Sunday, September 30, 2007

1920's Blues Artwork Calendar



It's time to start thinking about ordering your 2008 calendar with Blues ads from the 1920's. I get mine every year from John Tefteller's
Only $19.95 with a free cd of 15 blues songs by different artists. Here are a couple of examples of ads from the 2005 and 2006 calendars. The Mississippi Sheiks were amazing. The Hokum Scorchers played songs by Bo Carter and the Sheiks. Have a listen to a sampler of these guys on Amazon .
P.S. This calendar is also available here for a bit of a discount

NEW #1 Blues Gal Giclee Print by Amy Crehore

"Roaming Tomcat Rag" copyright by Amy Crehore 2006
The girl with the red guitar is now a print!
"Roaming Tomcat Rag" Blues Gal Series Painting by Amy Crehore is now available as a museum quality fine art, limited edition, artist signed giclee print for collectors.
It's an 8 1/2" square image on 10"x10" on Hahnemuhle acid-free photorag 308 gsm paper produced on the finest printer using superior ultrachrome inks.
Only 50 prints in this edition.
$90.00
with FREE SHIPPING

Free "Little Pierrot" and "Monkey Love" postcards and a certificate of authenticity come with each print. As seen on boingboing.net
Follow link to the "buy now" button on my homepage:
www.amycrehore.com

Introducing the first "Tickler" Ukulele

Front of Tickler Ukulele copyright 2007 by Amy Crehore (Built by Lou Reimuller) showing Tickler label

Back of Tickler Ukulele copyright 2007 by Amy Crehore (Built by Lou Reimuller)

Amy Crehore trademark "Tickler Ukulele"
CLICK on IMAGES to ENLARGE
Here is my very first fine art ukulele ("Tickler" brand label). This is a soprano uke that was lovingly hand-built by luthier Lou Reimuller, creator of Teenar Girl Guitar. It has a solid mahogany body and neck with a rosewood fingerboard and bridge. It plays and sounds great!
This "Tickler" brand uke is a one-of-a-kind fine art object which is entirely painted in oils on all sides by myself, Amy Crehore, with my trademark motifs: "The Banana Eater" image is on the back (from my "Monkey Love" series), a monkey and "little pierrot" combination are painted on the front. (The pictures show a little bit of glare.) Contact Amy Crehore for purchase information. (As seen on boingboing.net) See my fine art paintings on my website:
UPDATE: This uke has been sold. (11/07)

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Kids Are Collecting High-End Art

All I can say is, "Wow, I had no idea".
Kelly Crow writes about a new wave of children collecting art in an article called "Small Collectors". "Encouraged by wealthy, art-loving parents, children are collecting Warhols and even Rembrandts." - KELLY CROW September 14, 2007

Electric Quilts

Inger Brommeland, Hawaiian Applique Quilt, Norway
Heather Miller, Tropical Garden Quilt, Washington State
Inger Brommeland, Hawaiian Applique-block, NorwayMaureen Callahan, Synchronized SwimmingOriginal Design, Wilson, NY
I always loved Amish quilts for their sophisticated use of bright, contrasting colors and geometric designs even though the apparel of the Amish people themselves is modest and simple, with little color.
The Electric Quilt website had a contest to "Design a block in the Hawaiian appliqué style" and they have a gallery with 124 examples. These Hawaiian applique designs have so much in common with Amish designs.
Have a look at this wonderfully inspiring form of traditional, yet modern, "Op Art":

Friday, September 28, 2007

Gallery of Vintage Magazine Cover Art

Dutch Treat Club Yearbook Cover 1937
Photoplay Cover 1920
Truth Cover 1900
Amazing Stories Cover 1926

One thing leads to another. After I blogged those beautiful book endpapers from the Dutch Treat Club yearbooks of the 1940's, I went searching for more information. I found out that the Dutch Treat Club is a club that was founded in 1905 for people in the creative fields of art, literature and theater in NYC. They still have luncheons every Tuesday with guest speakers and entertainers at the National Arts Club. -link
Ellis Parker Butler, American author and humorist, was a member of the Dutch Treat Club and he was published in it's yearbook from 1921-1947. On a website dedicated to his work, there is a section with internal links to a wide assortment of vintage magazine covers. His stories were featured in all of these magazines. This is an amazing archive of images:
VINTAGE MAGAZINE COVER ART

The Art of Amy Crehore

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Gallery of End Papers

Dutch Treat Club 1940
Dutch Treat Club 1945
Dutch Treat Club 1946
Nancy Stahl had a brilliant idea when she asked other illustrators over at the Drawger blog to post their favorite end papers. She ended up with a beautiful collection of mostly vintage illustrations. These examples show unique and inspiring combos of design, illustration and photography. I especially like the Dutch Treat Club end papers posted by Stephen Kroninger (shown above). Here's the link: