Photo of the Day

Click to enlarge- "Miss Time"

Thanks to Steve Chasmar on FLICKR .

Follow the link for a whole set of "notable portraiture".

I could not resist blogging this one.

The Art of Amy Crehore

People I Met in NYC at My Show

"Black Sheep" painting by Jenn Porreca

"Megan" painting by Esao Andrews

"Stasis" painting by Martin Wittfooth

Martin Wittfooth standing in front of Jenn Porreca's paintings at our show in Brooklyn
Esao Andrews and Jenn Porreca on that hot, summer night
Speaking of NYC - while I was visiting over the summer, I was lucky enough to meet three very special painters at my art opening in Brooklyn: Jenn Porreca, Esao Andrews and Martin Wittfooth. Jenn, of course, was part of my show at Ad Hoc. Meeting Martin and Esao was an added bonus. I greatly enjoyed seeing Jenn's work in person. It has an art nouveau flavor and a whole lot of soul. I hear she likes Lotte Reiniger's silhouette animations and so do I. Not a bad influence to have!
Esao arrived on the scene minutes before closing time and the gallery director, Andrew, brought out a wonderful painting by him to show us before the gallery closed for the night. I have been a fan of his for some time now. You never know where his art will take you, from fantasy to reality and back again. His paintings of women are among my favorites. His pure talent is endless.
At the end of the evening, a group of us made our way over to Martin Wittfooth's studio where we all got to see a sneak preview of the paintings for his show, "Sandcastles in the Tide", just before he shipped them to Santa Monica. That was a thrill. His paintings are dream-like and surreal, victorian and modern all at the same time.
What a great group of people. Have a look at their websites to view more art. I am still blogging my NYC stories. My trip was so fun-packed that it's hard to remember them all.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Jad Fair at Cake Shop

Heads Up: Jad Fair's papercuts are on display for the month of September in NYC at Cake Shop, 152 Ludlow. It looks like he will be giving a performance as well on Sept. 26.

Jad Fair

That reminds me, I received the best stuff from his brother, David Fair, in the mail not that long ago and I've been meaning to write a special post about him, too. These brothers are both so talented at paper cutting, it must be in the genes! David is also a great writer of clever stories.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Tiny Little Top Hats

Creepsuela has a sweet little assortment of tiny little top hats on etsy. These hats get the Hokum Rag Seal of Approval.
Creepsuela Switchletto

The Art of Amy Crehore

Portrait of a Clown

Portrait of a Clown
Originally uploaded by sMacshot

Have a look at this antique toy collection slide show on flickr and you will be truly inspired, not only by the way they are photographed, but by the soulfulness of the objects themselves.
Link to complete antique toy slide show on flickr by sMacshot

Louise Brooks, Muse of Artist, Guido Crepax

Louise Brooks
Art by Crepax, from "Valentina"
I am honored to have my bio and my "Caged Wonder" painting included in a new German language art encyclopedia of 1,000 fantastic/surreal/visionary/symbolic artists throughout art history and the world (due out later this year). The publisher in Vienna sent me an impressive list of "C" names chosen for the book (I will write more about this book later):
Cáceres, Cadmus, CAESAR, Cahun, Callot, Caltia, Calvet, Camacho, Campbell, Cañamares, Capova, Cardenas, Carra, Carrà, Carrington, Caruana, CASTIGLIA,, Cebis, Celan, Chab, Chagall, Char, Charnine, Charusa, Chavée, Chebotarev:, Chef, Cheval M. , Chibbaro, Chido, Christensen J, Christian antony, Chromy, Ciurlionis, Clerici, Cocteau, Coe, COEN, Cogollo, colinet, Collien, COLOMBINO, Colquhoun, Conner, Corben, CORCUERA, Cornell, Coudenhove, Coutaud, Crepax, Crepaz, Crevel, Criste , Croy, Csech, CUEVAS, Culmann, Cummings, CZERNIAWSKI, Crehore, Citroen, Cronin, Cristòfol, Ceccoli, Czerwinski.
I am having fun looking up some of the names on this list. For instance, here is artist, Guido Crepax. At least, I assume it's the very same person. Miss Louise Brooks was his muse. That woman inspired so many! I like his line work very much. "Guido Crepax (born Guido Crepas in Milan, 1933-2003) was an Italian comics artist, who deeply influenced the European adult comics world in the second half of 20th century. He is most famous for his character Valentina, created in 1965 and very representative of the spirit of the sixties." More about Crepax(or Crepas) on wikipedia. He's big in Italy according to my friend who lives over there. There is a cool video of him on YouTUBE, but it's all in Italian. And, if you want to read all about Louise Brooks follow this link.
The Art of Amy Crehore

"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