Blues Women Playing Nationals

Sister Rosetta Tharpe with sunburst Triolian
Sister Rosetta with Count Basie
Memphis Minnie with Electric National

Vintage photos of women playing National Guitars. Love them.
The Art of Amy Crehore

Details of Lolitas

Detail of "Lolita Part Two" copyright 2007 Amy Crehore

Detail of "Lolita Part One" copyright 2007 Amy Crehore

Here are a couple of details of my paintings for the Corey Helford "Literartistry" Show which opens August 11, 2007. I did a set of two paintings, "The Story of Lolita" Parts one and two.

I should be able to show you the entire pieces in the near future. I am glad to be done. I worked very hard on them. They are oils on linen panels and will have ornately carved frames. They are not literal interpretations of the novel, they are more symbolic. You'll see.

This show will have 50 different artists -each interpreting his/her favorite book.

Participating artists to date include: Jason Shawn Alexander, Erik Alos, Chris Anthony, Chris Conn Askew, Attaboy, Anthony Ausgang, Lauren Bergman, Andrew Brandou, Dave Burke, Paul Chatem, Greg Clarke, Amy Crehore, Camilla d’Ericco, Jason Dugan, Korin Faught, Sarah Folkman, Melissa Forman, Andrew Foster, Lauren Gardiner, Andrew Hem, Michael Hussar, Stella Im Hultberg, Mari Inukai, Wednesday Kirwan, Kukula, Joe Ledbetter, Tiffany Liu, Kevin Llewellyn, Lola, Jeff McMillan, Lisa Moneypenny Murray, Tom Neely, Joe O’Neill, Alex Pardee, Kevin Peterson, Joshua Petker, Carlos Ramos, Sergio Rebia, Joey Remmers, Lesley Reppeteaux, Isabel Samaras, Mijn Schatje, Nathan Spoor, Bob Staake, Gin Stevens, David Stoupakis, Cassandra Szekely, Heidi Taillefer, The Pizz, Sage Vaughn, Amanda Visell, David VonDerLinn, and Jasmine Worth.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Chalk it Up for Literacy -Portland, OR

Lee Moyer's "Odin" poster from 2004

I am going to participate in the 5th annual "Chalk it Up for Literacy" event in Portland, Oregon on August 4th, 2007 from 10am-4pm in Pioneer Courthouse Square. I did this event in 2004 and it was tons of fun. That year, it was held under a tent at the Portland Art Museum because of rain. But, usually it is held outdoors. About 40 or so artists and illustrators will create posters in chalk "live" between 10am and 4 pm. The art will be sold later to benefit Oregon Literacy, Inc. This is a really good cause! "Everyone has a right to literacy." I hope to see my artist friends and also meet some new Portland people this year. Read more about it here:
OREGON LITERACY
and a gallery of past art
The Art of Amy Crehore

Uke Hunt Blog

Quite a few blogs and forums picked up the story of my art uke including King David Ukulele Station in France. I just happened to see this post over at Uke Hunt today:

"The art ukulele by Amy Crehore that I mentioned on Friday caused a bit of a stir on the intertubes after it was picked up by Boing Boing, so I thought I’d take a look at some of the other b-uke-iful creations out there."

see and read more about other fabulous Art Ukes at:

UKE HUNT

The Art of Amy Crehore

Paint Job of Tickler Uke

Here are some of the steps that were taken in order to paint the Tickler Uke.

Krylon primer was sprayed on the wood of the uke (after the pores were filled with pumice and shellac) before painting. The fingerboard, bridge and hole were masked off with tape or cardboard. I rubbed in layers of paint and also brushed them in. I hung it up with a hook to paint it, but I also held it in my hands. I patiently waited for the oil paint to dry between layers, but I also used Liquin medium which has a dryer in it, so that helped. I brushed Liquin over the whole thing after I was finished to give it a nice, protective hard coating (it's a varnish, too). Click on photos to enlarge. Sorry that these photos are out of order, but you get the idea.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Lady Godiva

Here's a beauty: "This painting was painted in 1898 by John Collier the English Pre-Raphaelite artist (1850-1934). It depicts Lady Godiva, an eleventh century Anglo-Saxon gentlewoman. Legend says that she rode naked through the streets of Coventry (now a small city in central England) as a protest against the heavy taxes imposed on the local populace by her husband, the local Lord." MORE BY THIS ARTIST

The Art of Amy Crehore

Projects

I'm working on some very special paintings for a very special show at a very special gallery called Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City, CA. The show is called "Literartistry" and about 50 artists (including my favorite fine art photographer, Chris Anthony) will be doing interpretations of their favorite books. I am doing the novel "Lolita" by Nabokov in two parts. I will write more about this show very soon. And the first "Tickler" ukulele should be unveiled by the end of the week. I still have to have photos taken and tweak it a bit. It's interesting just how much a luthier's craft is like that of a fine jeweler. Plus, the added dimension of making sure that the instrument is quite playable and sounds good. It was not an easy thing to paint with oils either. I'm very happy with the results and I hope you will like it, too.

The Art of Amy Crehore