There is a fresh face on
the NASCAR art horizon, and she's bringing a whole new
perspective to collectors of auto racing lithographs.
Jane Gilltrap Bready -- already an accomplished artist
in the realm of aviation and open wheel motorsports --
has made her first foray into NASCAR with a pair of
prints featuring perennial frontrunner Mark Martin and
the legendary "Alabama Gang." Working in rich oils,
Bready captures a sense of intensity in each work of
art. The Martin lithograph, entitled "Sweet 6 Team,"
depicts the Roush Racing crew in the midst of a green
flag pit stop, with each crewman's face conveying the
urgency of his task.
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"When I decided that I
wanted to do a NASCAR painting, Mark Martin was the
guy I wanted to start with," said Bready, whose studio
is known as Aviation and Auto Racing Art. "Mark seemed
like a really tough, determined driver who really knew
his cars. And that embodies what NASCAR racing is all
about. Fortunately, when I contacted Roush Racing, they
thought it was a good idea. I wanted to do something
that showed the whole crew, not just the driver, so I
went with the pit stop concept. The pit stop is such an
adrenaline rush for everyone involved."
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Production on the Sweet 6
Team lithograph is limited to 400 prints. Both driver
and artist will sign 250. The remaining 150 will be
signed by Bready alone.
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"The Alabama Gang" pays
tribute to the legendary ensemble that was based in
Hueytown, a suburb of Birmingham, Ala.: Bobby, Davey
and Donnie Allison, along with Neil Bonnett and Red
Farmer. The artwork shows the group at speed in some of
their more memorable race cars.
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Bobby Allison is shown in his last ride, the No. 12
Miller Buick from 1988. His son, the late Davey Allison
is aboard the car with which his name has become
synonymous, the No. 28 Texaco/Havoline Ford. Taking the
high line is Donnie Allison in a mid-1970s Chevy
Laguna carrying Hoss Ellington's No. 1 and Hawaiian
Tropic sponsorship.
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The No. 51 Country Time
Chevrolet Lumina of the late Bonnett is right in the
thick of things, while ageless Farmer dives to the
inside in the familiar No. 97 Ford that he drove in the
early 1970s. Miniature portraits of each driver in the
bottom border accentuate the painting.
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"A friend of ours who runs
a restaurant up here knew Red Farmer pretty well,"
Bready said. "We were talking one day and I mentioned
that I thought someone should do a painting of the
Alabama Gang. He got Red and I together. Red had a lot
of influence on the composition of that piece. He was
the driving force."
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The original painting of
the Alabama Gang is now hanging in the International
Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Ala. Five
hundred lithographs have been produced. Around 300
will be signed by Bready and the surviving members of
the Alabama Gang, the balance signed by the artist only.
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Now living in New
Hampshire, Bready grew up in Australia, where her
grandfather owned an automobile museum.
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"I've been around cars
and racing since I was tiny," she said. "My uncle used
to race in rallies. My mother, who is English, knew
some of the drivers from the Formula One circuit --
Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jochen Rindt and guys like that. Sometimes they would come to Australia after their season was over. So I got to know many of the drivers back home. I've always enjoyed the sights, the sounds, the smell of racing. There's nothing quite like it."
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Her enthusiasm for the
sport continued after she moved to the United States.
Interestingly, however, Bready first gained notoriety
as an artist for her paintings of aircraft.
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"My husband Mike is a
former fighter pilot," she said. "He flew F-4s and
F-16s. I had always dabbled at painting in college.
I saw some aviation art that was really nice, and I was
inspired by it."
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Bready began painting
fighter planes, and was soon commissioned to create
pieces for the U.S. Air Force and several aviation
museums. From there, she gravitated toward racing art.
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"It was a pretty easy
transition," she said. "Many of the same principles
apply to both as far as working with movement and
reflections."
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Formula One and Indy cars
were the subjects of her first racing-themed paintings.
Then, a trip to nearby New Hampshire International
Speedway in Loudon, N.H., brought Bready into the
NASCAR fold.
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"It was wonderful," she
said. "I took a bunch of slides, compiled a few things
and started painting from it. I liked the feel of it.
It felt like I was where I belong. I still do some
aviation art for the air force, but it's mainly all
racing now. In addition to the NASCAR paintings, I
still do CART and Formula One, as well as motorbikes.
I just love racing."
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In addition to the
Alabama Gang and Sweet 6 Team lithographs, Bready has
several more projects in the works. Her next release
will feature Bobby Labonte and the Interstate Batteries
team.
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It will also be a pit stop
scene, which is only fitting since Labonte's
over-the-wall gang is the reigning Tosco 76/Rockingham
World Pit Crew champions. The print will include the
names of each pit crew member. The Labonte lithograph
will be followed by a piece spotlighting popular Jeff
Burton.
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For more information on
the NASCAR-licensed art of Jane Gilltrap Bready,
you can visit her website at
www.autosportsart.com
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