Exotica!

These covers of Martin Denny's "Exotica" albums are so witchy and strange. I think Louise Brooks had those dark eyes, too. (Which means I did not really look like her at all since I have blue eyes. Blue eyes don't cut it. I happened to watch "Pandora's Box" last night and confirmed that fact.) These women all have that tantalizing come-hither look in their eyes. The music is queasy-listening, classically surreal, Hawaiian lounge-style from the late 50's. It will put you in a trance, I think. Or make you do a naughty dance with your cat.

Read about Martin Denny: The High Priest of Exotica

The Art of Amy Crehore

Villa of Mysteries

A nymph suckles a goatGod of Love, Eros
View more photos in a slide show here: Villa of Mysteries

Read the story of the Villa of Mysteries, Pompeii, Italy and view more close ups of art here:

Art and Archeology
I love the colors and the compositions of these frescoes. I can completely relate to them. They seem so modern as though no time has really passed. It's all about telling stories with paintings.

Thanks to Internet Weekly for reminding me of the frescoes of Pompeii

The Art of Amy Crehore

Makoto Aihara

I just ordered this sweet new Fine Scenery Rumble Roses figure, Makoto Aihara, as a gift for someone. Play-Asia has a good price on it - about $39.00. Animaxis has it for $38.48. I should have shopped around first because I paid $42.00 and I saw it listed for $53.00 on yet another site. So, it's good to compare prices when buying these anime figures. I like the pose and the face on this one.

The Art of Amy Crehore

R. Crumb's Underground

78 Quarterly Magazine

78 Quarterly- art copyright R. Crumb- one of the pieces in the retrospective
Here is the printed cover of 78 Quarterly and the original drawing of Robert Johnson by R. Crumb below it. We have all 12 issues at home. These are rare, and I'm not sure if there will ever be any more issues, but we still have a subscription. R. Crumb is well-known not only for his amazing and masterful comic drawings, but he is a long-time hokum music lover, collector and player.
"A massive Robert Crumb retrospective curated by Todd Hignite just opened at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. It runs from March 16 to July 8, 2007.The show includes over 200 of the best examples of Crumb's art, spanning his prolific and rich lifetime body of work."
Check out this amazing R. Crumb Underground photo set on flickr of the exhibition in San Francisco by Buenaventura
(via boingboing)
The Art of Amy Crehore

More Shanghai Advertising Art

For an East Asia Cigarette Company

Featuring Japanese Brand Mosquito Incense and Poison

I'm sort of hooked on these western-influenced Shanghai Advertising Images from the 1930's. Here are a couple of posters that you can order from a wide selection at zitantique.com They also have postcard sets. All are reproductions of the vintage art which featured alluring gals, beautifully painted.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Louise Brooks Society

Me at 21

Me at 32

You know, somebody told me I looked like Louise Brooks when I was younger (above) and, needless to say, I was flattered. I did wear my hair in a bob (sort of) with bangs and I still do. No one can come close to Louise, though! I never really had her confident spunky quality.

Anyhow, The Louise Brooks Society live journal blogged about me today which was nice. So, I might just have to paint a portrait of Louise someday. Why not? I did use 3 of her more provocative poses in my Little Pierrot series paintings. They were the only 3 paintings that I actually used a photo reference for. There is a nice repro-poster of a vintage magazine cover for sale on ebay -"Police Gazette". And here's a link to The Louise Brooks Society website, Pandora's Box.

I have blogged about Louise quite a few times myself: all of my blog posts about Louise.
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Victorian Scraps

You can buy some vintage scraps from Victorian-Imagery.com

Above images courtesy of Beryl Peters Image Archive

And here is another beautiful website from the UK all about Victorian Scraps:

The Scrap Album

Check out Father Tuck's Complete Picture Maker for Little People 1930

The Art of Amy Crehore

Photographer of Paris, Brassai (1899-1984)

Backstage at the Folies-Bergere 1933 by Brassai

Brassai's wanderings around the cafes and bars of Paris at night brought him into contact with many of the artists and writers living in the city during the early 1930's. He established friendships with Picasso, Giacometti, Sartre, and Henry Miller. He published a book of night photographs in 1933 called, Paris de Nuit. Check out this great website:

Masters of Fine Art Photography

When I was in art school, I took a lot of photography and filmmaking classes. I did not start painting seriously until after I graduated. I consider myself to be a self-taught painter with an early background in photography. This has given me a greater sense of composition and story-telling and a desire for finding surreal elements within reality.

