Ubaldo Oppi, Le tre bagnanti, 1927

Ubaldo Oppi, Le tre bagnanti, 1927
Originally uploaded by kraftgenie

Interesting example of "bathers" motif.
Oppi knew Picasso
(had an affair with his girlfriend) and also spent time in Italy.
Follow link to see and read more.
Loving his style -especially this painting.

Letterpress detail by Amy Crehore

Letterpress detail by Amy Crehore
Originally uploaded by Amy Crehore

This is a blown-up detail of a small area of an ink drawing that I did for a new 3-color letterpress print that will be printed in the next couple weeks.

copyright Amy Crehore 2010

Uke Building Workshop in Australia, Cairns Uke Festival

Rick Turner is in Australia teaching a uke building workshop as part of the Cairns Uke Festival this week. 14 students, 4 days. Shown here: newly built pineapple ukes, day 3. More photos of students and Rick here: LINK You can see the joy on their faces. This festival also has a charity art exhibit of painted ukes (Shaun Tan and lots of other artists) and a world record attempt to assemble 1,000 uke players.

Cairns Uke Festival

(Thanks, Steve F. for telling me about it. Wish I could be there.)

Upcoming Art Show in Brooklyn, NY

I'll be participating in this exhibit:

On Friday, July 16, 2010 from 7- 10 pm, 99% Gallery will present a group exhibition entitled The New Order. This show will act as a survey of artwork by a variety of artists who have found their inspirations from the worlds of comics books, animation, illustration, graffiti, tattoo and many other forms of pop, subversive and outsider imagery.

Participating artists include:

Allison Sommers . Anthony Ausgang . Amy Crehore . Daniel Hyun Lim . David MacDowell . Gilbert Oh

Isabel Samaras . Jennybird Alcantara . Jeremiah Ketner . Jon Rodriguez . Justin Brooks . Lisa Petrucci

Mia . Sarah Joncas . Scott Altmann . Tony Philippou . Tristan Henry-Wilson . Van Arno

 

The Art of Amy Crehore

What am I up to?

Seen here: my rough sketch (in foreground) and my final inked artwork with 2 overlays (for 3-color prints), ready to ship off to the letterpress gal in Portland. More about that soon.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Two New Paintings (Crehore)

Girl with tenor banjo (click to enlarge)
"The Angel at Gossamer Creek", painting by Amy Crehore copyright 2010, 16"x16", oil on linen
CLICK TO ENLARGE
Girl with ukulele detail close-up

"The Waiting Pool", painting by Amy Crehore copyright 2010, 12"x 24", oil on linen

(CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE, open window for full effect)
I finally got some 4x5 transparencies taken of my new paintings and scanned them for you.

I also posted these paintings larger here: http://artofamycrehore.blogspot.com/

The Art of Amy Crehore (my regular website)

Segundo De Chomon, Les Kiriki, Japanese Acrobats

Familia Carrera. Xixón. 1900

Familia Carrera. Xixón. 1900
Originally uploaded by Von Aisaider

There are some lovely vintage
group photos like this one on
Von Aisaider's flickr.

The Black Imp by Georges Melies 1905

Le Diable Noir by Georges Melies (1905)

Read about Georges Melies and his surreal films at weird wild realm .

The Art of Amy Crehore

Happy Father's Day

My Dad
Originally uploaded by Amy Crehore

Thanks for everything Dad.
There was no one like you.

Kodomo no kuni -vintage magazine from Japan

Okamoto Kiichi 1928

Takei Takeo 1927

I know that I have blogged about this website before, but it's worth a second look. Kodomo no kuni was a Japanese children's magazine published from 1922 until 1949.

Kodomo no kuni and it's artists....also, Gallery

I am finishing up a design this week for 3-color letterpress prints and I am having so much fun. I am very carefully inking each line with small brushes. It reminds me a lot of vintage children's book illustrations. Tomorrow, I pick up my 4x5 transparencies of my new paintings from the new photographer, so I will finally be able to scan and show you those!

The Art of Amy Crehore

Thanks, Will for reminding me about Kodomo no kuni.

Portrait painting with tattoos,1928

Christian Schad, Portrait of Egon Erwin Kisch, 1928
Originally uploaded by kraftgenie

Baby Picture

Me, my mom and our dog. I love this photo.
The Art of Amy Crehore

Young Self...

Here are a couple photos of me... having fun on the beach when I was young. I remember those bathing suits as if it were yesterday. I wonder how long flip flops have been in style?! Have I always had the exact same haircut?!
The Art of Amy Crehore

Pierrot with a Mandolin Film 1927

I'm posting this clip of Bernardo De Pace for my friend Valerie in Barcelona.

