Drawing: Stacey Kent

Posted on May 7, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Stacey Kent

“She has charm to burn, a smile that could give you hope in February and sings like nobody’s business,” wrote the Wall Street Journal about Grammy-nominated American jazz singer Stacey Kent.

After graduating from New York’s Sarah Lawrence College Stacy moved to the UK to study at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She began her professional career singing regularly at Cafe Boheme in Soho for a few years before moving across the road to Ronnie Scott’s nightclub and opening for established jazz acts.

Stacey’s first studio album CLOSE YOUR EYES was released in 1997. Ten more have followed plus numerous singles and compilations, including three with her husband, British saxophonist Jim Tomlinson. Their album THE LYRIC (2006) won Album of the Year at the BBC Jazz Awards. Stacey herself has collected two Individual Awards for Best Vocalist and her BREAKFAST ON THE MORNING TRAM album was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Stacey’s popularity is global, especially in Germany and France with sales of her albums consistently attaining Platinum and Gold status. In 2009 she was decorated with the ‘Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ by the French Government in recognition of her contribution to the arts.

Stacy has also added the movie medium to her repertoire, appearing in Ian McKellen’s 1995 film version of RICHARD III, singing a jazz version of Christopher Marlowe’s poem, ‘The Passionate Shepherd to his Love.’

She returned to London’s Leicester Square Theatre for one evening last month, featuring music from her new album TENDERLY, where she signed this drawing for me.

Drawing: Ding Junhui

Posted on May 6, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Ding Junhui

Chinese snooker star Ding Junhui became the first Asian player to reach the final of the World Snooker Championships at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield last week. The former world number 1 had slipped outside the world’s top 16 and had to qualify for the tournament’s main drew. He won his three matches, conceding only seven frames and then went on to win all his matches to play Mark Selby, losing 18-14 in a thrilling finale. Ding became the first qualifier to reach the final since Judd Trump in 2011. Nicknamed ‘Enter the Dragon’ the final attracted an television audience of over 42 million in his home country. The most successful Asian professional snooker player in the history of the sport has scored over 400 century breaks, securing the maximum 147 on six occasions. When beating Alan McManus in the semi-final, Ding set a new record for the highest number of century breaks made by a single player at the Crucible.

I sent this drawing to Ding at the Crucible and he kindly signed it for me.

Drawing: Sarah Lamb

Posted on May 5, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

sarah lamb

In early 2015 I drew American ballerina Sarah Lamb in the title role of Christopher Wheeldon’s Royal Ballet production of ALICE IN WONDERLAND, which she kindly signed and I duly posted on this site. Sarah was born in Boston and became Principal of the City’s Ballet company in 2003. She received the Gold Medal from US President Bill Clinton in 1998, being named Presidential Scholar in the Arts. Sarah moved to London and joined the Royal Ballet because it ” offered more visibility and a wider repertoire.” After becoming First Soloist in 2004 she become Principal two years later with leading roles in all the classical, dramatic and contemporary repertoires.

I drew this montage at the same time I did the initial sketch and dropped it into the Royal Opera House, which she also signed and returned to me.

Sarah is currently performing at Covent Garden in the World Premiere of Liam Scarlett’s FRANKENSTEIN, inspired by Mary Shelley’s Gothic masterpiece.

Drawing: Lewis Hamilton

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Lewis Hamilton

I can draw cartoons. Cars are more difficult, so I avoid them. But occasionally I try. I did this quick sketch of the current Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton in his 2015 title-winning Mercedes AWG Petronas car in my small sketch book. It was in preparation for my usual A4 renderings which I intended including his portrait. That’s him under the helmet. Traditionally, in the days of the Masters, (artists not golf) cartoons were prelim drawings, so in a sense it is a cartoon. Enough of the art history lesson. It also seems appropriate since the Broadway musical HAMILTON just collected a record 16 Tony Nominations, not that there’s any connection other than motor racing can be a bit theatrical. Many F1 fans probably look at the title and draw the wrong conclusions. Bless ’em.

For some reason I left the drawing in the pad. I have a lot of pads, and for obvious reasons do not carry them with me at the same time. I also use the pure white, acid-free 140gsm paper to collect sigs – perfect for the purpose. I just happened to have this one in my bag last November when I managed to grab a front row spot on the red carpet at the British Fashion Awards at the London Coliseum. I’m no fashion aficionado, but the industry does attract celebs from other realms and on this particular evening Lewis was amongst the gathering. It’s fashionable being a world champion. He arrived quickly, as you would expect for a speed merchant and I got the sketch book out to get his autograph, suddenly realising his sketch was still in it and got it graphed.

Drawing: Clare Holman in The Master And Margarita

Posted on May 3, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

British actress Clare Holman’s prolific career includes both a wide variety of stage and screen appearances, but she is probably best known as the forensic anthologist Dr Laura Hobson in the ITV crime dramas INSPECTOR MORSE and its spin-off LEWIS, spanning twenty years from 1995 to 2015.

On stage Clare was nominated for an Olivier Award for her supporting role as Honey in WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINA WOOLF? in 1996 at the Aldwych Theatre in London’s West End. She received unanimous critical acclaim as the passionate heroine in the Faustian tragicomedy THE MASTER AND MARGARITA alongside Samuel West. The production, which premiered in 2004 at the Chichester Festival Theatre is based on Russian writer Mikhail Bulgarkov’s epic novel about the devil making an unscheduled visit to Stalinist Moscow as an expert in black magic. The astute stage adaption by Edward Kemp was directed by Steven Pimlott. Paul Taylor in his Independent review described Clare’s performance as “wonderfully ardent”.

In a recent interview Clare said she receives ‘masses’ of fan mail so I added this drawing to the pile and thankfully it was returned signed and dedicated.

Drawing: Lauren Herley from Circa

Posted on May 1, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Lauren Herley

“I enjoy risk and the beauty of pain,” said ‘corde lisse’ (vertical rope) artist, contortionist, hand-balancer, acrobat… in short, circus artiste Lauren Herley, a member of the Internationally acclaimed Australian contemporary circus company CIRCA, which has returned to London this month with Its latest show, CLOSER as part of the infamous Udderbelly Festival.

Seattle-born Lauren trained at the National Circus School of Montreal. After graduating she become an original cast and creation member of Cirkopolis by Cirque Eloize, touring Europe, North America and Mexico. Since then she has worked with a number of universal circus groups including Nord Nord Est, Les7 Doights de la Main and Circque de Soleil and has taken part in large events such as the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. In 2014 she was part of the Broadway cast of PIPPIN THE MUSICAL.

Last year she joined Circa at their training centre and studio in Brisbane under the direction of Yaron Lifschitz. Described as “The rock stars of the circus world” who push the boundary of circus art, blurring the lines between movement, dance, theatre and circus, with different casts performing simultaneously around the world. Last night they not only played London but also Santa Monica and Bologna.

CLOSER was commissioned for Udderbelly’s distinctive upside-down purple cow is an exhilarating journey to reveal the extremes and limitations of the human body in intimate encounter and runs until 12 June.

I left this drawing at the inverted iconic plastic plum ungulate and Lauren retuned it signed with a nice note.