Art Toys

I like these! Now you are talking. These whimsical wooden toys are replicas of renowned mid-century designer ALEXANDER GIRARD’s 1963 originals. Find out more here:

Supertouch

The Art of Amy Crehore

Malcontents- part two

Louise Brooks, looking positively come-hither

John Brownlee at "Table of Malcontents" (wired.com) blogged about me a couple of times last week. He picked up the "Demons" post (as did drawn! and boingboing), but he also liked "Black Cat Tease" post. Just the mere mention of Louise Brooks has him dashing over to my blog. "I love Amy Crehore, a vivacious and talented minx if there ever was one......" quote from John Brownlee, read more here:
Amy Crehore Paints Louise Brooks
and "Amy Crehore — the perky little marvel who sets the gold standard for all artists devoted to painting topless Luau dancers strumming guitars and the monkeys in funny hats who love them"- another quote from a John Brownlee post:
A Zoo of Fantastical Beasts
Hey, what's a girl to do?
The Art of Amy Crehore

There once was a time....

Here are some silly clowns, pierrots or what-have-you. I don't like all clowns, mind you. Just the ones with intriguing costumes like the European ones or the early P.T. Barnum clowns. The later American clowns with big red noses and crazy orange wigs that scare kids at birthday parties are not my ideal.

Images from: Old Postcards

The Art of Amy Crehore

Take a Matchbook Road Trip!

Vintage matchbook art is cool and Mike Snyder wants to take you on a little trip: Matchbook Road Trip

The Art of Amy Crehore

The Serpent was a Woman

Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris
" Temptation" by Hugo van der Goes 1470 Vienna
"Temptation of Adam and Eve"by Masolino 1425, fresco in Florence

Click on images to enlarge

"Medieval Christian art often depicted the Edenic Serpent as a woman, thus both emphasizing the Serpent's seductiveness as well as its relationship to Eve." quote- about Adam and Eve (Notre Dame sculpture) from Wikipedia

Christopher Witcombe writes more about Eve:

"Eve and the Identity of Women"

I like the placement of a blue iris (instead of a fig leaf) in the Hugo van der Goes painting. He paints Eve as a very beautiful, but spindly woman with a twisted arm. She looks pregnant, too. His serpent is less of a snake and more of a big lizard, looking like she could be Eve's little sister. All of the images above are compelling and surreal.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Nuns, Madonnas, Pierrots

"Icon" 1990, 18"x22", oil on linen by Amy Crehore

"Tree of Life" 22"x26" oil on linen,1990,Amy Crehore (private collection Santa Barbara, CA)
"Italian Landscape",oil on linen, 16"x34" 1990 by Amy Crehore

I actually painted my first "little pierrot" back in 1990, a year or two after my trip to Italy. The inspiration for the painting, "Icon", was Giotto's Madonna and Child (year 1320). My madonna is holding a little version of my "Tree of Life" painting and a baby pierrot adapted from one of my earlier works called, "Banquet Days". There are definitely recurring motifs in my art over the years. Sometimes it's unconscious. I painted a monkey, a snake, palm trees, and Titian's odalisque in these earlier works. I also painted nuns. These 3 paintings were exhibited at the Portland Art Museum in the early 90's.

The Art of Amy Crehore

"Black Cat Tease" by Amy Crehore

Louise Brooks Black Cat Tease copyright 2005 Amy Crehore "Little Pierrot" series

I had mentioned in an earlier blogpost that I used pictures of Louise Brooks as references for just a couple of my "Little Pierrot" paintings. Here is one of the paintings I did. This painting is a tribute to Louise, her sense of humor and her sex appeal. The rest of the paintings in my pierrot series were done without using any references. My girls are all imaginary.
Little Pierrot Series

The Art of Amy Crehore