Ian McLagan's artworks

You may know Ian McLagan as a member of the Small Faces, or the Faces, or as leader of the Bump Band for the last 30 years. You may know his music from The Rolling Stones, Bonnie Raitt, Rod Stewart, Paul Westerberg, Bruce Sprinsteen, Bob Dylan, Taj Mahal, Patty Griffin, Ronnie Wood or John Mayer to name just a few. Or you may have read his brilliant autobiography, 'All The Rage.' But before he played the piano and organ with all these great performers, and before he penned his acclaimed memoir, he was a painter.

Though it's primarily been his hobby for the last 45 years, ever since moving to the country near Austin, Texas in 1994 he's painted continually. His subjects range from landscapes, abstracts, still lifes, self portraits, portraits of family, friends, and his dogs, but in recent years he's been plagued with migraine headaches, 'the unwelcome guest', which changed his focus entirely.

Being equally fascinated and horrified by the intense light storms known as 'auras' that usually precede these 'headaches', he began sketching them in notepads while they were happening, but found it to be like trying to catch lightning bolts. They were too colorful and too intense for ink, so he began painting them in acrylics on canvas. Prescription medications of several types exist, but none that cured these attacks, and though, migraine sufferers are advised to rest in a dark room and let it take its course, he decided to capture these images as they occured, to take something from them, instead of them controlling him.

Though these paintings might appear to be abstracts, they are honest attempts to paint what he sees. Eyes open or shut, the intensity of the flashing auras that foreshadow a migraine attack cannot be avoided.
His art is to make paint from pain.