S54 - Crusader Print

I had for many years been happily plodding along with my gallery and painting landscapes, still life etc. When in the early 70's I decided embark on a long-standing ambition to put onto canvas Tolkien's epic tale of The Lord of the Rings. With that in mind, it has and to this day still does amaze me how a chance meeting or a decision unplanned can send you hurtling of into a direction you never thought of or considered going. I met Saxon's then manager in 1983, by way of the above. It was at this meeting on showing him some of my Tolkien inspired work that he asked would I be interested in doing an Album cover, I found myself saying yes before I'd even considered it, one of my better subliminal moments and one for which I am eternally grateful. This was my first foray into the world of music; of any genre so being dropped in the deep end so to speak I agreed to the commission and scuttled back to my studio. I was given the working title Crusader and a cassette of the song. I decided to do a large canvas, not having any previous experience in this format, I once again went for it head first allowing for both front and back cover, something I don't do these days. On letting Saxon's management know the painting was now completed, it wasn't long before I had a visit to my studio from the entire band. Not knowing what to expect or whether to get in copious amounts of booze and put away the breakables, I waited in trepidation for their arrival. On arriving I went through the various beverages on offer to which they all replied a cuppa tea please. Slightly stunned I took them all to my studio to view the artwork, I can't remember the exact words but I think it must have been approved as it ended up on the album. Limited edition print of 500 copies worldwide PRINT SIZE: W84cms x H59 cms ( image size W77 cms x H47 cms ) (landscape)

- Paul Raymond Gregory
- Classic Art
- Limited Edition Print