Thanks for pointing this out, Rick Turner. Via Acoustic Oasis via YouTube

Banjo-Uke Duet in French

Found this sweet little video posted by Rick Bruner of banjo uke players on NY Ukulele Salon

Les Chauds Lapins - Kurt Hoffman and Meg Reichardt at Ukulele Salon at Ukulele Mansion, singing a Meg Reichardt original, "Cette Nuit-là."

The Sculptures of Ann Carrington

Photo ©Richard Bamber

Ann Carrington's Shell Ladies

Thanks, Janet

Girl on a red carpet

Girl on a red carpet
Originally uploaded by artinconnu

I just had to show you this one.
By Felice Casorati, one of my favs.
I had never seen it before now.
It's just perfect.

The Picasso under the Picasso

There's a Picasso show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art right now. The top photo is the "Blind Man's Meal" from his Blue Period, 1903. Bottom photo is an x-ray of the painting...a crouching woman that was found underneath it. I love Picasso's early work. Hey, that reminds me of my own "crouching figure" shown in my blog post below.

Read story here

The Art of Amy Crehore

What am I up to? (Crehore)

Right-hand side detail of a painting by Amy Crehore 2010

Here I am showing you a direct scan of a little bit more of one of my paintings. It's been raining here for weeks now and I have been unable to take 35mm slides of the new work. I also had to search for a new photographer to take my 4"x5" transparencies. I'll hopefully have an appointment with him next week. Film and film processing are getting harder to find around here. He had to order the film from NYC. Unfortunately, scanning oil paintings directly is not great and neither is digital photography. I have to make sure that I obtain the best photos for archiving and reproduction purposes. This can be frustrating. Meanwhile, I am re-working and inking a drawing that will become a letterpress print. I started it last fall, but I just wasn't satisfied with the composition. Figuring out the colors can also be tricky. I want it to be right. This is taking me a long time.

The green duco vintage ukulele (my Nip-Cat) that I showed you earlier is still being painted. Tickler #3 is still being built. Sometimes art happens slowly in this fast food world of ours.

Craftsmanship is important to me.

The Art of Amy Crehore

François-Emile Barraud (1899-1934)

"Les songes creux" Oil on canvas, 1933.
"Le Malcontent" Oil on canvas, 1930.

Amazing, but little known Swiss painter, François-Emile Barraud (1899-1934) worked in Paris in the 1920s, but died at age 35 of tuberculosis.
He reminds me of Antonio Donghi and Moise Kisling and the reclining nude I just blogged by Miklós Bánovszky...naturalistic realism of the early 1930s.
I discovered him here (see more images):
ART INCONNU
The Art of Amy Crehore

Miklós Bánovszky, Reclining Nude, 1932

Miklós Bánovszky, Reclining Nude, 1932
Originally uploaded by kraftgenie

Love this painting. So beautiful.
There many interesting ones in
kraftgenie's sets on flickr.

Secrets of Jacques Tati

Richard Tatischeff Schiel McDonald, grandson of Jacques Tati, writes a long letter to Roger Ebert about the real story behind his grandfather's script of The Illusionist and how this new animated film misrepresents history and brings more pain to the family:

The Secrets of Jacques Tati

Drew Barrymore's grandmother in 1923

Dolores Costello, Ziegfeld girl, by Alfred Cheney Johnston, ca. 1923
Originally uploaded by …trialsanderrors

My Neighborhood

Yesterday I went out for a hike and saw a white wild turkey all by his lonesome walking up the hill. I really wished I had my camera. Well, today, I took my camera and managed to take some close-ups of flowers around my neighborhood. You can see the raindrops on them. Everything is lush and overgrown around here from all the rain. In fact, it's been rather like winter for the past week. Enjoyed a fire in the fireplace last night.The pink peonies are heavenly, aren't they? But, alas, no white wild turkey to be found today.

The Art of Amy Crehore

1883 Circus in Vermont

Photo courtesy Shelburne Museum
Colchester, Vermont, 1991- the removal of siding revealed five beautiful circus posters pasted onto the boards beneath the siding of a house. The posters were mounted on the house when a circus came to town in 1883, and they remained hidden for the next 108 years. The home owners, Gladys and Harold Degree, donated the posters to the Shelburne Museum, boards and all.
The newly conserved posters will be one of the centerpieces of Shelburne Museum’s new exhibit, "Circus Day in America", (May 16 through October 24)
Shelburne Museum
(Rt. 7, Vermont)
Have a look at these fascinating images:
Flickr set Shelburne- preserving the posters
Read Story: Northeast Document Conservation Center website

Thanks, Tom!

