"Art of the Nude" Exhibit, South Wales

This painting is in the "Art of the Nude" exhibit at the Newport Museum and Art Gallery in South Wales. It made headlines back in 1947 and it made headlines again in the Daily Mirror in July, 2008. It is Gerald Festus Kelly's "Newport Nude". I guess the model with a cigarette in hand sitting on the bed is considered a bit risque by some. The show runs until Sept. 20, 2008. Here is a glimpse of the exhibit in slide show form on

FLICKR

I absolutely adore a lithograph by Harry Holland (1982) called "Homage to Electricity". There are also a couple of paintings by him that I can't see very well due to flash or distortion. Now I'm intrigued! I will have to research him.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Vintage Monkey Cartoons

STWALLSKULL has collected links to all kinds of Vintage Monkey Cartoons.

Go HERE.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Buy the "Oxford American"

"Deja Vu Waltz" by Amy Crehore (click to enlarge)

The current issue (shown here) of that great southern literary magazine, The Oxford American, has a big, beautiful spread of my painting, "Deja Vu Waltz" in it. It looks positively "southern gothic" in this context. They chose my fine art painting to advertise their upcoming music issue. If you have ever bought one of their music issues before, you know it's something special. My "Memphis Minnie" painting was featured in one of those once. They love their southern roots and so do I.

Oxford American

The Art of Amy Crehore

Nagi Noda

Yuki - Sentimental Journey

In memory of artist, designer and director

Nagi Noda.

Also her creation: Hair Hats

I Got Good Things in the Mail

Here's the original ink drawing I bought from Robot Johnny's store.

"Sob, Sob" by John Martz.
Nice personalized autograph depicting a monkey with a sailor hat, drawn by Martz in the front of my copy of "Warm-Up Drawings". (Gee, I almost like it better than my own monkeys. Those ears and teeth are so great.) Here is the cover of John Martz's new collection of warm-up drawings in small, adorable book form.

Sometimes I get good things in the mail. Like my Nate Williams pillows or an original drawing and book from illustrator/cartoonist John Martz.

Martz does the funniest little drawings and I picked this one out ("Sob, Sob") because it reminds me of myself. A little crybaby. Always crying the blues. It reminds me to wipe those tears and keep on drawing because each new drawing is the key to happiness. There are quite a few cool things in Robot Johnny's store. You will have to go see for yourself. Everyone has an opportunity to own an original Martz drawing. Thanks, Johnny!

Robot Johnny's Store

The Art of Amy Crehore

Sunday Night Song featuring a National Mandolin

Lou Reimuller made a special recording in 1992 of the song "Blue Heaven Blues", originally done by Charlie McCoy, Bo Chatman and Walter Vincent in 1930. On this cut, Lou plays the National guitar and the National mandolin by laying one track over another. He is also singing. This is a Hokum Scorcher's song from their "Feed the Kitty" album.

LINK

The Art of Amy Crehore

This song changes every Sunday or Monday on my website, so it will be different by the time you read this post.

Varnishing Paintings

Windsor Newton has information about varnishing fine art paintings on their website. I can't help but notice that some of the paintings in the art shows I have been in are very shiny and intense. Mine, on the other hand, are more matte because I have not varnished them. Why did I not varnish? Because I use thick paint layers and oil paint normally takes 6 months to a year to thoroughly dry. You are not really supposed to varnish a painting before that. Still, I know that my paintings would be much more vibrant in color if I varnished them. So, before every show, I debate whether I should varnish or not. Is it dry enough, I ask myself? I usually decide not to. Besides, varnishing is very difficult to get just right. The Windsor Newton website also says that acrylic paintings actually need varnish more than oil paintings do. I never knew that!