Written May 20, 1987 for THE CONCORD JOURNAL
       [edited by Danial Rose, (the son of Harold Kasnitz)
 who played some of his original music at the unveiling cerimony]

                     Bradley Mural Unveiling
                      Sunday, June 7th, 1987

     On Sunday, June 7 a mural 25 feet long and 10 feet high 
entitled "MONUMENTS OF THE SKY" will be unveiled for public 
viewing at the Acton Music Center on Route 27 in West Acton.  As a 
part of recent major interior renovations at the Music Center, the 
commissioning of this mural was given three months ago to the 
artist Charles E. Bradley by Ken LaCostes, owner and director
of Acton Music.

     Mr. Bradley, 38 who paints the mural alone, has never 
undertaken this kind of project before.  "Chip" is a resident of 
Lowell and workes a full-time job at Spice and Grain in Concord.

     "It is truly one of the most exciting and exhausing 
experiences I think I've ever had.  There were times when I could 
not hold the brush any longer and I'd have to lie down to sleep.  
Once I woke with my palette on my chest realizing I had just been 
having a dream.  I had to laugh at how tired I was then.

     Despite the 40 additional hours Mr. Bradley had been putting 
in on the mural since April 6th, he still feels both privilidged 
and pleased with how the job is going.

     Without revealing the secret of the mural's subject matter, 
it may simply be said that it has quite a striking and powerful 
array of real and, at times, abstract images.  The scene which is 
in a three-dimentional perspective, evokes a feeling of serenity 
and power by compining forceful images from both Nature and Man.  
The acrylic painting is entirely from the artist's imagination, 
yet it has also incorporated certain rather interesting and 
delightful requests by Ken.

     The accepted Late-February mural design was first painted on 
a 30" x 40" illustration board using "gouache" (pronounced 'gwash')
an opaque watercolor most often used by Charles in his other 
paintings.

     After completing the 1/8 scale original painting, the artist 
then gridded the wall every inch with a vertical and horizontal 
line.  This second step took six days.

     The third stage in the murals development, taking three weeks 
to complete, involved the expansion of the original painting by a 
factor of eight, and then transferring this larger version of the 
drawing onto the wall.

     The fourth and final stage, taking five weeks, involved the 
actual painting.  Although still in progress, Chip thinks now that 
he may actually be painting the night before the unveiling, but he 
promises to finish on time.

     It might be noted that original "New Age" music compositions
by William Cronin and Danial Rose will be played at the unveiling 
ceremony.  Chip will also have on exhibit several additional 
paintings, several of which will be for sale.  The artist has 
exhibited works at the Gallery On The Green in Lexington as well 
as in several Science Fiction Art Conventions in Philidelphia, New 
York, and here in Boston.

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