Scottish Art - Paintings of Scotland:
Piper in Sunglasses
by D. Bruce Bennett
Tattoo Ready
A cool-dude, American piper in sunglasses practices for the Highland games military tattoo. In 1993, Bruce created his first image of a piper in sunglasses - in pen-and-ink - and named it Awaiting Competition. A little later, he created another piper in sunglasses, using the twin of the sitter for Awaiting Competition, and named it Shades 'n Drones. He just couldn't leave the idea of a piper in sunglasses alone, though, and decided to re-create one in a larger, vivid, El-Jebel-Pipe-Band-living-color format.
"All well and good," you say, "but this piper in sunglasses doesn't look the least bit like he's preparing to have "Mother" tattooed on his arm." Right you are, and now that we know you're a newcomer to the Highland Games, we've prepared this next bit for you. (Are you a seasoned piper who knows all too well what "tattoo" means? Then skip this next bit.)
The information that follows about this nighttime, Scottish military review of pipe bands - now common at almost all Highland games - may or may not be true. Though we've read this explanation of the oddly named "tattoo" in several sources, a word of advice: best take it with a grain of salt.
The story goes that the Scottish military tattoo tradition began nearly three centuries ago when Scottish troops were fighting in European wars. "Dutch innkeepers were ordered to hammer the bung into the ale-casks, or 'tap-toe', (later anglicized to 'Tattoo')." Bluntly put, it was a method of keeping Scottish troops from getting so sloshed they couldn't perform their soldierly duties the next day.
See. We told you to take it with a grain of salt. No salt necessary for this statement, though: this Scottish Art will definitely make a pipe-band-y sort of impression. We're fairly certain the person who bought it at a local charity auction realized he'd be "telling" his guests that he's a proud Scot who thinks the sounds 'o the pipes come straight from Highland Heaven.
Tattoo Ready Picture of Scotland
Medium: acrylic on 300#, cold-pressed watercolor paper
Image Dimensions: 12" w. x 17" h.
Mat: 2.75" w. white
Glass: yes
Frame: .375" w. black metal; 18.25" w. x 23.5" h.
(This Tattoo Ready painting was DONATED to a local charity auction in March 2006. However, you could commission a similar highland piper painting.)
Please note that all Paintings of Scotland (and Paintings of England, too) on this site are the original artwork of U.S. artist, D. Bruce Bennett. United States customers pay no U.K. exchange rate, no customs duty tax, and no international mailing costs. All we have to add to the very reasonable price of our Scottish Art is plain old U.S. postage (and state tax for Colorado residents).
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Duty-Free Scottish Art by a U.S. Artist
