Happy New Year, Too!

Happy New Year, Too!
Originally uploaded by stevechasmar

More Vintage New Year Postcards

Happy New Year!

Follow this link to see over 300 (and counting) beautiful old New Year's postcards -

riptheskull 's collection on flickr.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Maile Waltz on Uke

Here is John King performing the pretty little Maile Waltz on his uke.

Dolly Sisters

Who were the Dolly Sisters? "The Dolly Sisters, twins Rosika (Rose) and Jansci (Jenny) Deutsch, were born in 1892 in Hungary and emigrated to the U.S. in 1905. They perfected a single-sex "tandem" dance act - practicing in front of mirrors - under the name of 'The Dolly Sisters' they began earning money in beer halls as early as 1907. Barred for being under age by the NYC stage, they toured the Orpheum circuit until 1909 when they debuted on the Keith vaudville circuit till 1911 when they signed with the Ziegfeld Follies for two seasons.
In addition to making about a half dozen films from 1913 to 1920, they toured the theatres and dance halls of Europe." Wikipedia

Confetta has a nice set of Dolly Sisters photos on flickr .

As you can see, the Dolly Sisters inspired some art deco figurines.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Early Flight Collecting Cards

Early flight collecting cards, ca. 1895

From the Tissandier Collection at the U.S. Library of Congress.

This is from a beautiful flickr set of flight collecting cards, old trade cards and other interesting things put together by by trials and errors. (Follow the link for more.) My grandfather, William, and his brothers were early aviators in WWI. (link to Wikipedia article on Austen Crehore).

The Art of Amy Crehore

Christmas Holly Girl in Blue Cape

Christmas Holly Girl in Blue Cape
Originally uploaded by desertglitter

from another nice collection of
vintage Xmas postcards on flickr.
Follow the link.

jayne mansfield xmas tree

jayne mansfield xmas tree
Originally uploaded by carbonated

From a great holiday set on flickr

Vintage Snowmen

Boingboing blogged the Smithsonian Magazine article called "Snowmen Gone Wild" . There are some fabulous vintage images in the photo gallery that illustrates the article. Check it out! And...I found the above images on flickr thanks to jijen (bottom card)and chicks57. The snowman is a wonderfully warm fellow who deserves a hug, even though he is made of ice and snow.

The Art of Amy Crehore

A Ukulele Story

"The Creature" by Amy Crehore

Someone nice wrote this on his blog the other day:

"I found a ukulele in the thrift shop in P'aia a couple of weeks ago. Well, actually, Carl found it, and told me where it was, but that is another story (like, who is Carl?). I've really been enjoying it, been playing it more than my guitar. I really enjoy playing for my students in yoga class, and I adore the portability aspect. I'm also kind of into this artist I discovered on 'boing boing', Amy Crehore. There is a print called 'The Creature" in the back of the yoga studio that she painted. It is a gentle fantasy set in an apparent island paradise, tucked away in a valley. Two beautiful, brown skinned women sit at the edge of a clear blue pool. Both nude except for hibiscis flowers in their hair, one holds a monkey in her lab while the other plays a ukulele! Oh, and the uke player has a tail. I imagine that she is the creature, as the other two characters eye her curiously as she strums away on her little instrument. A remarkable depiction of magic and wonder, which also happen to be two of my favorite things. Cool thing is, I liked her art even before I started playing uke, I don't think it even registered in my mind that it was an ukulele in the print until I started writing this post. Trippy. Amy is having a show in Los Angeles in February/March, called "Dreamgirls and Ukes". If you happen to be in LA, and make it to the show, send me a postcard, would you?"

Here's the blog: The Main Line Sutras

(thanks!)

RIP Eartha Kitt

Here is a nice little story about Eartha Kitt from the Washington Post.

Royalties for Leonard for Christmas

Number 1, number 2 and number 36 on the charts in the UK!

Leonard Cohen's song, Hallelujah. (read article)
Leonard singing:

YouTube 2008 in Dublin.

Tangle-Foot Rag

Tangle-Foot Rag
Originally uploaded by wackystuff

The cat's face is a killer.
More sheet music covers
at flickr...follow link.

a,b,c,d,e,f, & g

abcdefg
Originally uploaded by laamish

Photo of the day from the collection of
Mark Lowrie.
Check out Mark's great photo
sculptures on flickr of western scenes!

