SALE! Start your year with EBSQ for just $6.50/month! Click here for details.

Patience

Illinois USA

"If I Had a Hammer....": Pete Seeger Tribute Portrait


Art: If I Had a Hammer....: Pete Seeger Tribute Portrait by Artist Patience



My entry for the EBSQ 'Toolbox' exhibit features a tribute portrait of the late American folk musician, Pete Seeger (1919- 2014).   

When reflecting upon the theme 'Toolbox', the first tool to come to mind was 'hammer'.   Thinking about hammers had the classic vintage folk tune, "If I Had a Hammer", popping into my head.  Written by Pete Seeger in 1949 in support of the progressive movement, the song has endured through the decades, recorded as it has been by numerous fellow musicians, and taken up as a freedom song during the American Civil Rights Movement.  I myself have many fond recollections of "If I Had a Hammer" over the course of my life -- singing it round the campfire as a young girl with my scout troupe, and then later to my own two children when they were small.  I always appreciated the simple melody and uplifting lyrics.  For my entry, I painted a portrait of the young Pete Seeger, who was 30 at the time he wrote "If I Had a Hammer" (after a lifetime of musical achievement and acclaim, Mr. Seeger passed away just this past January at the age of 95).  A prolific composer and performer, the "tool" of Mr. Seeger's trade was his guitar, with which he was often photographed playing.  I swapped out the one tool for another in this tribute to Pete Singer and his timeless classic.... 


If I had a hammer, 
I'd hammer in the morning,
I'd hammer in the evening,
All over this land.

I'd hammer out danger.
I'd hammer out a warning.
I'd hammer out love, between
My brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.








Detail Image


Detail Image for art

"If I Had a Hammer....": Pete Seeger Tribute Portait

Comments

By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines.



© 2000-2025 EBSQ, LLC - All rights reserved - Original artists retain all rights
EBSQ Self Representing Artists - is a division of EBSQ, LLC
ladylike-spiral