Remarkable Vintage Photobooth Portraits

Photobooth Group 1
Originally uploaded by lovedaylemon

lovedaylemon has a
wonderful set of really old
photobooth photos on flickr.
There are some charming children
in equally charming outfits.

Halloweenabaloo at Union Station, L.A.

Union Station 800 N Alameda Street (photo link )

On Halloween at 6 PM, the beautiful and historic Union Station in L.A. will be the location for the 5th annual Halloweenabaloo party with music by Flea and Ben Harper. There will be a costume party dance under the stars with a taco truck, plus an auction to raise money for the Silverlake Conservatory of Music. This is a great cause. The Silverlake Conservatory of Music is a non-profit school that provides private music lessons to individuals and gives scholarships to children in need. The music stage will be framed by the work of mural artist Ernesto De La Loza. Sounds like a good time to me.

More information here:

Silverlake Conservatory of Music

The Passion of the Van Gogh Letters

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has made it possible for us to view the actual letters of Vincent Van Gogh to his brother Theo, in Vincent's own handwriting, complete with sketches.

This is endlessly fascinating stuff to me as I have already read Van Gogh's letters over and over again for inspiration ("Dear Theo", a book edited by Irving Stone). It's amazing to see the preliminary sketches (leading up to well-known paintings) that he included in these letters from 1874-1890. There are also letters to Paul Gauguin and Emile Bernard (see the top image with notations about colors). There are a handful of letters from Gauguin himself that include important sketches as well!

Vincent Van Gogh, The Letters with Sketches

For another blog post on this topic: BibliOdyssey

The Art of Amy Crehore

Pierrot on a Bicycle

Halloween 2009 #33
Originally uploaded by stevechasmar

This vintage photo is from Steve Chasmar's
flickr Halloween Countdown 2009 #33

Hammer Museum Presents R. Crumb's Book of Genesis

The Hammer Museum will be exhibiting R. Crumb’s adaptation of the Book of Genesis from October 24th-Feb 7, 2010. Crumb has spent the last five years working on intricate drawings for this book. "Crumb’s version of the Book of Genesis puts an entirely new twist on the Bible". SPECIAL EVENT: On October 29th, R. Crumb will be joined by art editor for The New Yorker, Françoise Mouly, for a candid discussion about his life and this new project at UCLA. For more information, click here. I would go to this if I lived in Los Angeles.

October 24 - February 7, 2010

HAMMER MUSEUM

The Art of Amy Crehore

Baby Gumm Sings "Blue Butterfly" in 1929

A rare recording of Frances Baby Gumm singing 'Blue Butterfly' from the short 'A Holiday in Storyland,' from 1929. Baby was only 7 years old when she sang this. She grew up to be Judy Garland.(thanks, nimbusmiranda )

Bemelmans Bar and Woody Allen

Darn it. Last year, when I had my art show in Brooklyn, NY, I stayed up near central park at my brother's place. A friend of mine flew in from California to see my show and stayed at The Carlyle hotel. For a few days, I crossed the park to visit her at this elegant hotel. Unfortunately, no one told me that the hotel bar was the home of Ludwig Bemelmans' murals.

The creator of Madeline children's books, Bemelmans exchanged his work for a year and a half of accommodations at The Carlyle for his family. Wow, that's cool. "Madeline" books were my childhood favorite. It looks like his artwork is even on the lampshades.

Oh well, I miss all the good stuff. Maybe next time. Woody Allen is playing there on Monday nights at 8:45 pm through Dec 7, 2009 with the Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band. Luckily, I already saw Woody play clarinet. It was decades ago at Michael's Pub. I even got his autograph. If anyone is in NYC and loves Madeline and Woody together, head over to the art deco bar at The Carlyle for a fun evening.

The Art of Amy Crehore