AUCTION OF A RONNIE VAN ZANT PORTRAIT

MICHAEL CARTELLONE has given his musical talent to many a band in need of a professional drummer. He toured and recorded for acts as varied as Cher, Freddie Mercury, Adrian Belew and John Fogerty. He is the former drummer of ’90s hard rock supergroup Damn Yankees and German metallers Accept, and he is currently the drummer for Southern rock stalwarts Lynyrd Skynyrd.

- PATRICK PRINCE

Cartellone is also a gifted fine artist — a professional painter. His artistry covers all of his personal interests in pop culture and scenic landscapes, as well as portraits of rock and roll luminaries. The full range of his art can be seen on his website at www.michaelcartellone.com.

Goldmine has partnered with Cartellone’s charity of choice to auction off a canvas giclée (a digitally reproduced fine art print) of one of his pieces of art — a portrait of the legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd singer, Ronnie Van Zant (shown, above right). Proceeds will go to the Cancer Support Community (www.cancersupportcommunity.org), the largest professionally led nonprofit network of cancer support worldwide. The auction will kick off March 1. Go to www.goldminemag.com/collector-resources/music-auctioncalendar for detailed information.

Goldmine interviewed Michael Cartellone about his drumming, artwork and this particular painting that will be auctioned this March.

GOLDMINE: Besides the obvious reasons, what made you choose to do a portrait of Ronnie Van Zant, and in this style, with this medium (acrylic)?

MICHAEL CARTELLONE: Prior to painting Ronnie Van Zant, I had painted a portrait of Charlie Chaplin. The Chaplin was basically a soft-focus, black and white portrait, with full-color, realistic eyes. I was very happy with the outcome of the Chaplin, so decided I’d do the same approach with Ronnie. As for the medium, I’ve worked with acrylic paint most of my life.

GM