Ryoichi Yoshida Dolls

Here are some beautiful dolls by Japanese master dollmaker Ryoichi Yoshida

and some links to gallery pages and more information about this amazing artist/photographer.

(photos copyright Ryoichi Yoshida)

Yoshida Dolls

Viewzone.com

The Art of Amy Crehore

Rubber Headress

"Sting" Mask Hat from Zuss Design

This is turning into a fashion blog! I could not resist posting about these one-of-a-kind fashion hats made out of recycled rubber. Check out the hats page at:

Zuss Fashion Design

The Art of Amy Crehore

Fabulous Fez Fashion

Skull and Crossbones Fez
Drunken Monkey Fez
The Fabuous Daturas, Main St. Grill, Richmond, VA 1977- Little Lacy wearing a fez (a.k.a.Ted Polk), Sunset Lou (Lou Reimuller), & Datura Morris (Raliegh Powell)

A fez is always in fashion. Why not wear a fez in 2007? Here are a couple of examples of high fashion fezzes from

Fez-o-rama

"Trust me, when you wear one of our fezzes you get a lot of questions... or at least a lot of questioning looks. This one says "Yes, I realize that I am wearing a Fez! Can't you see I have some serious drinking to do? Go throw yourself on someone with lower standards and less style!"

A hokum band called The Fabulous Daturas had the right idea back in 1977!

(Yes, that is Lou Reimuller, creator of Teenar, Girl Guitar in the middle.)

The Art of Amy Crehore

Backstage, Lulu and The Bather

"Backstage" painting by Amy Crehore (Little Pierrot Series-fine art print)

Lulu

Rene Magritte, "The Bather" 1925

Happy New Year! I'd like to bring in the new year with Magritte's painting, "The Bather" 1925.
This painting was thought to be inspired by none other than the thoroughly modern Louise Brooks ("Lulu" shown above). Both images wonderfully represent the Art Deco period. For more photos of Louise Brooks and Ziegfeld Follies girls try this link: empousa.multiply.com

And don't miss the Magritte show at LACMA if you live in Southern California.

Also, I have a special offer of free shipping on my "Little Pierrot" and "Monkey Love" prints until February 15, 2007:

The Art of Amy Crehore

Holiday Retreat

"Homage to the King of Cats" copyright 2001 Amy Crehore
"The Organ Grinder" copyright 2002 Amy Crehore

"Checkers" copyright 2003 Amy Crehore

I am taking some time off for the holidays

and I will not be posting for a while.

Happy Holidays to everyone and I will see you again in 2007.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Hans Bellmer 1902-1975

La Poupee by Hans Bellmer

This post is for the people who got freaked about Teenar and other doll-type art. Hans Bellmer, the great surrealist, started it all and no one can quite compare to him. He made dolls and took photos of them in the early 1930's as a protest against the Nazi regime.

He was an ad agency guy before he was a doll artist.

"Bellmer's doll developed from a series of three events in his personal life: meeting a beautiful teenage cousin in 1932; attending a performance of Jacques Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann (in which a man falls tragically in love with an automaton); and receiving a box of his old toys. After these events he began to construct his first doll."

read more here: Hans Bellmer

There are some great books and historical documents about

Hans Bellmer which can be found easily with a google search.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Lizzie Douglas (1897-1973)

"The Story of Memphis Minnie", painting by Amy Crehore (click on image to enlarge)

I love tobacco-chewing, badass Lizzie Douglas a.k.a. Memphis Minnie. She could play guitar circles around the boys. She made a hot team with Kansas Joe McCoy. In this large work, which took me 6 months to paint back in the early 90's, I painted a tribute to them and their song, "Bumble Bee Blues" (1929). On the left, is the young Lizzie "Kid" Douglas who played the streets and even joined the Ringling Bros circus for a time, and in the middle, is Minnie as a strong and sexy solo artist with her National guitar. She was one of the great blues artists of all time.

Read up on Memphis Minnie here and here.

The Art of Amy Crehore