Longtime Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood also is an accomplished painter, and an exhibition featuring some of his latest artwork is scheduled to open on November 13 at the flagship Andrew Martin shop on Walton Street in London.
In a new interview with the London newspaper The Sunday Times, the 77-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer chatted about some of his newest pieces and his passion for painting. He also discussed what his famous Rolling Stones bandmates think about his side career in art.
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Wood’s new exhibition features 27 new paintings, seven of which were inspired by the late-16th/early-17th century Italian painter Caravaggio. Among the pieces is a painting titled Undermath, fine prints of which are currently available for purchase at his online store. The painting, which depicts him, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards onstage, was based on the 1600 Caravaggio piece The Calling of Saint Matthew.
Wood noted to The Sunday Times that he’s influenced by a wide range of artists. He also pointed out that he churns out a lot of art, something, he maintained, his fellow Stones have acknowledged.
“Keith says I’m very prolific,” Ronnie shared, adding, “There are so many different styles. Being a Gemini, my appetite for inspiration is so widespread. It’s a bit like my music, I go from Mozart to [Bob] Marley, you know what I mean?”
As for Jagger’s opinion about his paintings, Wood said, “Mick hasn’t seen a lot of them live but the ones he has seen he’s really liked, and he knows I’m prolific.”
More About Wood’s New Paintings
Another of Wood’s new pieces is a painting depicting him and his Rolling Stones bandmates on a ship with Jesus Christ called Rough Seas After Delacroix. It was based on an 1854 painting by French Romantic artist Eugène Delacroix titled Christ on the Sea of Galilee.
As Wood explained to The Sunday Times, “Jesus is asleep, Mick is yelling out, [current Rolling Stones drummer] Steve Jordan is at the mast along with Keith. I’m up the front there.”
He added about the piece, “I was thinking colors because Delacroix’s colors in that are just so shocking and I thought I’ve got to reproduce this. I thought people through my work, maybe they go and check out the original, you know?”
That painting is one of three in the show that was inspired by Delacroix.
The show also will include portraits of the late Amy Winehouse and Elvis Presley. Wood noted that Winehouse was “a great friend” of his, who, like Ronnie, sadly struggled with alcohol and drug dependency.
“She was a mixed-up kid, you know, and she was like, ‘Well, what am I going to do?’” Wood recalled. “[I said] ‘Well, just don’t put vodka in your water. Yeah. We all know you’re a drinker, mate.’ She was so loving and so lovely. As for the music, she was incredible, wasn’t she? I did that [painting] very quickly.”
More About Wood’s Recent Life
After of years struggling with his sobriety, Wood got sober about 15 years ago. In 2012, he married his third wife, Sally Humphreys. The couple had twin daughters, Gracie and Alice, in 2016; Wood also has four adult children from his previous marriages. Meanwhile, Ronnie also gave up a 50-year smoking habit shortly before his twins were born.
Wood told The Sunday Times that painting now helps keep him in shape.
“It’s like a workout,” he maintained. “When I do the big canvases, I’m working away and I have to rub arnica into my hands. You know, it’s like, ‘ow, my joints are aching.’”
Wood admitted he was “enjoying life at the moment,” pointing out that his wife is very encouraging to him, and that all of his children get along.
Ronnie also shared that his twins sometimes like to create art alongside of him in his studio.
“I’m just enjoying life at the moment. And Sally, my wife, she’s so encouraging to me. All of my kids have an affinity, and they love each other. The twins are so inspirational to me,” he said.
“They started to use glitter paint with their acrylics and produced some lovely stuff,” he reported.
Recent Rolling Stones and Ronnie Wood News
In other news, The Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds was just nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. The other nominees in the category are in The Black Crowes’ Happiness Bastards, Fontaines D.C.’s Romance, Green Day’s Saviors, Idles’ TANGK, Pearl Jam’s Dark Matter, and Jack White’s No Name.
The 67th Grammy Awards take place on February 2, 2025, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The ceremony will be broadcast on CBS and will stream on Paramount+.
Meanwhile, Wood is featured on guitar a new song called “Hiss” by the Irish Americana group Seafoam Green. The track is available now via digital formats.