Try the amazing Powell's books in Portland, OR for books

about Brassai or anything else your little heart desires.

The Art of Amy Crehore

In Honor of Women

This brief post is dedicated to all women who have lost their sparkling youth to sadistic men. Hopefully they can heal, perhaps through art therapy. May they laugh again and discover their inner strength. May they love again with all of their heart. May they never look back.

The Art of Amy Crehore

The "It" Girl

Why is Louise Brooks so much more amazing than ANY woman in cinema today? Or any woman in fashion, music or theater? Why, why, why? For one thing, she's natural. She's got heart. She doesn't have tattoos. She doesn't have clown make up on. She's not hardcore. She doesn't have fake boobs. She's got class. She's got style. She's got guts. She's fearless. She's beautiful. She's unique. She stood up to the phonies and the copycats. She's got that certain something that is sorely lacking in today's world. We need her more than ever. Go buy the newly restored dvd of Pandora's Box.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Notecannons Nationals

Photo courtesy of Notecannons.com

We have one of these rare ukuleles at home: a 1928 National Tricone Style 1. We thought it was a National mandolin because of the body and often wondered why it had a uke neck, but then finally realized that it is indeed a uke! This is just one of many Nationals in our collection. They are all Art Deco gems. I might have to paint a National guitar, uke or mandolin into my next painting. Here is a great site to just look at them all:
Notecannons
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Andromeda

"Andromeda" by G.O.W. Apperley 1917

I like this stylized nude by British artist George Owen Wynne Apperley (1884-1960). More paintings at Apperley-Art .

(Thanks to Internet Weekly)

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Mark Ryden News

Beautiful Kirsten of Roq La Rue Gallery wrote up a blurb on the new Mark Ryden "Tree Show" that opened in L.A. this past week. She included pics of the opening.

Check out That Ain't Art blogspot.

(via boingboing)

The Art of Amy Crehore

Circus Family

Picasso 1905 Drawing, Circus Family

I love Picasso's line drawings. This one has a cat in it doing the typical cat rub. Small gestures and details like that are what make the composition special. I am locked away in my studio this week working on a new painting and I have put everything else "on hold" until I finish. Things like cleaning, answering emails, paperwork, etc. have been put on the back burner for now. Stay tuned.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Hokum Lantern Woman

Explore Tallulahs.com for vintage costume photos like these.

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Barnes Collection Revisited

Portrait of Dr. Barnes 1926 by DeChirico (courtesy Barnes Foundation)

Photo courtesy of NYTimes

Here is a just a mere glimpse of one of the 24 rooms at the

Barnes Foundation in Merion, PA from a New York Times article. There are 59 Matisses, 180 Renoirs and 68 Cézannes in the Barnes art collection. That fact alone is astounding! There are also many Rousseaus, Picassos, Modiglianis, De Chiricos and Van Goghs. If you haven't been to the Barnes Foundation, you are missing the best collection of Impressionist and Post Impressionist paintings in the world. There are a great number of rare masterpieces. I might have to order the CD-Rom from the Barnes Foundation website just to renew my memory of the place.

When I was young, we used to visit my grandparents in Merion, PA quite a bit. I never even realized that hiding behind one of the gates in a nearby neighborhood was the secret Barnes collection. That is until I went to college and one of my art history professors took us on a field trip to see the place. I was never the same again. It's the most spectacular art collection that anyone could ever lay eyes on. I went back over a decade later and was astounded again. It's still very private and mysterious and you have to call first and arrange an appointment, but anyone who truly loves painting should really make it a vacation destination.

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Beautiful Vintage Nude Girl

Félix-Jacques Antoine Moulin, Daguérotype coloré, 1851-1854
Here is a nice find by Internet Weekly !
(vintage nude photograph link at commons.wikimedia.org)

The Art of Amy Crehore

Cats in Art

Pompeii, Italy 1st century A.D. mosaic tile
Japanese watercolor 1850 of Sleeping Cat
1867 painting by Renoir, "Julie Manet with Cat"
Felix Vallotton 1896 "La Pareese", woodcut

I got these images here: Cats in Art (Cats in the House).
There are six galleries of cat images throughout art history. I can relate. Cats are cool.

The Art of Amy Crehore

French Postcard

The Art of Amy Crehore

"Little Pierrot"

Jeff MacNelly, 1948-2000

" Shoe" Comic by Jeff MacNelly

Jeff MacNelly, photo courtesy of ValueRich Magazine

I have been wanting to do a tribute to artist Jeff MacNelly for some time now. He was a 3-time Pulitzer Prize winning political cartoonist and creator of the comic strip, "Shoe".

