Blond Slingerland Painted Banjo-uke Photos (Crehore)

Click photos to enlarge:

Side view of painted banjo-uke by Amy Crehore showing birdseye maple veneer.

Front of "Dirty Blond" Banjo-uke by Amy Crehore 2010

Headstock with authentic antique uke tuners.

Close up of painting with little pierrot on banjo head by Amy Crehore

(note: this photo does not show the original tailpiece which comes with this uke)

I finally got around to taking some real photos of my "Dirty Blond" (Slingerland) banjo-uke from the 20s. I still need to add the original tailpiece and bridge, string it up and take another photo. But, here, you can at least see a shot of the entire instrument. It's been restored and shined up by the luthier and painted by me. I've now added these photos and the photos of my green "Nip-Cat" uke to my set on flickr called Hand-painted Antique Ukes (have a look!)

Each Uke is a one-of-a-kind fine art object and playable musical instrument. Quite a few are from the 1920s which makes them quite old and rare at the same time.

The Art of Amy Crehore

(Thanks again A. Barrett)

Also check out my 2 ukes built from scratch by a luthier:

Tickler #1

Tickler #2

My Green "Nip-Cat" Ukulele (Crehore)

"Nip-Cat" fine art ukulele, hand-painted design by Amy Crehore 2011

Back of Nip-Cat Ukulele showing green and silver duco finish from the late 1920s

Headstock design on Nip-Cat with gold letters (matching gold colored frets)

Design on front of Nip-Cat (devil-woman cat perched on top of brick wall, chewing on catnip-like plant)

Side-view of Nip-Cat ukulele (originally painted duco finish from 1920s)

PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Here's is my finished "Nip-Cat" fine art ukulele. I believe this model is a Regal from the late 1920s. It was stored in it's original Montgomery Ward mail order box and had never been played. There was no label or name on it. It has original tuners. The original finish is a wonderful green and silver (or grey) duco finish. I enhanced this antique ukulele with my own design. I had previously painted a black duco model called "The Demon" for my "Dreamgirls and Ukes" art show in Los Angeles. This one is a lot like it, although the headstock is shaped a little differently.

Reminder: If you happen to be in NYC this weekend, you are invited to Last Rites Gallery for the Dark Pop 3.0 Group Show (a group of artists who don't normally do dark art were asked to tap into their dark side). It opens Saturday, Jan. 15th, 2011 (from 7-11pm) and continues until Feb. 12, 2011. I did a special painting for it called "A Moonlit Ride" and I blogged about it here: LINK

View the show's online preview. Contact Last Rites for more info: LINK

The Art of Amy Crehore

Sweet Hollywaiians play 12th Street Rag

Juxtapoz has a new website

"Second Fiddle Infatuation" oil painting 2009 by Amy Crehore

Juxtapoz Magazine has a clean new website. I can make a search for my name and revisit some posts about my art.

LINK

The Art of Amy Crehore

Gauguin's "Still Life has Hope" up for auction

"Hope" by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (see reference to Gauguin on this link)

"Nature Morte à L'Espérance" by Paul Gauguin

A painting by Paul Gauguin will be up for auction at Christies in February. They say it is a tribute to his friend Vincent Van Gogh who had committed suicide 11 years earlier. The main subject is sunflowers (shown above), but the painting's title, "Nature Morte a L'Esperance", means "Still Life has Hope" and in the upper left hand corner is a reproduction of my favorite Pierre Puvis De Chavannes' painting called "Hope" (1872). Gauguin painted this nude with a slight turn of the head, but the title of his painting and the nude on the wall definitely pay tribute to Pierre Puvis De Chavannes. There is also a small B & W image on the wall that looks a little like a french nude postcard, but one article says it is a nod to Degas. We can only ponder the meanings. The year Gauguin painted it (in Tahiti), 1901, there was also a retrospective of Van Gogh's work in Paris. Two years after painting it, Gauguin died at age 54. LINK

The Art of Amy Crehore

Slink into the New Year

There was always something so fascinating about a slinky.

Photographer Vivian Maier

Thousands and thousands of images shot by a nanny who lived in Chicago and captured it's essence from the 50s through the 90s. Read about the incredible photographer Vivian Maier who was discovered after her death by John Maloof at an antique auction, watch a news video of her story and look for an upcoming exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center. Here's the link to John's blog with more of Vivian's memorable and artistic photos such as the one shown above: LINK (Thanks, Raleigh Powell!)

The Art of Amy Crehore