Little Hokum Rag

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Exotica!

These covers of Martin Denny's "Exotica" albums are so witchy and strange. I think Louise Brooks had those dark eyes, too. (Which means I did not really look like her at all since I have blue eyes. Blue eyes don't cut it. I happened to watch "Pandora's Box" last night and confirmed that fact.) These women all have that tantalizing come-hither look in their eyes. The music is queasy-listening, classically surreal, Hawaiian lounge-style from the late 50's. It will put you in a trance, I think. Or make you do a naughty dance with your cat.

Read about Martin Denny: The High Priest of Exotica

The Art of Amy Crehore

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Villa of Mysteries

A nymph suckles a goat

God of Love, Eros

View more photos in a slide show here: Villa of Mysteries

Read the story of the Villa of Mysteries, Pompeii, Italy and view more close ups of art here:

Art and Archeology
I love the colors and the compositions of these frescoes. I can completely relate to them. They seem so modern as though no time has really passed. It's all about telling stories with paintings.

Thanks to Internet Weekly for reminding me of the frescoes of Pompeii

The Art of Amy Crehore

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Makoto Aihara

I just ordered this sweet new Fine Scenery Rumble Roses figure, Makoto Aihara, as a gift for someone. Play-Asia has a good price on it - about $39.00. Animaxis has it for $38.48. I should have shopped around first because I paid $42.00 and I saw it listed for $53.00 on yet another site. So, it's good to compare prices when buying these anime figures. I like the pose and the face on this one.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Monday, March 19, 2007

R. Crumb's Underground

78 Quarterly Magazine

78 Quarterly- art copyright R. Crumb- one of the pieces in the retrospective
Here is the printed cover of 78 Quarterly and the original drawing of Robert Johnson by R. Crumb below it. We have all 12 issues at home. These are rare, and I'm not sure if there will ever be any more issues, but we still have a subscription. R. Crumb is well-known not only for his amazing and masterful comic drawings, but he is a long-time hokum music lover, collector and player.
"A massive Robert Crumb retrospective curated by Todd Hignite just opened at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. It runs from March 16 to July 8, 2007.The show includes over 200 of the best examples of Crumb's art, spanning his prolific and rich lifetime body of work."
Check out this amazing R. Crumb Underground photo set on flickr of the exhibition in San Francisco by Buenaventura
(via boingboing)
The Art of Amy Crehore

More Shanghai Advertising Art

For an East Asia Cigarette Company

Featuring Japanese Brand Mosquito Incense and Poison

I'm sort of hooked on these western-influenced Shanghai Advertising Images from the 1930's. Here are a couple of posters that you can order from a wide selection at zitantique.com They also have postcard sets. All are reproductions of the vintage art which featured alluring gals, beautifully painted.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Louise Brooks Society

Me at 21

Me at 32

You know, somebody told me I looked like Louise Brooks when I was younger (above) and, needless to say, I was flattered. I did wear my hair in a bob (sort of) with bangs and I still do. No one can come close to Louise, though! I never really had her confident spunky quality.

Anyhow, The Louise Brooks Society live journal blogged about me today which was nice. So, I might just have to paint a portrait of Louise someday. Why not? I did use 3 of her more provocative poses in my Little Pierrot series paintings. They were the only 3 paintings that I actually used a photo reference for. There is a nice repro-poster of a vintage magazine cover for sale on ebay -"Police Gazette". And here's a link to The Louise Brooks Society website, Pandora's Box.

I have blogged about Louise quite a few times myself: all of my blog posts about Louise.
The Art of Amy Crehore