Ukulele Headstock Art by Amy Crehore

Here is a sneak peek at some drawings from my sketchbook of some of the designs on the headstocks of ukes in my upcoming show at Thinkspace in L.A. (Feb. 13, 2009). Also, if you missed it, there is a new interview with me at Sadie Magazine . I'm wishing everyone out there safe and Happy Holidays!

The Art of Amy Crehore

Little Pierrots in the Old Days

Chicks57 has a collection of over 1,200 vintage little girl postcards on flickr. In this amazing collection I found some "little pierrots". I know that I have probably blogged about these postcards before, but they are fascinating and extremely beautiful. So have another look during the holidays:

LINK

The Art of Amy Crehore

Torture Garden Cover, 1955

octave mirbeau, torture garden, 1955
Originally uploaded by A Journey Round My Skull

from a Journey Round My Skull
Cover of a Book by Octave Mirbeau

Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur (1904)

Plates from Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur (Artforms of nature) (1904)

See more beautiful plates at:

Wikimedia commons

Thanks, lolaleeloo2 's flickr

A Little Pierrot by VARGAS

VARGAS
Originally uploaded by mica12244art

Look what I found! Vargas painted a little
pierrot and a naked girl, too! Small world.
Thanks, mica12244art on flickr.
How funny.

Little Orphan Otto

Did you know that "Little Orphan Annie" was titled "Little Orphan Otto" in the beginning? The strip started in 1924 as a "crudely drawn melodrama" by Harold Gray. Annie and her dog both have those trademark eyes... which lack pupils. link

Thanks, mardecortesbaja

The Art of Amy Crehore

Cabaret Performers

Cabaret Performers
Originally uploaded by stevechasmar

I could not resist the helmet-hats.
Thanks, Steve.

Sadie Magazine Interview and Cover

The new issue of Sadie Magazine is here and my "French Bubble Gum Encore" is on the cover. Featuring interviews with Sherman Alexie, Amy Crehore (me), Swoon, Mya Stark, and more!

SADIE MAGAZINE

The Art of Amy Crehore

I Like Bubbles

This is perfect! Girl Blowing a Bubble from YouTUBE

Hoops, I Like Hoops

Originally uploaded by ggaabboo

This photo by Mai Mano (1910) is gorgeous.
Follow links for more.

Extended Holiday SALE: Crehore Limited Edition Prints and Uke T-shirts

"Roaming Tomcat Rag" by Amy Crehore (Blues Gal Series)

Due to popular demand, I have decided to extend the sale on my website of limited edition, signed prints and Tickler Ukulele Artist T-shirts until Jan. 1, 2009. Blues Gal, Monkey Love, and Little Pierrot prints are still on sale! Free postcards come with everything and there is free shipping on the prints, plus I will include a small, signed drawing (limited one per customer).

Sadie online magazine has a brand new interview with me. Also, Inked magazine will have a feature/interview with me in their Feb. issue about my solo show, "Dreamgirls and Ukes", to be held at Thinkspace Gallery in Los Angleles, CA (opens Feb 13, 2009). Here's a Sneak peek. The Hokum Scorchers Band will play at the opening (follow the link to hear some tunes). Please order things in the next few days if you want them to be there for Xmas....otherwise, I can't guarantee it.

The Art of Amy Crehore

These items were featured on boingboing , the directory of wonderful things

the curvy tree

the curvy tree
Originally uploaded by signs and wonders

In Case You Missed...

Detail from New Painting by Amy Crehore

If anyone didn't get to go to Art Basel Miami this year, Arrested Motion blog has many photos of the event including the two shows that I had paintings in: Thinkspace and Mark Murphy Design (at Gen Art Vanguard).

Also, the painting shown above will be in my solo show that opens on Feb 13, 2009 at Thinkspace in Los Angeles. I am just giving you a sneak peek of it here (this is my Juxtapoz ad). For recent "in progress" studio photos of my upcoming show, a statement about what will be in the show, a bio, etc. please visit Thinkspace (Sour Harvest) blog here. Hand-painted vintage ukes will be featured in this show along with many brand new oil paintings. I will also be playing music at the opening : (link).

Thanks to Art NYC, boingboing, ukehunt and ukulelia and a few others for blogging about it.

The Art of Amy Crehore

NEWS: Rediscovered Masterpiece,"View" by Morris Hirshfield, to be Shown in NYC

"View" painting © Estate of Morris Hirshfield (Robert Dennis Rentzer, Executor). This painting will be shown in NYC at Galerie St. Etienne.

