Back to Work- (Amy Crehore Studio)

Back to work. Two at once.

Amy Crehore Studio April 18, 2013

 

The Art of Amy Crehore 

artofamycrehore.blogspot.com

 

 

The Stick- Jonathan Winters RIP



Life on the Moon Imagined in 1836

 

Imagined Life on the Moon (from Smithsonian Picture Libraries)

Leopoldo Galluzzo in 1836

LINK

 Thanks Mark, boingboing.net

 

 

These reminded me a little bit of Marcel Dzama's art.

He is having a show at David Zwirmer (London) right now.

 



Yanna's Donut performed by the Hokum Scorchers

This is the Hokum Scorchers's adapted version of a Spark Plug Smith tune of 1933 called "Mama's Donut". We recorded this in 1995. Lou Reimuller plays National guitar and I play the washboard.

 

The Art of Amy Crehore

Caturday: Andy Prokh's photos of his daughter and cat

See a series of wonderful photos by Andy Prokh at My Modern Met:

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/andy-prokh-daughter-cat-photos 

Durer's self-portrait and my painting "The Bribe"

 Albrecht Durer, Self-portrait at 13, 1484

"The Bribe" by Amy Crehore, oil on linen, 18" x 24", 2003

 

This is a painting called "The Bribe" that I completed in 2003. It is based on Albrecht Durer's earliest known work, his self-portrait at age 13. I was always intrigued by this drawing (done in 1484) by Durer. I think I was also looking at Martin Johnson Heade's landscapes at the time. Some of my earlier works have references to images in art history.

Here's the actual painting hanging on my wall above my computer. It has never been shown anywhere (although it did win a chosen award in a national AI competition).
The Art of Amy Crehore
artofamycrehore.blogspot.com

 

Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie (by Amy Crehore)

 

Here's a small detail of a much larger painting I did in 1993 called "The Story of Memphis Minnie".

These people are Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie.

They were married at one time and played together.

His real name is Joe McCoy and her name is Lizzie Douglas.

"Bumble Bee Blues" was their 1929 hit song.

After they split up, Joe teamed up with his brother Charlie to form the Harlem Hamfats.

 

Here are the lyrics of the Bumble Bee Blues song with a link to youtube.

 

(See full painting hanging on my wall in earlier post: here 

Also on my website in painting section)

 

The Art of Amy Crehore 

also: artofamycrehore.blogspot.com



Pick Poor Robin Clean performed by The Hokum Scorchers

Listen to Luke Jordan's "Pick Poor Robin Clean" (a song from 1927). Lou Reimuller guitar/ kazoo, Amy Crehore washboard/kazoo. Recorded by The Hokum Scorchers in 1990.
The Hokum Scorchers channel on soundcloud with free downloads.
 

More Painting Progress (Amy Crehore Studio)

Here's my progress (from yesterday) on one of the new paintings (oil on linen).
I am "playing it by ear", as they say. I want to see where the paintings take me.
The journey will unfold as I paint.
 

The Art of Amy Crehore
artofamycrehore

(See my earlier post for beginning of process)

Scenes from old Virginia where the peanut grows

Here is an item that floats my boat!

I saw this rare, illustrated Mr. Peanut box from the 1930s online-

LINK

We have a large wooden Mr. Peanut sign at home (perhaps from this era).

Painting Progress (Amy Crehore Studio)

Working on a couple of new paintings in my studio.

 

The Art of Amy Crehore

David Zwirner

Standing next to a gorgeous Neo Rauch (from what I can see of that trademark green) is dealer David Zwirner. I love so many of the artists that his gallery represents: Neo Rauch, Marcel Dzama, Yayoi Kusama, R. Crumb, Alice Neel, Michael Borremans, Lisa Yuskavage, to name a few. There is a new article about him in the New York Times Style Magazine:

LINK

 

 

The Art of Amy Crehore

artofamycrehore

"The Tutu" painting by Amy Crehore

Here's an earlier painting of mine that is hanging on one of my walls. Oil on linen, 20" x 24". The girl was inspired by Matisse. This painting features a vintage Regal tenor guitar (one that I own) and a yawning cat. 

The Art of Amy Crehore

artofamycrehore.blogspot.com

Gibson's Banner Guitars Were Made By Women During WWII

The workers at the Gibson guitar factory during WWII were nearly all women (photo 1944). 

In a new book, John Thomas uncovers the story of the Kalamazoo Gals and the Gibson "Banner" guitars that were built by these women during that period.

They are some of the finest guitars ever made.

LINK to book (by John Thomas)

Voice of America Story (Tom Banse)

Thanks, T. Tex Edwards

"Please Don't Wake It Up"- performed by The Hokum Scorchers

In 1992, the Hokum Scorchers recorded the Mississippi Sheiks' "Please Don't Wake It Up" (a song from 1931). Lou Reimuller is on National guitar and I am playing a snare drum. We both sing. Have a listen.

