the 1980s and a tangible memory for fans.

Stella, a trained portrait artist who, for the past six years, has been exploring her practice in the Half Moon Putney, and Getty Rock photographer Sol decided to produce this side-by-side exhibition to allow the viewer to understand and appreciate what happens when an iconic photo is seen through the lens of an artist’s eye.

‘Art & Sol’ exhibition at the brand new Ealing Project venue in Ealing Broadway until the end of July.

Stella and Sol met in a ‘pop-up’ in Ealing where Sol was exhibiting some of the 600 photos he had taken of 80s rockers like Eric Clapton, Roger Daltrey, Mick Jagger, Freddie Mercury, Madonna, Prince, Rod Stewart, Sting, Tina Turner among others. The collaboration unites ‘old’ and ‘new technology’ with Sol’s photographs originally taken on an analogue 35mm camera and Stella’s artworks created on an Apple ipad pro using the Procreate app and pressure sensitive ipencil.

What other projects are in the pipeline?

We are planning to take our Ealing Project exhibition to other venues. Sol will also be providing talks at the venues about how he came to be a Getty Images photographer.

Watch our websites for details!

 

Sol and Stella at their ‘Art & Sol’ exhibition at the Ealing Project with bluesman Robert Hokum

 

Where can readers find out more about you? 

STELLA

• www.stellatooth.co.uk
• Instagram @stella_tooth
• Facebook @stellatoothartist
• Twitter @stellatooth

SOL

• https://iconicrockphotos.net
• Instagram @iconicrockphotos
• Twitter @iconicrocksol

Art & Sol runs until the end of July at the new Ealing Project venue. For further information please visit the Ealing Project website. The venue has just opened and will hopefully provide a home and platform for the creative talent that exists in the area and beyond.

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