Sunday, September 14, 2008

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

Friday, September 12, 2008

"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
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.

Vintage Monkey Cartoons

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

The Art of Amy Crehore

Thursday, September 11, 2008

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.
The Art of Amy Crehore

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

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!

Sunday, September 07, 2008

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