Saturday, October 01, 2011

More Monkey by Dorothy Lathrop (1942)

Another classic monkey illustration from Dorothy Lathrop 1942, "Mr. Bumps and His Monkey" by Walter de la Mare
It seems very familiar somehow!
Dorothy Lathrop self portrait with monkey
In an earlier post, I had examples of this great woman illustrator's first book. Here are a couple more drawings from 1942. She actually used a "monkey model" for the character of Jasper in "Mr. Bumps and His Monkey"! (amazon has copies)
Here is a link to more of her art at 50 Watts. She illustrated many, many books, but how many people know her name? They say she was one of the most influential and important illustrators of children's books in the 30s and 40s. Anyway, I'm glad to know her now thanks to the internet! And can't believe she actually had a real monkey to draw from?!! Did the publisher supply one for her? Pretty wild.

Friday, September 30, 2011

Loren Munk Paintings at Lesley Heller Workspace NYC until Oct.16th, 2011

"Village of the Damned" 2004-2005 60"x72" oil on linen by Loren Munk
Photo of Loren Munks's paintings in progress in his studio from Anaba blog
Some paintings take time to complete. Sometimes they take 3 years. Ask Balthus. Such is the case for Loren Munk's colorful and complicated paintings that document and map the history of the New York art scene. Roberta Smith's great review in the NY Times described one large piece as "a telephone switchboard run amok". I like these paintings and I like Loren. Loren Munk is also known as James Kalm (the guy on the bike) who makes little films of art shows in NYC. He may not remember me, but he was kind enough to interview and film me outside of my Brooklyn show at Ad Hoc Gallery in the summer of 2008. Here's a link to that video.
You can see Loren Munk's paintings through 
Oct. 16th at Lesley Heller Workspace, 54 Orchard St., NYC. 

Early Illustrations by Dorothy P. Lathrop (1891-1980)





50 Watts blog posted some nice images of monkeys that caught my eye by illustrator Dorothy P. Lathrop for the book "Three Mulla-Muggers" by Walter de la Mare (a.k.a. "Three Royal Monkeys"). LINK: 50 Watts. Also, archive.org has the full book online (published in 1919). It looks like Dorothy P. Lathrop was prolific. More about her and a list of books at wikipedia. "Three Mulla-Muggers" was her first illustrated book. I like her combination of techniques which reflect design trends of the period. The monkeys have human qualities and you know I like that, too. 

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Edward Lear's Amazing Art



It's been a while since I blogged about Edward Lear, one of my favorite artists. BibliOdyssey recently blogged about Edward Lear's sketches for his Parrot Book, a project he worked on in his teens while he was employed by the Zoological Society in London. It was published around 1832 when he was only 20 years old. He's the same Edward Lear who illustrated "A Book of Nonsense" (1846, book of  limericks) and "The Owl and the Pussycat" (1867). And he's the very same Lear who painted the serious landscape above (Masada on the Dead Sea 1958). Read a summary of Edward Lear's life (1812-1888) HERE
The fact that he "did it all" (fine art, illustration, cartooning) does not surprise me. Many of the great artists in art history did exactly that. 
The Houghton Library at Harvard University has started digitizing some of the Edward Lear manuscripts in their collection such as the Mrs. C. Beadon Edward Lear Scrapbook (top photo). LINKS HERE: Blog of Bosh

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Landscapes of sculpted food

I saw this on boingboing and it's pretty fascinating. Advertising photographer Carl Warner makes fantasy landscapes (like the one above) from real food. Full story and pictures on For My Hour .

