Icons and Idols, Images and Quotes

Cameron Bentley studied Fine Art with a Music minor at Cabrillo College, Santa Cruz. Paintings from his Iconic Celebrity series are featured in the book, 'Marilyin in Art' and have been displayed in galleries on the West Coast as well as here in Nashville. Doors member Robbie Krieger played with a Jim Morrison painting created for him on stage.

A member of the multi-talented Mellencamp family, his work is strongly influenced by his cousin, John Cougar Mellencamp and John's mother Marilyn, who's paints and brushes he uses to create many of his paintings. His 'Icons' reflect both his heritage and the enormous influence of music in his life. His Mandlecrux series, also in progress, reflects the center of life and creation; the heart of the mandella.

The White Stripes

"I really don't like to take the easy way out, if I can help it, in anything I do."

"I'm interested in ideas that will shake us all up." 

 - Jack White

Jim Morrison

"The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are."

“I can make the earth stop in its tracks."

Warhol vs. Basquiat

“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”

“Sometimes the little times you don't think are anything while they're happening turn out to be what marks a whole period of your life.”

- Andy Warhol

"Most young kings get their heads cut off."

- Jean Michael Basquiat

Marlene Dietrich

"If there is a supreme being, he's crazy."

"Darling, the legs aren't so beautiful, I just know what to do with them."

"I am not a myth."

Elvis Presley 

"When things go wrong, don't go wrong with them."

"If you let your head get too big, it'll break your neck."

"Sad thing is, you can love someone and still be wrong for them."

John Cougar Mellencamp 

"I do things my way and I pay a high price."

"You've gotta stand for something or you're gonna fall for anything."  

More art by Cameron Bentley: HERE