A cool but freaky guitar just made its way to Adobe Picture Framing manager (and Blotch buddy) Joel Lively.
This handpainted Gibson Blues King acoustic guitar was played extensively by Coldplay frontman Chris Martin during the worldwide Viva La Vida concert tour.
Coldplay personal assistant Vicky Taylor hand-painted the guitar top, and it came with the guitar strap, original case, and hand-printed notes taped to the side of the guitar (one reminds Martin to tune down to a drop-D tuning).
An Aledo couple, Patrick and Stephanie Hisel, purchased the guitar for 10,500 GBR pounds (about $16,000) in an auction that raised money for poor children in London.
The guitar was then shipped from Great Britain to Aledo, and the couple decided to have it mounted in a shadow box. They asked around and were told that Lively was one of the best framers in the business.
“Our friend Amy Hopkins put us in contact with Joel, and after seeing some of his other work and his enthusiasm for this project we asked him to work his magic for us,” Patrick Hisel said. “We are thrilled about this project.”
People sometimes infer that Lively is eccentric and somewhat arrogant, but Blotch neither confirms nor denies. However, Lively is modest enough that he refused to have his picture taken for this blog post.
So I’ll post this one instead:
Painting a guitar is stupid because it kills the tone but it does look interesting and rather Picasso-ish.
Being loosely connected with Joel Lively, I can confirm his brilliance, talent, and arrogance. And I mean that in the best possible way.
Joel Lively somewhat arrogant? Eccentric maybe… that kind of accompanies talented.
Arrogant? NO way! He is one of the nicest and kindest people you will ever meet.
I hope the guitar enjoys it’s stay.Hopefully the weather will nice.