Morris Hirshfield, the great self-taught painter, was born in 1872 in a small town of 1000 inhabitants in "Russia-Poland" near the German border. He came to America at age 18 and worked as a tailor and a manufacturer of ladies slippers. In 1941, only four years after taking up painting at age 65, Hirshfield had a major retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. He completed 76 oil paintings before he died in 1946.

In 1945, Hirshfield was commissioned to paint a cover for a popular arts and literature magazine called "View" (shown above). The artist gave the original oil of "View" to his grandson Dennis to make up for an earlier painting called "Dog and Pups".

The five year old had asked him to paint a picture of "Sultan"(the family dog), but was upset and disappointed by the result. "Dog and Pups" had three dogs in it and the dogs looked nothing like his dog or any other dog he had ever seen. The paisley coats painted on the dogs were a stylistic flourish of Hirshfield's, influenced by his former career as a tailor. The “View", by contrast, featured one of the painter's trademark nudes and his grandson really liked this gift, but Hirshfield explained to Dennis that, although the "View" painting was now his, he had to put it away for him until he was older because it was a "naked lady".

Morris Hirshfield and his grandson Dennis - Photo courtesy of the Rentzer family
"Sultan", the family dog- Photo courtesy of the Rentzer family

"Dog and Pups" painting © Estate of Morris HIrshfield (Robert Dennis Rentzer, Executor)

At age 16, Dennis foolishly sold “Dog and Pups” for a car, a decision he lived to regret. He spent the next forty years tracking down the painting, and finally succeeded in getting the owner to sell it back to him. Having reclaimed his grandfather’s original gift (inscribed to him), Dennis is now able to part with “View,” which was discovered in Hirshfield’s basement many years after the artist’s death.

From January 7 through March 14, 2009, “View” will be featured in the exhibition “THEY TAUGHT THEMSELVES: American Self-Taught Painters Between the World Wars” at the Galerie St. Etienne in NYC. For pricing or other information, please contact gallery@gseart.com. The Galerie St. Etienne is located at 24 West 57th Street in New York City; Tel. 212-245-6734

Galerie St. Etienne

Morris Hirshfield's works hang in famous museums all over the world including the Galerie Maeght (Paris, France), the Guggenheim, The American Folk Art Museum, The Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I want to thank Dennis, Morris Hirshfield's grandson, for contributing facts and photos to this article. Dennis, who is actually Robert Dennis Rentzer, is now an attorney practicing in California: www.lawcal.com

The Art of Amy Crehore

Too Many Parties

too
Originally uploaded by Trubluelou

There is a strange contrast here.
Notice the two ukulele playing gals with overalls
and then take a look at the illustration
closely. Funny! Thanks, Trubluelou.

Cat Playing a Banjo - Cabinet Card

Cat Playing a Banjo - Cabinet Card * New Scan
Originally uploaded by photo_history

News: Murakami Dressed in Ball of Flowers!

Murakami painting

Artist Murakami was captured dressed in a ball of flowers costume (just like his paintings!) by Supertouch blog at Art Basel Miami this year. Follow the link to view him from the front.

He gets the Little Hokum Rag seal of approval. I saw some of his art in NYC last summer.

Wish I could go to FLA just to see that. Alas, I am working too hard on my upcoming show to go anywhere. But, I will have some paintings in the Gen Art Vanguard part of the fair in Miami from Dec 4- Dec 7, 2008 for anyone who happens to go (represented by both Thinkspace and Mark Murphy).

The Art of Amy Crehore

You Never Can Tell...

Mica12244art on flickr

Don't Miss "Gen Art Vanguard" -Dec 4-7, 2008 Miami, FLA

"The Song of the Firefly" by Amy Crehore 2008 SOLD (Murphy Design)
"The Caged Wonder" by Amy Crehore 2008 (Thinkspace Gallery)

CLICK to ENLARGE

"French Bubble Gum Encore" by Amy Crehore 2008(Thinkspace Gallery)

CLICK to ENLARGE

If you are in Miami for Art Basel this week, I will be represented in Gen Art's Vanguard Fair by both Thinkspace Gallery and Mark Murphy. These are the paintings that you will be able to see and purchase of mine. (Full list of artists here and here .)

The Art of Amy Crehore

Gen Art is proud to announce the launch of the Gen Art Vanguard New Contemporary Art Fair presented by FAGE® TOTAL and directed by Francesco LoCastro happening alongside this year's Art Basel Fair in Miami. The four-day art fair taking place from December 4-7 brings together the top galleries, artists, and individuals who are defining the New Contemporary art movements from Pop Surrealism and New Brow to Urban Contemporary.
Gen Art Vanguard