Dod Proctor 1892-1972

"Dinah Reading" by Dod Proctor


'The Orchard" by Dod Proctor
Portrait by Dod Proctor
"Morning" by Dod Proctor
One of my favorite pictures of all time is "Morning" by Dod Proctor, who painted it when she was 34. They say it made her famous overnight. To me, this represents art deco period painting at it's finest. The sculptural quality of this figure is astounding. This painting is in the Tate.
"This was voted Picture of the Year at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition of 1927 and bought for the nation by the Daily Mail newspaper. From c.1922 Dod Procter had begun to paint a series of simple, monumental portraits of young women that she knew, utilizing the fall of light across the figures to give a powerful sense of volume. The model was Cissie Barnes, the sixteen year old daughter of a fisherman from Newlyn, the Cornish village that was home to Dod Procter for most of her working life. The popularity of this painting led to its being displayed in New York, followed by a tour of Britain from 1927 to 1929."

Here is a slide show of more of her remarkable work from the First Post website:
More Than a One Hit Wonder - Dod Proctor

She was a genius. I only knew about the painting called, "Morning"...until now.
The Art of Amy Crehore

Hokum Scorchers Perform "Violent Love"

Here is a picture of the remarkable bassist and songwriter, Willie Dixon.

Check out this list of classic songs that he wrote and all of the people who performed them.
So, it's Sunday night and I just switched the song on my website player. Listen to an adapted version of Willie Dixon's "Violent Love" (1950's) performed by the Hokum Scorchers Band. Lou Reimuller is singing and playing a National guitar and I am playing the washboard. Both of us are playing kazoos. Recorded in 1990. Follow this link and scroll down for song.
Hokum Scorchers
The Art of Amy Crehore

This song changes every Sunday nite, so it will be different by the time you read this post.

Ancient Sketchbook

Shown here are 2 pages from Stephan Schreiber's practice sketchbook book for illuminated manuscripts (West Germany). See more of this amazing sketchbook full of ideas and miniature designs from the year 1494 (!) on BibliOdyssey. Lovely to see the process.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Cat Masks

There's a group on flickr that has a fascinating set of cat masks. Have a look:

Cat Masks and Make Up

The Art of Amy Crehore

Treasures under the Bed

Check out this gold cup that a guy had hidden away under his bed- a gift from his grandpa. It's ancient and it's worth a million dollars. He abused it as a child, thinking it was only a nice old cup from grandpa. Also, this Freemason padlock sold on ebay for a nice chunk of change. I love the designs on both of these objects. Reminds me, I have started to sell some things on ebay from under my own bed. It's better than a yard sale and, lord knows, my house full of junk...er, I mean treasures.

The Art of Amy Crehore

(Images via dinosaurs and robots and boingboing )

On the Same Wave Length

"Creation" painting copyright Amy Crehore

Attempting the impossible, La tentation de l'impossible 1928, Rene Magritte, Tokyo

I just discovered this Magritte painting on the Femme blog. I have a couple of books on him, but I don't recall ever seeing it before. It's not in my books. I like it! It sort of reminds me of an early "Little Pierrot" that I painted (2004) called "Creation".

The Art of Amy Crehore

(Thanks to Femme for the Magritte image)

New Work

Detail of sketch by Amy Crehore 2008

Here is a detail of a sketch for one of my new paintings. I don't want to show the whole thing yet, it would give away my "punch line". I am happily finishing up 3 new works on linen canvas this week. Everything takes longer than I think it will, but in the end it's worth it. I'm using lots of layers of oil paint and striving for some seamless designs. As I work, I am transported back in time to early primitive Italian art, Bosch, Remedios Varo and growing up in N.J.-- all at once! I need to start blogging more about my own art now. Things are happening this summer: a New York show and a show in Las Vegas. More about all that later.

The Art of Amy Crehore