Los Gatos Weekly-Times Photograph by George Sakkestad Bruni says there's no telling how many canvases she might fill before she completes 'A Tribute to Sinatra.' Sinatra lives on in Bruni paintings Local coffeehouse previews Bruni's tribute to legendary singer By Shari Kaplan While dipping biscotti into steaming java and tea, many visitors to the Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company on W. Main Street report having shared the company of a familiar gray-haired gentleman whose five decades of song--not to mention his baby blues--have made him a household name throughout the United States and in much of the world. Frank Sinatra, who died in May 1998, lives on in many forms. One of them is on the color-splashed oil canvases of Los Gatos' own Bruni Sablan, who says she's a great admirer of Sinatra. Four paintings are on display at the LGCRC as a "sneak preview." Although she'd done a few paintings of Ol' Blue Eyes before his death, she says her biggest impetus came after he was gone. Along with her ongoing Jazz Masters Series, Bruni has decided to create "A Tribute to Sinatra." What she hasn't decided is when she will stop. "When [jazz great] Miles Davis died, I started a tribute to him and now it's grown to over 100 canvases--I've lost count. He's one of my gods," Bruni says, adding that Sinatra is another. "Sinatra may end up being 200 [canvases], for all I know!" "I have umpteen tons of material [on Sinatra] that I've been looking at. This is a preview because I haven't yet said everything I want to say about him. We're letting people take a peek," Bruni adds. "I would like to show this man to people who might not have known much of who he really was, or who may have been misinformed about him by the media." According to Mark Gray, the director of Bruni's Old Town Gallery, the series has already gained high acclaim by art aficionados and casual visitors alike. These kudos include a personal thank-you note from Sinatra's daughter Nancy. "My tributes become very involved and very emotional," Bruni says, explaining that her paintings of Sinatra are particularly personal because her own father went into a decline and died just six months before Sinatra. Following Sinatra's death, which also came after a period of decline, Bruni says her emotions ran very high; her outlet, as usual, was painting. Although her Sinatra images range from young to old, small to large, and from bright colors to more subdued tones, the common thread running through them is the passion she feels for her work and her subject. This is the most important thing she wants to share with viewers. "The biggest intention I have is that I want someone to feel something when they look at my paintings. I don't care what it is, but I want them to feel!" The Sinatra paintings at the LGCRC are on display through Dec. 27. Additional paintings from Bruni's "A Tribute to Sinatra," as well as many pieces from the Jazz Masters Series, can be viewed at The Old Town Gallery, 50 University Ave. Hours are 1 to 6 p.m. daily. Bruni can be reached through the gallery at 395-9100. She also has a Web site in the works: www.brunijazzart.com. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, December 16, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.