Morton Bartlett's Sculpted Family

Morton Bartlett 1932

I've been meaning to write about Morton Bartlett for a while now. Little-known while alive, except for an article in "Yankee Magazine" circa 1962, Morton Barlett was a reclusive Boston bachelor who made meticulously detailed, half-size, painted plaster figures of mostly teenage girls and a few boys. He also created and sewed outfits for each one and then documented his creations in realistic settings by taking B&W photos of them. The unique thing about his art was that these figures expressed complex emotions in their faces and gestures.

Marion Harris bought the 15 sculptures (carefully wrapped in newspapers) and 200 photographs which were found after his death in 1992 at the age of 83. She later published a book on this "folk" artist entitled "Family Found, The Lifetime Obsession of Morton Bartlett". This book is one of my favorite things and contains dozens of photos in color and B&W as well as 5 essays on the importance of this American artist.

The book can be purchased by writing to Marion Harris
She is an art and antiques dealer located in NYC.

More links can be found for this wonderful artist by googling "Morton Bartlett". There have been quite a few different articles written speculating about his motivation for his art...some assigning him a Lolita complex.

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Amy_Crehore

A Little Update

The news is, for those who have been watching, that the Blab Show will not be online until next week. The paintings were supposed to go up this week, but apparently they are still working on the website. I'm as anxious as everyone else to see all of the paintings!! I will be the first to announce it as soon as I hear from the man, Monte.

And...I am waiting to hear what is up with the M Modern Show as well. I have not heard from them. I also completed a painting for their show which opens the same day as the Blab Show- Sept. 23, 2006. (Valley of the Dolls Show)

Joe Coleman, Visionary Artist

Hank Williams, copyright Joe Coleman

Go read the excellent new review by Marshall Sponder of the Joe Coleman exhibit at

Art NYC

Joe Coleman is having a retrospective at the Jack Tilton Gallery in NYC. It opened last night.

Sounds like an exciting event. One for the art history books.

I love my copy of "Original Sin, The Visionary Art of Joe Coleman" by Heck Editions, 1997.

Joe Coleman is a wild man on canvas. It takes enormous perseverance to paint like that, with the tiniest detail. I can relate to it's narrative quality and craftsmanship and, also, to Joe's tremendous imagination. The subjects he picks are interesting and historic, like Henry Darger, Hank Williams, John Brown, etc. I wish I could have been at this opening. Joe was one of the original "Blab!" artists.

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Amy_Crehore

Diary Page

DeChirico
Brooks

I just noticed that I haven't posted anything since last Friday. While everyone else was having their Labor Day cookouts, I was working away on a painting for the M Modern Gallery Show called "Women with Issues"- images inspired by the movie "Valley of the Dolls". It opens the same day as the Blab Show, Sept. 23, 2006.

I finished the painting today (3 female figures) and took slides. It's a "metaphysical" scene with a modern slant. (See Pittura Metaphysica ) They like the modern look out in Palm Springs where the gallery is located... from the late 40's on.

It's been really hot here in Oregon. I wish the heat would let up, since I don't have air conditioning in the studio.

I'm looking forward to going down to Santa Monica, CA again in two weeks for the Blab Show. It will be a nice change of scene. I am going to take a break from painting for the next couple of weeks. There is plenty more to do to get ready for the two shows. At least the artwork is done!

The Blab Show is supposed to be online this week! I keep on checking: www.blabshow.com

Josephine Baker, Muse

Okay, a friend of mine asked me to post more pictures of Ms. Baker and I am happy to comply.

She was the model for many posters and ads of the period. Her black helmet hair and her rubber limbs inspired zillions of wonderful art deco images. For more history and images go here:

Josephine Baker

They are currently having a show of rare photographs of Ms. Baker at the

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Here's another good site for photos of Ziegfeld Follies. There you will find Josephine Baker and Louise Brooks, two of my favorite muses. (Thanks to www.meathaus.com)

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Amy_Crehore

Magic of the Trees

Stairs in the woods
Path in Hendricks Park

Whew! I finally finished my number 8 painting for the Blab Show. Now it's on to other things like cleaning up the studio, taking my own slides of the paintings and also having them photographed by a professional, framing them, packing them, doing paperwork and shipping them. Plus, I'm supposed to paint for another show that opens the same day, so I'm debating about that and gathering strength.

It's a nice overcast day here in Oregon. It feels like fall which is a great change from the heatwave we had over the weekend. I hope to take my daily hike up the butte near my house. It's a wonderful 20 minute hike- with woods full of douglas fir trees and a secret stairway climbing straight up through the trees. There is a park called Hendricks Park at the top and there are many rhodedendron trees up there.

My 2 newest paintings for the Blab art show have a little bit of this magic of the trees. I hear that the Blab show website is just about ready and soon you all will be able to view the paintings online at blab show .

The Black Venus

American entertainer Josephine Baker was the toast of Paris in the 1920's. She was so comfy on stage with her clothes off, wearing only a few bananas to shake and shimmy in. I found inspiration in the hundreds of half-naked photos and illustrations of her from that period. Here's a bio on her interesting life.

Josephine Baker