When I was much younger and fresh out of college at V.C.U., I had a part-time waitress job at Eden's Restaurant in Richmond, VA. One of my customers was Jeff MacNelly, who walked across the street everyday to the restaurant from The Richmond Newsleader to have lunch with a friend or two. He always sat at the same table in my section and, even though I was a terrible waitress, he was my loyal customer. The day he won his second Pulitzer Prize, he ate lunch in my booth and I took a polaroid of him sitting there with the same grin on his face as in the photo above.

I remember that he invited me to see his office one day and I noticed that his book shelf was filled with art books (including the Society of Illustrators Annuals). He was kind enough to write me a recommendation for a grant at the VA Museum and he gave me extremely good advice: "Keep practicing your craft. That is what my father told me."

To this day, I will never forget those words. "Practice, practice, practice". And that is what I did. He also told me that there were not enough women political cartoonists and that I should think about becoming one. He was very humble and generous with his time. I was certain that I was bugging him the day I went to his office with my portfolio, but he really liked talking about his dad and painting.

I wish he was still alive today so that I could tell him, "Thank you". I kind of wish that I could show him my new work in "Blab!" and all of the other things I have done in the years following my waitress years. But, alas, Jeff died in the year 2000 of cancer at the very young age of 52 and I was shocked to hear the news.

Here is a 2005 article about Jeff:

"A Big Shoe to Fill"

And a little bio of Jeff from lambiek.net:

"Jeff MacNelly, the son of a publisher and portrait painter, created his first strip in 1969, while working as a political cartoonist for a weekly paper in Chapel Hill, NC. A year later, he relocated to The Richmond Newsleader in Virginia, and in 1972, his work was awarded with the first of three Pulitzer Prizes. In 1977, he started drawing the newspaper strip 'Shoe', named after the legendary Jim Shumaker, for whom Jeff used to work at the Chapel Hill Weekly."

Also, Wikipedia , www.macnelly.com, www.jeff-macnelly.com

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William Mortensen, Photographer

Interesting photographs by William Mortensen at

George Eastman House.

Thanks go to Femme Femme Femme for turning me onto him.

That's a new French blog that loves to post about me as well. They may have read about him at Bibi's Box or Art Nudes. Everyone loves the 1920's and surrealist-inspired things.

The Art of Amy Crehore

I received my Ryo Yoshida book, "Astral Doll", in the mail the other day. It does not disappoint. Mostly all photographs (B&W and color) with little text, Ryo Yoshida really knows how to bring out "soul" in the faces of his dolls and to convey emotion with the eyes. With roots in Hans Bellmer and an affinity for people like Morton Bartlett, Yoshida's work is strikingly beautiful. Some call these dolls beautifully creepy. Creepy is a popular term on the internet - Teenar (Girl Guitar) was also called creepy. These art dolls and mannequins are a little too "real" for some people, but they are fascinating. I love them. More books on this site:

Very Cool Things

The Art of Amy Crehore

John William Waterhouse 1849-1917

"Flora" 1890 by John William Waterhouse

I love the paintings of John William Waterhouse. This painting called "Flora" is so natural, relaxed, modern and heart-felt that it feels like he could have painted it yesterday. You can read about him here:

Art Renewal
I saw "Ulysses and the Sirens" when it travelled to the Portland Art Museum and I'll never forget it. It was quite large, very surreal and masterful. He handled his mythical subjects with the same grace as his portraits of young girls.

Thanks go to mardecortesbaja for the link to the wonderful Art Renewal site.

While you are looking at art, you might want to check out Lloyd's article about

BOUGUEREAU AND THE UBER-PHOTOGRAPH .

The Art of Amy Crehore

Seth and "read yourself RAW"

"Clyde Fans" by SETH
Page from "Clyde Fans" copyright SETH, artist
"It's a Good Life, if You Don't Weaken" by SETH

I was looking up comic artist Seth because I love his books and wanted to recommend him. Well, I found this site called "read yourself RAW" featuring Seth plus many more comic artists that I also love, such as Lynda Barry, R. Crumb, Peter Bagge, Charles Burns, Dan Clowes, Debbie Dreschler, Adrian Tomine, etc.
"Seth (1962- )is the pseudonym of Gregory Gallant, a Canadian obsessed with the past, not only his own childhood memories but also the early 20th century."
I love Seth's dry humor and drawing style and his attention to detail.
Also, check out: Drawn & Quarterly Books.

