"Keith Richards, 'As Tears Go By'." Print

I am known as The Saxoffender. I specialise in the Art of Rock’n’Roll. Every work I paint, has an underlying musical theme, or a track, that goes with it. For example, my painting of Robert Plant is about rockstar privacy, and how people with intensely public images, deal with tragedy in their personal lives. The title of the painting is “Three Black Dogs Called Saxoffender. Portrait of Robert Plant.” I learned three versions of Led Zeppelin’s iconic track ‘Black Dog’, on saxophone, while I was painting Mr Plant. That includes Jimmy Page’s guitar solos. Buy the painting, you get the performance, if you want. :) Every piece of art I finish has an ultimate humanitarian objective. I try to apply part proceeds of everything creative projects I do, somehow, to social causes. My primary areas have been Prostate Cancer Awareness, World Suicide Prevention, and the Prevention Of Cruelty Against Animals. So if you buy a piece of art by The Saxoffender, you are entitled to an additional feel good buzz. You are helping make the World a better, more compassionate, place. Crusading for Compassionate Causes I thought would be appealing to people. But in my home town of Adelaide, South Australia, the opposite seems to have occurred. So I live as a recluse, I don’t advertise my work, I don’t play sax with a band; I just keep working, and communicating with icons I respect, via Instagram. Those icons are the ones who have retained their modesty and compassion in spite of incredible fame. Rob Halford, of Judas Priest, Lady Gaga, Tommy Henriksen, of the Hollywood Vampires, and Johnny Depp are my “snow leopards”. Exquisite, valuable, highly sought after, shy, and endangered. The danger arises from the enormous fan bases they have, and the delight celebrity media take in reporting negative press about them. So they are extremely elusive. My journey therefore, and my perception that they are listening through the communication portal created by Instagram, could be my imagination. I gambled everything I have; my law career, my status, my finances, my health, my social contacts, my future, on my creative mission one day, working out. To date, it has been a financial catastrophe. I lost everything. Trying to help people avoid dying the same ways that Frank Zappa and Chris Cornell did. But taking the creative gamble has also saved my life. If I were still a depressed barrister, I wouldn’t be here now.