French Postcard

The Art of Amy Crehore

"Little Pierrot"

Jeff MacNelly, 1948-2000

" Shoe" Comic by Jeff MacNelly

Jeff MacNelly, photo courtesy of ValueRich Magazine

I have been wanting to do a tribute to artist Jeff MacNelly for some time now. He was a 3-time Pulitzer Prize winning political cartoonist and creator of the comic strip, "Shoe".

When I was much younger and fresh out of college at V.C.U., I had a part-time waitress job at Eden's Restaurant in Richmond, VA. One of my customers was Jeff MacNelly, who walked across the street everyday to the restaurant from The Richmond Newsleader to have lunch with a friend or two. He always sat at the same table in my section and, even though I was a terrible waitress, he was my loyal customer. The day he won his second Pulitzer Prize, he ate lunch in my booth and I took a polaroid of him sitting there with the same grin on his face as in the photo above.

I remember that he invited me to see his office one day and I noticed that his book shelf was filled with art books (including the Society of Illustrators Annuals). He was kind enough to write me a recommendation for a grant at the VA Museum and he gave me extremely good advice: "Keep practicing your craft. That is what my father told me."

To this day, I will never forget those words. "Practice, practice, practice". And that is what I did. He also told me that there were not enough women political cartoonists and that I should think about becoming one. He was very humble and generous with his time. I was certain that I was bugging him the day I went to his office with my portfolio, but he really liked talking about his dad and painting.

I wish he was still alive today so that I could tell him, "Thank you". I kind of wish that I could show him my new work in "Blab!" and all of the other things I have done in the years following my waitress years. But, alas, Jeff died in the year 2000 of cancer at the very young age of 52 and I was shocked to hear the news.

Here is a 2005 article about Jeff:

"A Big Shoe to Fill"

And a little bio of Jeff from lambiek.net:

"Jeff MacNelly, the son of a publisher and portrait painter, created his first strip in 1969, while working as a political cartoonist for a weekly paper in Chapel Hill, NC. A year later, he relocated to The Richmond Newsleader in Virginia, and in 1972, his work was awarded with the first of three Pulitzer Prizes. In 1977, he started drawing the newspaper strip 'Shoe', named after the legendary Jim Shumaker, for whom Jeff used to work at the Chapel Hill Weekly."

Also, Wikipedia , www.macnelly.com, www.jeff-macnelly.com

The Art of Amy Crehore

William Mortensen, Photographer

Interesting photographs by William Mortensen at

George Eastman House.

Thanks go to Femme Femme Femme for turning me onto him.

That's a new French blog that loves to post about me as well. They may have read about him at Bibi's Box or Art Nudes. Everyone loves the 1920's and surrealist-inspired things.

The Art of Amy Crehore

I received my Ryo Yoshida book, "Astral Doll", in the mail the other day. It does not disappoint. Mostly all photographs (B&W and color) with little text, Ryo Yoshida really knows how to bring out "soul" in the faces of his dolls and to convey emotion with the eyes. With roots in Hans Bellmer and an affinity for people like Morton Bartlett, Yoshida's work is strikingly beautiful. Some call these dolls beautifully creepy. Creepy is a popular term on the internet - Teenar (Girl Guitar) was also called creepy. These art dolls and mannequins are a little too "real" for some people, but they are fascinating. I love them. More books on this site:

Very Cool Things

The Art of Amy Crehore

John William Waterhouse 1849-1917

"Flora" 1890 by John William Waterhouse

I love the paintings of John William Waterhouse. This painting called "Flora" is so natural, relaxed, modern and heart-felt that it feels like he could have painted it yesterday. You can read about him here:

Art Renewal
I saw "Ulysses and the Sirens" when it travelled to the Portland Art Museum and I'll never forget it. It was quite large, very surreal and masterful. He handled his mythical subjects with the same grace as his portraits of young girls.

Thanks go to mardecortesbaja for the link to the wonderful Art Renewal site.

While you are looking at art, you might want to check out Lloyd's article about

BOUGUEREAU AND THE UBER-PHOTOGRAPH .

The Art of Amy Crehore

Seth and "read yourself RAW"

"Clyde Fans" by SETH
Page from "Clyde Fans" copyright SETH, artist
"It's a Good Life, if You Don't Weaken" by SETH

I was looking up comic artist Seth because I love his books and wanted to recommend him. Well, I found this site called "read yourself RAW" featuring Seth plus many more comic artists that I also love, such as Lynda Barry, R. Crumb, Peter Bagge, Charles Burns, Dan Clowes, Debbie Dreschler, Adrian Tomine, etc.
"Seth (1962- )is the pseudonym of Gregory Gallant, a Canadian obsessed with the past, not only his own childhood memories but also the early 20th century."
I love Seth's dry humor and drawing style and his attention to detail.
Also, check out: Drawn & Quarterly Books.

The Art of Amy Crehore

About Art Collecting

"I'm Losin' My Cones Over You" Copyright 2007 Amy Crehore, Blues Gals Series

There's an interesting essay today about art and art collecting at The Huffington Post by Raymond J. Learsy:

Art and Art Collecting in This Age of Existential Anxiety

The Art of Amy Crehore