The Art of Amy Crehore

Girl on a Miniature Horse and a Clown-child (Crehore)

Background detail of "The Angel at Gossamer Creek"painting by Amy Crehore 2010 (direct scan)

Background detail of "The Waiting Pool" painting by Amy Crehore 2010 (direct scan)

Here's just a glimpse of my two new paintings. They have lots of layers of paint. I am waiting for the weather to clear before I can take slides of the completed paintings. Then I will scan the slides for you. "The Waiting Pool" has 10 figures in it. I allowed myself to work on them for as long as I wanted to and they took me... a long time! I scanned these small details directly from the paintings.

The Art of Amy Crehore

She Demons

Mrs. Crehore is Mentioned in Shaw's Civil War Letter

I knew we had ancestors in Milton, MA (Benjamin Crehore -maker of the first pianos in America). In the film "Glory", Matthew Broderick plays Col. Robert Gould Shaw, white commander of the black 54th Massachusetts Regiment during the Civil War. In a letter written by the real Col. Shaw to his mother on May 17, 1863, he indicates that he is staying with a "Mrs. Crehore" in Readville, MA which is very close to Milton.

Blue Eyed Child of Fortune is a a book of letters by Shaw.(shown above-amazon) I came across a few of these letters on Written in Glory , a website with letters by the soldiers of the 54th Regiment. A letter by Shaw to his sister states- " Will you please tell Mrs. Crehore to expect us on Tuesday? No matter whether she wants us or not, we are coming."

1863, Readville, MA

This is so interesting! There are 3 letters mentioning Mrs. Crehore on this website.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Vintage Steamship Travel Posters from Japan

Early 20th century travel posters for Japanese steamship companies (from the book Miwaku no Funatabi, published by the Museum of Maritime Science, 1993) via pinktentacle

Aren't these cool? The expressions of the people are a bit blank, except for the one at the top with the handkerchief and daisy. That might be my favorite because it shows emotion. The rendering is beautiful. Most are from 1909-1919.

Thanks, Internet Weekly for pointing them out.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Legs

Willy Ronis, Dessous de l'Opera, 1948
Originally uploaded by kraftgenie

Photo by Willy Ronis, Dessous de l'Opera, 1948.
kraftgenie has some interesting sets
on flickr including this one called "legs".
This reminds me- my own paintings
have a lot of legs.
Love this photo.

Winner of My Contest

Okay. I've decided. The winner of my "Name the Monkey in the Sailor Hat" contest is Sugarpie with the name "Romeo". Please contact me by email for your prize.

I really enjoyed reading all of the entries. Very clever and creative. Thank you all for playing.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Thanks...

Detail of face from new painting- enlarged- painting 2010 Amy Crehore

Thanks to everyone for entering my contest. And, thanks to all of the people who have ordered prints and t-shirts, bought my original art, and shown interest in my art. I really appreciate your support. I am planning more surprises in the future, so stay tuned. I will sort through all of the names and pick one for my little monkey in the sailor hat. I hope to have the results very soon!
The Art of Amy Crehore

Spring Portrait

Spring Portrait
Originally uploaded by AtypicalArt

mom

mom
Originally uploaded by Amy Crehore

giving thanks to my mom

New Interview and "Banana Eater" Give Away!

"The Banana Eater" painting by Amy Crehore 2005

I want to tell you about a brand new, fun interview with me over at

Uke Can Play. (Thanks, Beatnik!)

In celebration of this new interview, I'd like to give away an artist signed, framed giclee on canvas by the famous printers at Pressure Printing. (printer of Porterhouse/Mark Ryden) This print has a value of $750. and there are only 23 framed prints in existence. (product shown above, click to enlarge)

This oil painting was the first painting in my Monkey Love series. It appeared in the very first Blab! Art Show at Track 16 in Santa Monica in 2005. It was also published in Blab! 17 by Fantagraphics.

MY MONKEY IN THE SAILOR HAT NEEDS A NAME.

NOTE: This particular contest is only for people who are located in the USA (preferably mainland due to shipping concerns). Please leave only ONE comment per person (if you leave more than one comment you will be disqualified). You can enter up to 3 names for my monkey in the sailor hat. The name that I like best will win the framed print (#21, unopened-mint condition-in the box it came in). You have until Wed, May 12th midnight pst to leave your entry in the comment section of this blog. Thank you and good luck. I will announce the winner on this blog by the end of next week. The winner will need to contact me by email.

The Art of Amy Crehore

recent boingboing about my ukes: here and here

Lady Gaga Shoes

The Shoes
Originally uploaded by joe holmes

Lady Gaga was at MOMA with
these shoes on.
Thanks, joe holmes.

Banjo World

I can't even begin to describe the goodies on this website.

BANJO WORLD