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Gweek 017 Podcast: David Hahn & another Hokum Scorchers' song



Gweek is Boing Boing's podcast about comic books, science fiction and fantasy, video games, board games, tools, gadgets, apps and other neat stuff.
This week, Mark Frauenfelder interviews David Hahn, creator of of the comic book, All Nighter, published by Image Comics. David has also drawn for Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse.
The episode closes with another song by The Hokum Scorchers, a duo consisting of artist Amy Crehore and guitar maker Lou Reimuller. The song is called “I Got Your Ice Cold NuGrape" from 1926. (P.S. Here's the history of the NuGrape Song from a previous blog post!)
Link to Gweek:
GWEEK 017

High Fashion Ukulele Gals

Photo of the Day- Gals with banjoleles.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Chikanobu's Woodblock Prints (1838-1912)




CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGES
I've been meaning to blog about the artist Yoshu Chikanobu (a.k.a.Toyohara Chikanobu or Hashimoto Naoyoshi or Yoshu Naoyoshi) for some time. I currently have a calendar with his work on my wall from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (Pomegranate). During the Meiji Era (1868-1912), Chikanobu depicted the changing fashions of the day with his colorful woodblock prints. He drew beautiful, complex scenes  featuring patterned clothing (plaids!) and exquisite color combinations. His work documented changing seasons, times of day, events, family life and fashions (showing western influence) with a clean, elegant, simple line.

Thursday, September 08, 2011

Photo of the Day - Ukulele Girl 1918

 (click to enlarge)
This photo reminds me of the imaginary girls that I have painted, but it's the first time that I have ever seen it. The image is of a beautiful nude girl in an arm chair with her ukulele - taken by Albert Arthur Allen taken in 1918. 
Read about this California photographer on Retrorambling 
and here's a link to more photos.

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Bob Dylan's "Opium" Painting

Top photograph (an autochrome) was taken by Leon Busy around 1915 in French Indochina. Bottom image is a painting called "Opium" by Bob Dylan (2010) from the Gagosian Gallery website
Looks like Bob Dylan used the Leon Busy photo as a reference for his painting.
 From Sept. 20, 2011 - Oct. 22, 2011, Bob Dylan will be showing his paintings, "The Asia Series", at Gagosian Gallery's Madison Ave. location. 
Bob Dylan had a show of 40 paintings just last year at the National Gallery of Denmark called "The Brazil Series".

You can see more photos like the one above on Steven Martin's Opium Museum website. Steven has a book out called the Art of Opium Antiques. He is also working on a memoir about collecting opium-smoking paraphernalia, to be published in 2012 by Villard, an imprint of Random House. Thanks go to Steven for finding the Leon Busy photo posted above.

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Gweek 015 features Craig Yoe + another Hokum Scorchers' song


Check out the interview with Craig Yoe, designer and comic historian, on a brand new episode of Boingboing's Gweek podcast (015). Also, my band, The Hokum Scorchers, plays a version of Luke Jordan's 1927 song "Pick Poor Robin Clean" at the end of the podcast. Luke Jordan was a blues guitarist and singer from Lynchburg, VA. We recorded this song in 1990.
Lou Reimuller - National guitar/kazoo/vocals, Amy Crehore- on the washboard/kazoo/vocals.


Our recording of "Pick Poor Robin Clean" is also found here.

Monday, September 05, 2011

Ode to Marihuana 1934

The song, "Sweet Marihuana", was performed in the movie "Murder at the Vanities" by Gertrude Michaels. This was made in Pre-Code Hollywood right before the Hays Code was strictly enforced in 1934. What is pre-code Hollywood? READ HERE . The Hays Code was a set of film industry moral censorship guidelines.

Thanks, Internet Weekly

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

"Bumber By Number" Art Show, Bumbershoot Festival, Seattle

Bumber by Number is an interactive art exhibit curated by Jo David and Marlo Harris for the 2011 Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle, WA. There will be a preview on Thursday from 3pm -9pm and the exhibit will be open 11 am- 8pm, 9/3/11 - 9/5/11. The theme of this special art show is paint-by-numbers. It will be located in the Seattle Center Pavillion at the Bumbershoot Festival.
For a slide show preview of altered paint-by-numbers by an impressive list of featured artists please follow this link (scroll down):
If you are going to the festival, don't miss this art show! My band,The Hokum Scorchers, played music in Seattle at Bumbershoot and Folklife festival in the past and we always had a ton of fun.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