The Art (and music) of Amy Crehore

Paintings on Walls (Crehore)

One side of the room...

...the other side of the room.

These photos show some earlier works of mine hanging on walls:  I exhibited a couple of these paintings at the Portland Art Museum (Crosscut show) and they also won "best in show" at the Corvallis Arts Center. Others were winners in Communication Arts Annual Competions or were exhibited at the Hult Center (in OR). You can see some of my vintage ukes that were painted for my Los Angeles solo show, "Dreamgirls and Ukes" in the top photo. At least one of these paintings has never been exhibited anywhere. And so it goes..the life of an artist.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Enjoy An Interactive Armory Show 1913, Chicago

After NYC, the historic 1913 Armory show travelled to Chicago. The Art Institute of Chicago has a new website feature where you can click on the gallery map and visit each room of the Armory Show of 1913. Mouse over each painting and you can read information about it.

LINK 

Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso, Gauguin, Rousseau, Maurice Denis, Jules Pascin, Augustus John and many more were included in this show. Americans saw their "modern" work for the first time and many were shocked. It is so beautiful to see these photos and take the tour.

 

The Art of Amy Crehore

Pietro Antonio Rotari Portraits

 

Pietro Antonio Rotari was an Italian painter (1707-1762) of the Baroque period.

Here are some of his unusual portraits of young women -shyly peeking out from behind a book or a cape, dozing and crying. There is something wonderfully modern about these compositions.

Art history never ceases to amaze me. I keep on discovering.

Out with the new and in with the old.

 



Armory Arts Week ArtSlant Feature: Amy Crehore

 

Armory Week is important to me because it is the 100th Anniversary of the 1913 Armory Show in NYC. That particular show opened American eyes to a "Modern Art" movement that was happening in Europe at the time. Organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors, it also travelled to Chicago and Boston. ArtSlant did a special feature on me to help me celebrate and I could not be more thrilled. Check it out!

Here's the LINK.

"Song of the Sea" was painted for my L.A. solo show, "Dreamgirls and Ukes".
I have a signed, limited edition print available: LINK
Inquire about collecting my original work: amy@amycrehore.com
 

See also: Amy Crehore ArtSlant profile.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Art of Amy Crehore

And, thanks, boing boing 

Song of the day

Shammy and Famous Ruis Family- "I'm Just A Little Girl" 

Another Look at Margaret Kilgallen

I love this little film of artist Margaret Kilgallen. (Art21)
Her Wikipedia entry says: "Kilgallen was an avid reader and thinker, looking to Appalachian music, signage, letterpress printing, freight train vandal art, and religious and decorative arts to inform her work. Her work demonstrates her respect for and engagement with craftsmanship and the stories of everyday peoples' lives. She was especially interested in "the evidence of the maker's hand."

She explained- "I like things that are handmade and I like to see people's hand in the world, anywhere in the world; it doesn't matter to me where it is. And in my own work, I do everything by hand. I don't project or use anything mechanical, because even though I do spend a lot of time trying to perfect my line work and my hand, my hand will always be imperfect because it's human. And I think it's the part that's interesting, that even if I'm doing really big letters and I spend a lot of time going over the line and over the line and trying to make it straight, I'll never be able to make it straight. From a distance it might look straight, but when you get close up, you can always see the line waver. And I think that's where the beauty is." Quote from Wikipedia 

She died at 33 years of age in 2001 of breast cancer, 3 weeks after giving birth to her daughter Asha. 

Llyn Foulkes at the Hammer Museum

Llyn Foulkes will play his Machine at 7:30 pm tonight at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. I wish I could go to this. His retrospective, which opened this month, will be at the Hammer through May 19th, 2013. (10899 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA)

 

Here is a clip of him on the Machine-
Llyn Foulkes at dOCUMENTA 2012 from Kent Fine Art on Vimeo.

Watch film clips of Llyn Foulkes working on his amazing piece The Lost Frontier (1997-2005, collection Hammer Museum).
 

Half Moon Banjo Ukulele

Unusual banjo uke from University of Leipzig - Museum of Musical Instruments 
(Thanks twitter, @ShelleyRickey and @UkeHunt)

Celebrating Renoir's Large Bathers on his birthday

Here's my favorite Renoir painting, The Large Bathers 1884-1887 (Philadelphia Museum of Art). I actually like the combination of styles in this painting better than his works that have his trademark, brushy-style throughout.
It has great form and beauty. The smooth skin of the figures, contrasted with less-defined impressions of nature, makes sense to me. Shown below it is one of the sketches that he did in preparation for the painting. You can see how he changed the position of the girl with the braid in the final work.
Happy Birthday, Renoir!

