Def Leppard’s Rick Allen brings his art to AC gallery this weekend

When Rick Allen, legendary drummer of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Def Leppard is not drumming, he's painting and taking pictures.

Allen will be at the Wentworth Gallery at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City Saturday, April 2 from 6-9 p.m., and at the Wentworth Gallery at King Of Prussia on Sunday, April 3 from 1-4 p.m.

Allen was a guest on my New Jersey 101.5 radio show and said he started painting when he was a child and then later photography. Despite losing his left arm in a car accident in 1984, Allen continued to paint and take pictures.

"Where there's a will there's a way as they say. I always seem to figure things out.   Sometimes I have to get my face involved and do whatever it takes but you just kind of figure out a way to do it. It's like they say, it's the mother of invention necessity."

Allen's  "Legends" series is where he took other people's shots that he really liked, then sketched them out had did full paintings. Allen talked about his choices. They're all musicians, singers, and artists that have inspired me."

He discussed some of the "Legends" in his series.

Charlie Watts

"I dare say that if it wasn't for the likes of Charlie Watts, I probably wouldn't be on the phone with you now. He probably inspired me the most even before I realized it."

Eddie Van Halen:

"1978 my best friend calls me and says I really want you to come over ad hear this new album and i was the first Van Halen album. I was really blown away I had never heard anyone play guitar like that before in my entire life, the whole band, they were just amazing" says Allen.

Fastball to 1991, Allen moved to the states and his neighbor Steve Lukather of Toto introduced Allen to Eddie. "Very unassuming, you wouldn't think he did what he did in terms of what he did to make a living."

"I met him he was very humble and I just thought that was really a cool story going from a kid being a fan to actually meeting one of my heroes and the least I could do when he left us was to paint him."

Johnny Cash:

"I just think Johnny Cash was the bad boy of music and I just loved his whole vibe. He was always getting himself into trouble and his music always pulled him through."

Kurt Cobain:

"I think Curt Cobain, he was another one of that innovative sort of forces in music that changed music forever. I think the whole Seattle movement damn near killed a lot of people's careers. It reminded me of growing up in the seventies when punk music came along when I first heard Sex Pistols. It just kind of blew the doors off the place. It was kind of refreshing so exciting and that's what Curt Cobain did for me. That's what Nirvana did for me."

You can check out Rick Allen's inspiring works this weekend at the Wentworth galleries.

What's next for Rick Allen? "World Domination," he says jokingly. Actually, Def Leppard will be coming to Citi Field June 24 and Citizens Bank Park on June 25.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise only. Follow him on Twitter @realstevetrev.

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