The Art of Amy Crehore

About Art Collecting

"I'm Losin' My Cones Over You" Copyright 2007 Amy Crehore, Blues Gals Series

There's an interesting essay today about art and art collecting at The Huffington Post by Raymond J. Learsy:

Art and Art Collecting in This Age of Existential Anxiety

The Art of Amy Crehore

Ukulele Love

I am recommending this revised and expanded edition of "The Ukulele, A Visual History" by Jim Beloff (Backbeat Books, S.F., CA 2003). It has the history of the uke, the players, the manufacturers and the story. There are tons of photos of cool and crazy-looking ukes to please the collector, plus many vintage graphics in a beautifully layed-out book.

Back Beat Books

Back Beat books has some interesting books on other musical subjects as well. And here's a great uke site: Ukulelia
The Art of Amy Crehore

Wurzeltod,etc.

I want to say Happy Belated Birthday to quirky and charming
Suzanne at Wurzeltod . If you haven't checked out her blog, do so now. She is very artsy and fun and keeps everyone up-to-date with art shows and happenings around the world. And she features Ray Caesar's art in her layout which is always a bonus.

The Art of Amy Crehore

My Boingboing Page on Google

"Pussycat Rag" by Amy Crehore copyright 2005

Click here for all of my Amy Crehore boingboing posts.

All on one page of google! That's pretty cool.

I have extended my FREE SHIPPING offer on all

"Little Pierrot" and "Monkey Love" prints until Feb 28, 2007.

Free postcards come with orders.

("Blues Gals" were just featured on boingboing, too!)
The Art of Amy Crehore

NEW:"Green Snake Stumble" by Amy Crehore

"Green Snake Stumble" copyright 2007 Amy Crehore (Blues Gals Series, oil on linen panel)

Click on image to enlarge.

Here is my newly re-worked Blues Gal painting called "Green Snake Stumble". I added a blue jay who is squawking at the cat who is playing with the snake who is making the girl stumble. I also added more layers of paint to the girl to give her more weight and I changed her face somewhat. Her hair is softer than it was. I just spent a few more days of work on this one because I wasn't satisfied.
The scenery reminds me of Yellowstone Park. I made the sky and water even bluer. I added more leaves to the trees. And now I am pretty satisfied.
The Art of Amy Crehore

Crehore Playing Cards 1802

Collection of Tom and Judy Dawson

My ancestor, Thomas Crehore of Boston, manufactured and designed some of the first American Playing Cards between 1802 and the mid-1840's. I think he had a unique illustration/graphic arts style. More here:

52 Plus Joker

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Folk Art Portrait of Little A.E. Crehore

Photo courtesy of Maine Antique Digest, from the article

"The Susan and Mark Laracy Sale" by Lita Solis-Cohen

(I wonder if this little girl is a relative of mine? I know some early Crehores lived in Milton, MA. If this portrait of little A.E. Crehore could talk, it would say,"I am worth $216,000".)

"This watercolor and ink on paper by John Ritto Penniman (1782-1841) of a young girl is labeled by the artist “A.E. Crehore AEt. 1 year & 6 mo.” She is wearing a yellow dress and standing in a landscape with her dog and the Charles River, the Boston State House, and the Park Street Church in the background. Penniman signed and dated it “J.R.P. Pinxit 1836.” The sitter lived in Milton, Massachusetts." read more article here

at Maine Antique Digest

The Art of Amy Crehore

More Paint-by-Numbers Fun!

YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!!
Click these links for more fun:
Paint By Numbers House on "Unusual Life Blog"
Virtual Tour of Paint By Numbers House

The Art of Amy Crehore

BoingBoing: "Pop Surrealist Luminaries"

I was thrilled by Mark Frauenfelder's recent boingboing post mentioning me:

Charity art auction on eBay

"There are two days left to bid on paintings from the Charity-By-Numbers art show curated by Gary Baseman. Biskup, Ryden, Baseman, Schorr, Crehore, and many other pop surrealist luminaries are featured in the show. The money goes to a good cause, The Alliance for Children's Rights. Link "

Mark Frauenfelder, link

The Ebay art auction for my Monkey Love piece ends Sat. February 17!!! See more Monkey Love paintings on my website:

The Art of Amy Crehore

P.S. Mark Frauenfelder will appear on "The Colbert Report" on March 6, 2007 (nofactzone.net)