NEW: Gweek 014 Podcast and The Hokum Scorchers


Gweek is Boing Boing’s cool new podcast about "comic books, science fiction and fantasy, video games, board games, tools, gadgets, apps and other neat stuff". Here’s the lineup for episode 14 .
You can hear my band, The Hokum Scorchers (Amy Crehore and Lou Reimuller), playing a version of "You May Go", a Memphis Jug Band song (more details here) toward the end (56:30) of the new episode of Gweek 014.
Above is a detail of my painting "The Angel at Gossamer Creek". Links to blues, rags and jug band songs performed by The Hokum Scorchers (recorded in the 1990s) can be found here. (boingboing recently blogged ten songs).
Thank you Mark Frauenfelder of BOINGBOING.
Be sure to check out ALL the episodes of Gweek (free on itunes).

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Unusual National Triolian Mandolin Paint Job


We bought this 1930s National Triolian resonator mandolin a little while ago. The unusual thing is the paint job: a solid pale yellow with custom pinstriping done by hand and a flower (?) design sprayed on the cover plate. I have never seen one exactly like it before. It's in great shape except for a spot where some of the paint is worn away from heavy playing. Wondering if maybe there was a set of them? Perhaps there was also a National Triolian guitar, plectrum guitar and tenor guitar painted to match. I can picture a hip 1930s band playing matching instruments.

P.S. The big instrument in the photo is a Gibson mandobass and the one on the wall is a Lyon and Healy Camp Uke.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Amazing Display of Botanical Paintings by Marianne North (1830-1890)


Marianne North, photo by Julia Margaret Cameron (in Ceylon around 1878) Wikipedia link
Over 800 of her paintings are in her own special gallery at the Royal Kew Gardens.

Marianne North (1830-1890) began her journey around the world at the age of forty. For 14 years she painted the plants of many different countries and wrote in her diary. When she returned, Marianne oversaw the design and construction of a gallery at the Royal Kew Gardens to house her work. She hung the paintings herself and painted decorative panels around the doors. The gallery opened in 1882. It has recently been renovated. Rocky Mountain Land Library has a nice post about Marianne on their blog, including a video of this amazing gallery at the Royal Kew Gardens and links to two books about this amazing woman. Kew Gardens is 10 miles from central London on the river Thames. My parents used to live near the river Thames and I remember going to visit Kew Gardens a long time ago. Please follow this link to read more and see video:

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Listen to Orson Welles: "The Mercury Theater on the Air"

Last night I watched an old B & W thriller from 1946 called "The Stranger"on PBS. The movie starred the great Orson Welles, Loretta Young and Edward G. Robinson. After the movie, I did an online search on Orson Welles. LINK
I read about his marriages, affairs, films, etc. and I came across a great website of his early work in radio.
"The Mercury Theater on the Air" was a radio show started in 1938 which featured the New York drama company founded by Welles and John Houseman. It was later called Campbell Playhouse when Campbell's Soup began to sponsor it. Many of the shows are classic dramas: Dracula, Treasure Island, A Tale of Two Cities, 39 Steps, The Count of Monte Cristo, Rebecca, Our Town, War of the Worlds, etc. Here is a link to over 60 radio shows:
(Thanks, Kim Scarborough for creating this page).

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Ten Hokum Scorchers Songs

Here's the LINK to ten of our songs that were recorded in the 1990s. We play various instruments on these recordings. This is traditional hokum music: jug band, blues and rags. The Hokum Scorchers is a duo comprised of Lou Reimuller and Amy Crehore. We played at Bumbershoot, Seattle Folklife, Ken Kesey's events and other festivals and venues in the northwest. And, in 2009, we played at my solo art show opening in L.A.

P.S. There are also a couple more songs on my website (scroll down to play): LINK
I may add more in days to come.
Thanks for the mention BOINGBOING!

