Dreams are a funny thing, sometimes they just bug you to death until you can work them out in your head. I guess that's what happened with these.
Dream 1: Crucifiers 1974 When I first saw this, I thought it was just a strange faceless nightmare, but Greg told me that the sticks are a rack, and the skin is a person totally stretched. Ouch! It's a very realistic and detailed piece. One worth a second glance. It was later added to with graphetti on the wall "Black Sabath Mob rules" for their album cover.
Dream 2: A Very, Very Close Encounter 1973 In Greg's own words, "I started this painting at 3:00 in the morning, with a gallon of wine. It was a very depressing period of time. I was flipped out because of all the garbage illustrating we were doing. I worked on that painting for about 12 hours straight; finishing sometime around 2:00 in the afternoon. I really felt a lot better when it was done".
Dream 3: My friend on the Cross 1971
In Greg's words, "That was a dream I had. For a long period of time I was into painting my dreams. I was just trying to recall the visual images. When I woke up in the morning I did a sketch of the dream and just started painting I made no attempt to analyze it; I just liked the way it looked, it was crazy, it was wierd."
This painting is now hanging on their wall upstairs. It's huge at 42"x 48". I spent a while looking at it as it's very detailed. In talking to Greg we tossed around a few ideas what the dream was about.
Dream 4: Fish Dream 1970 In Greg's words, "I remember seeing this dream in my sleep. I was rowing in a boat, unaware that this huge fish was behind me. I didn't know where I was rowing to but I know I was frightened. I elieve this dream came from feelings in m life that were based on the proverbial fish-out-of-water. Both the fish and man are in the wrong environment, the roles are reversed. I was primarily doing commercial illustration and I was frustrated. I wanted desperately to do some paintings for myself and in so doing get my feet back on land".
Dream 5: Puppet Dream 1971 In Greg's words, "This image came to me when I was almost asleep, drifting into a subconscious state. A series of images appeared all relating to being a twin, which I am. This was the time in my life I was feeling the need to paint alone. I needed to break away from the past and into my own world. In the dream I was walking along as a puppet, carrying a ladder. I set the ladder up and climbed up it. At the top I ripped open the sky and suddenly I was in space. Then the space tore open as if to take me out of one reality and into another. This was the beginning of my breaking away from the twinship as it pertained to illustration."
Dream 6: Floating Planet 1971 In Greg's words, "I painted this painting in 1971, on vacation at the Jersey shore. I rented a house from a friend, site unseen, and took my family for the week. I realized when I got there that this environment was as chaotic as the one I had just left, if not more so. People were running back and forth with plastic lawn chairs, trying to claim their own little piece of the beach. So I locked myself in a room with a sketch pad, away from the chaos. This image came out of the general concept that the world in its entirety can easily be confined in a very small space. As I looked through the blinds I saw the world going hither and thither and realized the universe is very close and actually can be in your own backyard".
Dream 7: Hat Dream? I just found this picture in the Bros. Hildebrandt Book from 1978. All it has to say about this is Greg Hildebrandt 44 1/2" x 33 1/2" .
Your guess is as good as mine on this one. This was the only place I've seen this image. Maybe Greg will fill me in some day.
To buy prints or original pieces please visit Greg and Tim at the Spiderwebart Gallery. They're the Best!
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