Kitchen Animals

These kitchen items make cooking more fun in Japan. The panda skillet and the pink pig potholder can be ordered from Fred Flare
I guess I'm in the holiday spirit because my blog is beginning to look like a gift guide! I'm sure I'll snap out of it soon.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Nice Ukulele Case

GUARDIAN VINTAGE UKULELE CASE SOPRANO - Classic styling with heavy-duty 5-ply shaped shell, arched lid, brass latches, very comfortable padded handle, durable black pebble-grain exterior, padded interior with crushed velour lining, accessory box, sized to fit most shaped soprano ukuleles with a maximum width of ~6.75" and total length of ~21.75." Very nice case. Imported from Asia. Only $60.00 at

Elderly

I ordered this hard shell case for the #1 Tickler Ukulele. I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived in record time and I saw that the interior is actually a beautiful emerald green crushed velveteen. This case perfectly compliments the Tickler ukulele and it will make it extra easy to ship without damage. It's got a nice vintage feeling about it and it's hard as a rock. The person who bought the # 1 uke will be as thrilled as I am with it. Stay tuned for the # 2 Tickler Ukulele due out sometime in January.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Rare Old Books

Here are some examples of interesting old illustrated children's books

from the 19th century that I found for sale on a site

called Rare Maps and Books

Shown above is "The Book of Laughter" from 1850 and "Happy Little People" from 1898 - both make use of animals and humor.

Also, "Jimmy Sliderlegs" by Heinrich Hoffmann, 1890, which is actually the same book as "Slovenly Peter" (my fav) with a different cover. Nice drawings and typefaces.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Mitch O'Connell - Glitter Graphics

Check out Glitter Graphics at artist Mitch O'Connell's site to see the kitty kat image above animated in all of it's glory. Colleen Fry did the glitter animation work for him: http://www.myspace.com/colleenshutterbug

(thanks, boingboing)

The Art of Amy Crehore

Jeff Soto Reports on Miami Basel

Kirsten Anderson (Roq la Rue) and Mark Murphy (Murphy Design), photo by Jeff Soto

Jeff Soto is currently blogging about his visit to Miami Basel this year. He was part of the Scion project. Here is a photo he took of the lovely Kirsten Anderson and the dashing Mark Murphy at a party. There are other photos of the works in The Know Exhibition (Murphy's booth at the Art Now Fair). It looks nice! That's the show that I was part of. It looks like everyone had a lot of fun. Check it out:

Jeff Soto's Blog

P.S. Jeff also has photos of the GREEN Show in Santa Monica, CA at Robert Berman Gallery on his blog. The GREEN show is up until December 22, for anyone in the L.A. area who missed it. That's the exhibit with my "Deja Vu Waltz" painting in it. Thanks, Jeff, for blogging about the two shows. Murphy offers a 2008 calendar of Jeff's art here: Murphy Design .

The Art of Amy Crehore

"Blue Skies and Monsters" by Jad Fair

Passengers by Jad Fair
Skeleton Giant by Jad Fair
You're Next by Jad Fair

They are amazingly clever, bold, funny and unique. They are paper cuts by Jad Fair. He offers them up on his website for sale. I posted 3 from his "monster section". They are all sold, however, but there are more. Have a look:

Jad Fair

I have blogged about Jad before, but I have not blogged about his book, "Blue Skies and Monsters" published in Japan in 2006 by Map. Jad was kind enough to send me this book last May. Inside of it's beautiful sky-blue cover, one finds zillions of these folk art cut outs. The book also has drawings, a discography (starting with the musical group Half-Japanese) and a dvd slipped into the back cover that has even more surprises. You can buy a copy here. It's a high quality art book and I recommend it if you are lucky enough to snag yourself a copy. John Zorn says, "Jad Fair is the real deal. In a world of crumbling values his artistic vision remains consistently honest, authentic and original."

Thanks, Jad. This is my favorite book of the year.

The Art of Amy Crehore

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Coop's Line is So Fine

Here's the new boingboing t-shirt by Coop. It's nice! I was fortunate enough to meet Coop and Ruth at the Felt Club/Maker Faire in L.A. last month. I have always admired his superb drawing skills. Here's a link to the T-shirt. Order yours now for the holidays. While you are there, check out all of the other cool stuff that Coop has to offer. Yipes!

Coop's Boing Boing T-shirt

(Thanks, boingboing )

The Art of Amy Crehore