Mike Nesloney is a Texas-based self-taught artist with many skills. He is a genuine rock and roller and songwriter, but I'm writing this because he sent me the painting above. I have seen far more than my share of Bettie Page "art" over the years, but I can't think of one which captures the pure, white face one sees in the black and white photographs she posed for as well as this. Mr. Nesloney works fast and he is prolific. He is a portrait artist as much as anything, and there is elegant use of brush and color here. It places Ms. Page in the dark, fetish netherworld of the past, but his sparse and sophisticated use of oil color and shading takes her far from the often cartoony, line driven portraits one sees so much. Mike also knows when to stop applying paint. A skill harder to learn than painting.
He will likely paint one for you as well, when not touring...and the links here will help you find him. CONTACT Mike Nesloney on Facebook HERE.
Untitled (Bettie Page) by Mike Nesloney 2015. Collection Jim Linderman
