"Billie Holiday"

Sculptor/jazz singer Earla Frank was just a kid when her two favorite singers were topping the jazz polls. Billie Holiday and Chet Baker were making musical statements that would shape Earla’s singing and visual arts career. That quality of soulfulness which was so evident in both Chet’s and Billie’s music comes to life in the three dimensional form in Earla’s portrait sculptures.

As a singer Billie Holiday was perhaps Earla’s greatest musical influence. Billie’s total freedom from the standard musical line was revolutionary for many jazz singers.

When she was stripped of her cabaret card and couldn’t play in New York City anymore, Billie has to get gigs in areas outside the city. One was at a high school in Cambridge where Earla attended classes. Unfortunately the P.A. system broke down that afternoon and she was disappointed that she didn’t get to hear Billie sing. She remembers "Billie looked so pretty standing there in a long white gown, and gardenias in her hair".

It wasn’t until Earla began singing in the clubs of New York City that she picked up on Billie’s style and from that time on Earla said "she was it for me."

Years later, when Earla began sculpting, she knew someday she’d do a portrait of Billie. The sculpture is more like the soul of Billie than a portrait, you can almost see the pain!

George Wein, well known jazz musician and art collector who knew Billie well, said of this sculpture, "The piece has som much feeling, it's got to be a masterpiece."

The bronze portrait is available in a limited edition. Also available in a limited edition of Durostone with bronze patina.