Layne Staley Portrait- Alice in Chains

 I painted Layne Staley from Alice in Chains in 2007. The original painting was a Christmas gift for my partner, Karl. He's the one who got me hooked on their music! Up until then, I had only heard a couple of the songs that got a lot of radio play, but their work is a lot more varied than those few songs. They have an amazing gift for layering sound. Whether it's vocals or instruments, you hear something new everytime you listen to one of their songs. Unfortunately, they lost a great talent when Layne Staley died. Here's a bit about his life...

  Born August 22, 1967 in Kirkland, Washington, Layne Staley had early aspirations of becoming a singer. By 1987, Staley joined forces with Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney and Mike Starr and formed Alice in Chains, a band that would become internationally famous in the grunge movement. The name of the band actually came from a previous band Staley was in called Alice N' Chains where Staley would dress in drag and play speed metal. 

In 1990, they released their debut album titled Facelift, featuring the hit song, "Man in the Box." They went on to release several more albums and, in 1996, performed on MTV Unplugged. This would be Staley's last performance.

On April 20, 2002, Layne Staley's body was found in his condo surrounded by spray paint cans, a small stash of cocaine and two crack pipes. A memorial was held that night with about 1,000 friends and fans attending. His autopsy would later report that he had died from a combination of heroin and cocaine referred to as a "speedball."

Bands such as Pearl Jam, Cold, Staind and others have written songs in honor of Staley's memory and the music he created. His mother has gone on to form the Layne Staley fund that works to raise money for drug treatment in Seattle.

   I have been lucky enough to see Alice in Chains in concert, but I would have loved to see Layne Staley on stage. The band now has William DuVall as their lead singer and he doesn't disappoint.

*To read more about the Layne Staley fund visit their website: Layne Staley Fund

*To learn more about what Alice in Chains is currently doing (New album May 2013!) visit their website: Alice in Chains Official website

If you would like to purchase one of my Layne Staley prints, you can visit my Etsy store at the links below...

5x7 SIGNED print

8x10 SIGNED print

11x14 SIGNED print

Layne Staley T-Shirt (black)

Layne Staley coffee mugs- CURRENTLY SOLD OUT- If you would like to order a mug just contact me.

New Baby Bump Painting

Here's a brand new addition to the commissions you can find at Jeffcoat Art! If you are a soon-to-be-mommy or know someone who is expecting then my Baby Bump paintings would make the perfect gift. It's sweet, simple and affordable. Here's the process:

1. Take a photo of the mommy-to-be standing in front of a window. Make sure to NOT use the flash. What you want is to create a silhouette photo of the subject with light coming in behind her. Of course, you want to take a profile shot of her so that you can see the baby bump. Then you want to take a photo of her in the exact same position but WITH the flash. This is in case I need any extra detail of the subject. Here are the photos I took of my sister, Sasha:




If there are any issues with taking the "silhouette photo" then just send me one where you've used the flash (see photo on right). Once you've emailed me your photo then the first stage of painting will look like this:

After I've painted a basic sketch of the subject it's time to fill in the background with white:

Fine tuning is next. Most of the subject is blacked out with some minor white highlights left in on the arm. Then I outline the subject in black again to make the subject sharper against the white background:

From there, I make sure everything is clean lines. An additional layer of white is painted around the mother-to-be to create a slight gradation in the background. And here is the finished product!

I am only charging $75 for the Baby Bump paintings. That's half of what I usually charge for a regular portrait. This is a great way to capture that special moment in time between a mother and her child. If you are interested in commissioning your own just email me your "silhouette photo" and "photo with flash" at jeffcoat4747@yahoo.com. To commission/purchase a Baby Bump painting please visit my Etsy shop: Commission a Baby Bump Painting. I gave this particular painting to my sister at her baby shower and it was a hit!

Bighorn National Forest to Shoshone

     Bright and early Sunday morning (July 29th), Karl and I left our Wyoming hotel and started our last leg to Yellowstone. Along the way, we passed through Bighorn National Forest and Shoshone National Forest and can I just say...GORGEOUS! It was the perfect prelude to Yellowstone itself. Basically our conversation went from "ooooohhhhh" to "aaaaaaaahhhh" to "Hey, look at that!"and back again. Absolutely beautiful and, at times, a bit nerve-wracking with those drop-offs right next to the road. You definitely don't want to take your eyes off the road!

Here are some photos taken from the car as we passed through Bighorn and Shoshone.











We had a couple close calls with deer. You can tell they're used to traffic coming through because they look both ways before they cross :)

Be prepared to not look at the road when you get into Bighorn. And if you get carsick on those mountain roads (like me) be prepared to suck it up and deal with it. Luckily, I had my camera to help distract me.

Another passenger-side view of Wyoming...

Nearing the end of our drive through Bighorn and Shoshone. Our expectations were surpassed before we even got into the park! Once reaching Yellowstone, it would be another 1 1/2 hours before reaching our campground but that's another blog.

Road Trip to Yellowstone

      On Friday, July 27th, my honey and I set out at 7:30am to start the long and arduous drive to Yellowstone Park. We left Georgia and drove through Tennessee, Kentucky, cut through the bottom tip of Illinois and traveled across Missouri. I tried to save my memory cards for Wyoming but that didn't happen. While passing through St. Louis, Missouri we saw the Gateway Arch. I was able to get this photo as we passed by.

      And some Missouri fields...

    From Missouri, we drove along the border of Nebraska and Iowa and then into South Dakota. Driving through South Dakota we saw a lot of bikes and trailers headed for the Sturgis Rally not to mention a very interesting (and rather random) outdoor museum of giant statues. I fought the urge to snap away. I'm still waiting for Yellowstone! But here's a windshield snapshot of a South Dakota cloud.

    And then sweet Wyoming!

   At this point in the trip, we'd been driving for 2 days. Time for a hotel :) The next morning we got up bright and early and made our way through Bighorn National Forest. And that's where I finally lost control of my shutter button. But that's for my next post!