Julie Heffernan talking about her art

Here is the artist Julie Heffernan talking about the meaning of her work at her recent Oklahoma City Museum of Art retrospective. Her paintings are so ambitious and layered. It's good to see a great women painter being featured in a museum show.

Upcoming Show: Kingdom Animalia

Click on image to enlarge.

Artist Joey Remmers and Kirsten Anderson (owner of Roq La Rue Gallery) have curated a fantastic show called Kingdom Animalia to support the Big Life Foundation. I am honored to be included in this group of wonderful artists. Here's a link to more info about the show which will take place in Anaheim Hills, CA, June 29th, 2012: LINK 

Big Life Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of Africa's wildlife and ecosystems, was established by the amazing photographer Nick Brandt. Here's the LINK

Show line-up includes recognized artists from around the world: Amy Crehore, Amy Sol, Ana Bagayan, Brad Woodfin, Brian Viveros, Camille Rose Garcia, Christian Van Minnen, Chrystal Chan, Craig LaRotonda, Dan May, Dan Quintana, Dave Cooper, Heidi Tailleferr, Henry Lewis, Glenn Barr, Greg Simkins, James Jean, Jessica Joslin, Joe Ledbetter, Joey Remmers, Kim Thompson, KMNDZ, Kris Kuksi, Krista Huot, Lindsey Carr, Lola, Madeline von Foerster, Marco Mazzoni, Mark Dean Veca, Mark Garro, Mark Ryden, Marion Peck, Martin Wittfooth, Melissa Forman, Mia Araujo, Michael Page, Nathan Ota, Nathan Spoor, Naoto Hattori, Nick Baxter, Nick Brandt, Nicola Verlato, Paolo Guido, Sam Wolfe Connelly, Seamus Conley, Scott Musgrove, Shag, Shaunna Peterson, Suzanne Falk, Ti Kunkit, Tom Bagshaw, Travis Louie, Ver Mar and Yumiko Kayakawa.

I am currently working on my painting for this exhibit. Stay tuned for more news about this show!

The Art of Amy Crehore

Huge list of things that you can no longer send to Italy by U.S.P.S.

1. Albums of any kind (of photographs, postcards, postage stamps, etc.
2. Arms and weapons.
3. Articles of platinum or gold; jewelry; and other valuable articles (unless sent as insured Priority Mail International parcels)
4. Artificial flowers and fruits and accessories for them.
5. Bells and other musical instruments and parts thereof.
6. Cartridge caps; cartridges.
7. Clocks and supplies for clocks.
8. Compound medicaments and medicines.
9. Coral mounted in any way.
10. Ether and chloroform.
11. Exposed photographic and cinematographic films.
12. Footwear of any kind.
13. Haberdashery and sewn articles of any kind, including trimmings and lace; handkerchiefs; scarves; shawls, needlework including stockings and gloves; bonnets, caps, and hats of any kind.
14. Hair and articles made of hair.
15. Human remains.
16. Leather goods.
17. Lighters and their parts, including lighter flints.
18. Live bees, leeches, and silkworms.
19. Live plants and animals.
20. Nutmeg, vanilla; sea salt, rock salt; saffron.
21. Parasites and predators of harmful insects.
22. Perfumery goods of all kinds (except soap).
23. Playing cards of any kind.
24. Postage stamps in sealed or unsealed First-Class Mail International shipments.
25. Radioactive materials.
26. Ribbons for typewriters.
27. Roasted or ground coffee and its substitutes; roasted chicory.
28. Saccharine and all products containing saccharine.
29. Salted, smoked or otherwise prepared meats; fats; and lard.
30. Tobacco.
31. Toys not made wholly of wood.
32. Treated skins and furs.
33. Weapons of any kind and spare parts for them.

Recently I wanted to mail someone in Italy a t-shirt and a couple of postcards, but I found out that they are prohibited! I don't know if this big list of prohibited items signals increasing problems with the U.S. mail or problems with the Italian customs office or both. Either way, it's not looking good. Also, one must fill out all U.S.P.S. customs forms at home on a computer (including the weight of package and phone number of recipient) and print it out before taking it to the post office. NO MORE hand-written forms!

Detailed Pop Art by Domenico Gnoli

These are cool. Trendland has a selection of works by Domenico Gnoli, an Italian painter and illustrator who died at age 36 at the peak of his career. Shown above: close-up of a bra painted by the artist. These acrylic (and sand) paintings are large (about 50") and they consist of detailed close-ups of hair, pockets, collars, textured fabric on pants, dresses, blouses, etc. The first exhibit in the U.S. since Domenico’s death in 1970 can currently be seen in New York’s Luxembourg & Dayan Gallery until June 30, 2012.
LINK to more photos.

The Art of Amy Crehore

A Look Inside the New Barnes Museum

Vogue has an exclusive look inside the new Barnes Foundation Museum (a couple of views  shown above, photo credit :Tom Crane). Here's the LINK

It looks like they recreated the rooms exactly as they were at the old Barnes Foundation. The collection was housed in Merion, PA for years. The new museum will open in Philadelphia on Saturday, May 19, 2012 (2025 Benjamin Frankin Parkway). That's exciting for Philadelphia because Mr. Albert C. Barnes' collection consists of 69 Cezannes, 59 Matisses, plus many Picassos (46), Modiglianis, Van Goghs (7), Seurats, Renoirs (181 of them), etc. It's one of the most fantastic collections that I have ever seen. I'll never forget the first time I saw these works on a field trip in college (by appointment only). Now many more people will have a chance to view these paintings.

Barnes Foundation
P.S.Update: For even more photos with wow factor check out this NYT link.

Eurospy

David J. Deal has a nice gallery of "Eurospy" posters: LINK (Eurospy).

(Thanks, Josh Gosfield)

The Art of Amy Crehore

Ata Kando's Dream Photos 1955

How beautiful and inspiring. This photo is from a series called "Dream in the Forest" - copyright by photographer Ata Kando 1955.

Read the story of this fascinating photographer, Ata Kando, and see more images in this series on her new website: atakando.com.

(Thanks, Suzanne Gerber)

The Art of Amy Crehore

Do animals have pets?

Koko and Tonda with their pet cats. LINK  (Primatology)

The World Underground 1741

See a fascinating Flickr Set of Illustrations to Ludvig Holberg's The Journey of Niels Klim to the World Underground (first published in Latin in 1741, this is a later version, I believe). Read an article about this" satirical science fiction/fantasy novel" here: Public Domain Review . This book inspired Mary Shelly and Edgar Allen Poe. Ludvig Holberg lived from 1684 to 1754 and is referred to as the father of Danish and Norwegian literature. LINK
I'm sort of wondering who came up with the illustrations?

The Art of Amy Crehore

One man on an island with tortoises

86 year old Brendan Grimshaw bought an island in the Indian Ocean
in the early 60s and made it more than livable for himself.
It became the world's smallest national park.
Just watch. Thanks, Mark at boingboing for this inspiring, true story.