R Crumb Will Stay Home and Eat Aline's Cake

Screen shot of the negative article in The Telegraph which caused R Crumb's decision to stay home.Image via Dylan Horrocks

The Sydney Morning Herald has published a letter by R Crumb explaining why he won't go to Sydney to appear at Graphic (a festival of illustration arts):"Sorry, folks. I do feel bad, as I hate letting people down. But I decided I’d rather bear the pain of letting people down than subjecting my long-suffering wife to a 10-day period of dread and anxiety for my well-being. She’s been awfully nice to me since I told her I wasn’t going! She baked a chocolate cake even!" READ MORE of R Crumb's letter HERE: LINK
I don't blame R Crumb for cancelling his upcoming gig in Australia. He doesn't need to appear at events that upset his equilibrium. Life is too short for Crumb to be used for other people's political agendas. If Aline's gut says "no", it's a good idea to trust it.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

The Lou Brooks Blog

An illustrator colleague, Lou Brooks, has a new blog.
Have a LOOK.
It's a very enjoyable website by a funny fellow.

Photo of the Day: Duchamp as Mercury

"Duchamp with Shaving Lather for Monte Carlo Bond"
(copyright Man Ray Trust, Loaned from Philadelphia Art Museum)
Soapsuds transformed Duchamp into Mercury. Image by Man Ray from the Inventing Marcel Duchamp exhibit at National Portrait Gallery (2009)

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Amy Crehore's Tickler Ukulele #2






Here are some photos of Tickler Ukulele #2. Click to enlarge.
I designed and painted this uke. Luthier Lou Reimuller built it from scratch. It has a lot of cool details and different kinds of wood. For a full written description and a few more photos follow this link:
P.S. I am re-posting this from May 2009 because I don't think that many people saw this ukulele that I designed myself and had built. I'm happy to say that my Tickler Uke # 3 (a new custom concert model that I designed) is getting done. So excited about it!

Tuesday, August 09, 2011

The Wildwood Chronicles Book

Colin Meloy wrote it and Carson Ellis (his wife) illustrated it. Here's the WEBSITE . Kind of cool that they are both in Portland, OR. He's the lead vocalist of the band Decemberists. The book is due out Aug 30, but you can pre-order it from Powells and get a signed copy. It was written for middle school kids, but it looks like a beautiful keepsake book for anyone. They will also have a release party at the Bagdad Theater, Portland on Aug 30, 2011. I'm glad to be living here in Oregon myself. We've been having the best summer weather.


The Art of Amy Crehore

Paintings by Kenne Gregoire



Shown here are just a handful of gorgeous, sleeping nudes by Dutch artist Kenne Gregoire. The compositions, patterns, textures, and naturalness of the figures are wonderful.
What is interesting to me is that he also is an amazing painter of still life (with VERY unique perspectives), horizontal landscapes and imaginative theatrical subjects. To see more art follow this LINK


Pictures of the Day: Bardot and Picasso


Suicide Blonde's tumbler has a series of photos of Picasso and Brigitte Bardo hanging out in his studio in 1956. Here's the link.



Monday, August 08, 2011

Happy Birthday Esther Williams



My dad's birthday is today, also. Happy Birthday Esther and Dad.

Sunday in Fukushima by Sean Bonner

Interesting read: Sean Bonner's fresh account of his trip to Fukushima, Japan on the Safecast blog. He was there recording radiation levels along with Xeni Jardin, Miles O'Brien (who are both in Japan for PBS Newshour), Pieter Franken and others: LINK
Above image is of skinny cat left behind by earthquake and tsunami.
Also, Xeni has a new interview on boingboing with Yoko Ono who was recently honored with the 8th Hiroshima Art Prize. LINK
Road of Hope is Yoko's exhibit.
I have been following Xeni's updates on twitter. She is also travelling to Kyoto, Kobe and Hiroshima for PBS Newshour with Miles O'Brien.

Sunday, August 07, 2011

Crehore art and images


Deja Vu Waltz, oil painting by Amy Crehore

My art and images are on flickr and my website:

Tuesday, August 02, 2011