The Jackie Chan Connection
In the early 90's not many folk had heard of Jackie Chan. I had been put on to his genius by friends, and Johnathon Ross. I was hooked. I couldn't believe his agility and comic genius. Plus his amazing body and all the things it had put up with over the years. That was true beauty which helped to show me how the sinews and muscles move beneath the skin. Like ballet dancers these martial artists in these mostly excellent films have a grace and poise that comes from years of hard work. Gone was the photo shopping style that made up and still makes up a lot of Hollywood's films. Here was the real deal, blood guts and stunts. Of course his other co stars Samo Hung and the wonderful Yeun Biao were also amazing and without them Jackie would never have reached the dizzy heights he came to enjoy later on in the middle to late 90's in the West.
Well when my first business the mural squad ltd. was closing due to the two fools Jane and Pete embezzling funds from me, I thought what can I do? To cheer myself up. So I decided to paint a tribute to the three wonderful actors from Hong Kong. I did this in oils and called it 3 dragons then I posted it it to Golden Harvest Studios in Hong Kong. He sent me a letter back and a signed personal photo.
Little did I know what it would lead to....
So then one day out of the blue about 3 months later a letter from Hong Kong arrived on my door mat. I was so excited, and sure enough I had a letter off Jackie signed and so on. He was so thrilled to have fans in the UK/Europe. He'd even signed it. So I thought WOW!! I replied to thank him for the letter and there it was. So imagine my surprise when I got another one, signed and dictated by him again! Not the usual standard fan club stuff but a real letter. I am proud to say that I was Jackie Chan's pen pal for 4 years. In fact we only stopped writing when he went to America, and we sort of lost interest. I tried to get back in touch but then I'd lost my contact and got the standard fan blurb back. I even went to Hong Kong in 1995 but bottled out of meeting him. That's why I lost interest, as I saw the poverty right outside his film studios. He came from abject poverty and I'm sure he does a lot over in Hong Kong for people but it knocked me sick in such an affluent culture to see people cooking in bus stops and wearing naught but their pyjama bottoms, and washing in buckets over the road from the place where Bruce Lee made Enter the Dragon.
A Portrait of Jackie in Oils. Next to Bruce and Brandon in acrylics.
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 This was a commission done for someone, it's Bruce Lee and his beautiful son Brandon Lee. Both died at 33 what a waste of talent and good hearts. The Crow is a fantastic film and Brandon was just coming into his own when he lost his life because of a stupid accident. Sadly he was killed by a blank from a fake gun because the stupid actor pressed it to his head, and basically killed him. If you have ever seen the film dragon, it shows you Bruce believed a demon was coming for him. He was worried sick the same demon who had got his father would somehow get his beautiful son. I don't know if it was a self fulfilling prophecy or it was something we don't understand. All I know the world is a duller place now they're not in it. God Bless them both and I hope they're helping Jesus to learn Wing Chung Kung Fu. That would be awesome wouldn't it? Make a fabulous film too. |