Let's Get Drunk Again- performed by The Hokum Scorchers

The Hokum Scorchers at my "Dreamgirls and Ukes" gallery show.

(Photo taken by Mark Lowrie 2009 at Thinkspace Gallery in Los Angeles)



"Let's Get Drunk Again" (song by Bo Chatmon 1938). This is a 1990 tape recording- Hokum Scorchers. Lou plays National guitar, Amy Crehore (me) on washboard w/cups.

The Art of Amy Crehore

My portrait of Jessica Watson - The Art of Doing

Jessica Watson by Amy Crehore 2013, oil on linen, 8" x 10"

 

I created this portrait of the amazing Jessica Watson for Camille Sweeney and Josh Gosfield's blog dedicated to their brand new book The Art of Doing: How Superachievers Do What They Do and How They Do It So Well. There are many wonderful interviews in this book, including one with friend Mark Frauenfelder of Boing Boing .

At the age of 16, Jessica Watson became the youngest person to sail solo around the world.

The interview with her in the book is quite fascinating.

The authors share some of it today on their blog, have a look: 

LINK .

You can buy the book on amazon here.

 

 

The Art of Amy Crehore

Amy Crehore Originals

 Homage to the King of Cats, 2001, 18" x 22", oil on linen ©Amy Crehore SOLD

 "Checkers", 2003, 18" x 22", oil on linen ©Amy Crehore SOLD

 "Feed the Bear Blues" 2007 preliminary drawing, pencil on 8 1/2" x 11" paper ©Amy Crehore SOLD

 "Black Cat Tease", 2005  oil on paper, image 6 1/2" circle © Amy Crehore SOLD

"Geyser" Camp Uke, 2009, oil painting (on Lyon & Healy antique 1920s) ©Amy Crehore SOLD

The Art of Amy Crehore

Here are some originals of mine that have recently found new homes with collectors in NYC, L.A., Austin, etc.

The top two fine art paintings were award winners in national competitions, Communication Arts Magazine and the American Illustration annual. The "Homage" painting was also exhibited in NYC some years ago at the Museum of American Illustration in a show called "Dreams". The antique ukulele was part of my "Dreamgirls and Ukes" show in Los Angeles. The pencil drawing was a preliminary sketch for a painting that was shown in a Brooklyn, NY gallery a few years back (the painting is still available). The circle painting is one of my "Little Pierrot" series (10 Little Pierrots were selected winners in the American Illustration annual some years ago and 4 were shown in a Santa Monica gallery).

 For more information visit my website.

Walt Kuhn and Guy Pene du Bois

The painter Walt Kuhn (above) was actually one of the organizers of the 1913 Armory show in NYC as a member of the Association of American Painters and Sculptors. Here's a link to Kuhn's records.

This is Walt Kuhn's gorgeous "American Beauty" painting, 1934. It is in the collection of the Chrysler Museum (Norfolk, VA). LINK

It is one of the many portraits of performers that Walt Kuhn painted. More images here.

 

An artist named Guy Pene du Bois was included in the 1913 Armory show along with 299 others.

Below are some of his works (not necessarily in the Armory show, just works that I like). Mysterious and deceptively simple compositions.

Read about Guy Pene du Bois 

More images here.

 

The Art of Amy Crehore

!00th Anniversary of Groundbreaking Armory Show 1913

It is the 1913 Armory Show's 100th anniversary. You can find the list of artists here .

And, oh, what a list it is! 300 artists introduced NYC to "modern art".

Read about the history of this show here.
See a cool map of layout of building and links explaining the art of 1913 Armory show.

 

The Art of Amy Crehore

What am I working on?

I'm drawing with very small brushes using waterproof, fadeproof ink right now.

Just having fun.

Here's a sketchbook example that I drew yesterday. Letting the ideas flow and learning new techniques by practicing.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Inspired Poetry- A post for Valentines Day

(Detail of a painting by the talented and lovely Lang Leav)

 I can't think of a better way to spend Valentines Day than to sit around eating chocolates and reading the wonderful poetry of Lang Leav and Michael Faudet .

Painting of the Day by Otto Dix

 

Self-portrait by Otto Dix 1912. He sports a bowl haircut and corduroy jacket. He is holding a pink carnation. The hand and flower are painted with delicacy, but he gave himself an intense stare. Nice contrast. (Thanks, Benjamin Phillips)

Album Cover by Dali for Jackie Gleason

 

Wow. Dali created this cover art in 1955 for Jackie Gleason's album Lonesome Echo.

(Thanks, Decaying Hollywood Mansions, FB)

Picture of the Day

Alert! A wild, vintage double entendre, hokum banana image:

Cousin Cora's Corp of Coy Chorines and Curious Cronies

(Thanks to Mark Dylan Sieber's facebook)