Etchings as Illustrations 1922

I like these. They are illustrations by Stefan Eggeler for a 1922 edition of Gustav Meyrink's Walpurgisnacht. From the collection of Richard Sica.

Read more at A JOURNEY ROUND MY SKULL blog. Thanks, Will.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Virtual Museum of Creative Design (Spain)

My friend Valerie in Barcelona, who loves vintage illustrations and packaging design like I do, sent me this great link to a virtual museum the other day : LINK The two images above are from the 1930s (Spain). Gotta love the European clowns with the pointy hats. Bellhop outfits are rad, too.

Valerie has started her own flickr stream of images from Spain that she finds and scans herself. They are wonderful and unusual. Please have a look: Valeshel on flickr.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Two pierrots in a studio

Two pierrots in a studio
Originally uploaded by lovedaylemon

Cool Pop Music from 1960s Malaysia

Help Xeni's brother get to Malaysia to research and archive psychedelic '60s pop.

Boingboing LINK , kickstarter link

My Dirty Blond Banjo-uke (Crehore)

Click on image to enlarge. Original design by Amy Crehore.

This vintage banjo-uke still needs some varnish, tuners, tailpiece and strings. But, here's a direct scan of my original painting, because I couldn't wait to show you. (The scan has some glare, but you can get the idea.) It's called "Dirty Blond" and it's a Slingerland from the 1920s with birdseye maple veneer on the sides. It's in excellent shape, restored to a natural shine by the luthier. I will take slides when it's all done. Stay tuned....I also have some slides coming of two new canvases.

The Art of Amy Crehore

This uke is on boingboing.net!

(Huge thanks to A. Barrett of CA for the generous uke donation.)

See more of my ukes here: flickr

Plus, Tickler #2 Uke built from scratch.

Julie's New Boy Paintings

Self Portrait as Boy in Flight 2010, oil on canvas, 52 x 68 inches by Julie Heffernan

Julie Heffernan is painting herself as a boy now and I quite like them. Her works are ambitious and visionary. There's a nice sense of order to her dream-chaos. She's got the painting chops to pull off complicated imagery such as the one above - from her "Boy, Oh Boy" exhibit which opens April 29-June 5, 2010 at PPOW Gallery, 511 West 25th Street, Room 301, NYC. Here's a LINK to the gallery and a few more images.

The Art of Amy Crehore

This is Ska!

Rocket Boy

rocket boy
Originally uploaded by hastingsgraham

from hastingsgraham's
OUT OF THIS WORLD set on flickr

Anniversary of SF Earthquake 1906

f_sf1906eq_mktst3
Originally uploaded by ricksoloway

The San Francisco earthquake of 1906
April 18, 1906- anniversary today.
Set of images on flickr.
Thanks Ricksoloway.

Jan Svankmajer's Alice

I already blogged about the original Alice manuscript in the British Library and the first Alice film from 1903. John Cusack, guest-blogger on BoingBoing, recently blogged this wonderfully surreal clip of Alice by Czech animator Jan Svankmajer. Love it.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Vintage Images from the Circus

Spider Woman and friend.
Originally uploaded by DoubleM2

Most of these images are advertisements for circus and theatrical acts, primarily French, circa 1885-1925.
Thanks to DoubleM2 for an incredible collection
on flickr.

Seeing the End in Sight

Detail of not-quite finished painting by Amy Crehore (click to enlarge)

I've been playing around with my new camera. This is a quick macro close-up shot of just a portion of one my new paintings. It's a distorted photo, but the face on the larger figure is pretty sharp, so I like it. I am still touching up her hair, but basically this painting is done. I am now seeing the end in sight to a few new pieces of art which took me quite a while to paint. Hope to be blogging them in the near future. I think this one is called "The Angel at Gossamer Creek" ...if I don't change my mind.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Hand-lettered Gibson logo on UB-1

I took this close-up with my new, little digital camera. The Gibson

UB-1 banjo-uke that I have at home (above) has a logo on the headstock that is hand-lettered in what looks to be metallic gold enamel paint. This uke is probably from around 1926. Some earlier, higher grade models of the Gibson banjo uke have lettering made of pearl inlay (placed on a slant). Later models of this same uke have what appears to be "The Gibson" in a stenciled typeface which looks different than this typeface.

The L-1 Gibson guitars from this period have hand-lettered silver logos.

The thickness of the lettering varies on these instruments and there is no mistaking that a small brush and a steady hand did this work. I can just picture the artist sitting in the factory doing this particular job as I have done it myself on my own fine art ukes (link, Tickler link)

In the late 20s, Gibson also offered a few fully hand-painted models such as the Pointsettia Uke (recently on ebay) and a guitar with an Italian street scene painted on it.

I love the fonts and hand-lettering of the 1920s. And I love the early vintage instruments of Gibson.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Angel Zarraga, Painter of Nudes 1886-1946

Desnudo de Espalda con Caracol. 1926.

La femme et le pantin. 1909.

La bailarina desnuda. 1907.
Angel Zarraga was a sensitive Mexican painter in the classical tradition. His symbolist compositions were exhibited all over Europe and, later, in New York. He lived in France for a long time, but returned to his homeland in 1941 after an economic downturn in the art market. LINK, LINK
I like these nudes. Very interesting. He liked Giotto and so do I.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Venus Planet of the Year

Venus Planet of the Year
Originally uploaded by Valeshel

Image of the day

"I Got Your Ice Cold NuGrape" performed by the Hokum Scorchers

Okay, this song is a jingle written for a brand of soda that came out in 1921 called NuGrape. The Hokum Scorchers are both singing with Lou playing the National guitar (the NuGrape Twins did the original version). Lou and I recorded this in 1995 for our "Yanna's Donut" tape.

Have a listen and find out "what makes your lips go flippity-floppa" in 1926: Hokum Scorchers

(follow this link and scroll down for music player)

The Art of Amy Crehore

Happy Easter!

This is the most perfect "Easter chick" Via wackystuff on flickr.

I've been super busy finishing up a couple of paintings and a couple of painted instruments.

I have a new camera and some ideas, so stay tuned. Happy Easter weekend to everyone.

Remember, you can carve your own niche just like this girl in the egg.

The Art of Amy Crehore

April Fools French Postcards

April Fools
Originally uploaded by wackystuff

wackystuff has some great
vintage images on flickr.
Some French fish.

WACKYSTUFF

New Comic Art by John Martz

Illustration Copyright John Martz

Here is a page from a mini-comic by John Martz called "It's Snowing Outside...We Should Go For a Walk". This humorous little gem was just nominated for Best Emerging Talent, 2010 Doug Wright Awards. It's temporarily sold out, but John will have some copies at MoCCA (April 10, and 11) and then he'll restock it. You can read it online here. I got my copy this week and it's wonderful. There's no doubt why it was nominated- the elegant simplicity of it's snowy design and it's perfect little story. I hope it wins, but meanwhile he has another little treat in his shop (top photo): "Heaven All Day", an even more ambitious comic without words. You can read it and, also, buy it: here and here.
He also has art prints for sale on his newly designed website:
John Martz
What is it about Canada that breeds great comic artists, writers, musicians. The snow?

The Art of Amy Crehore

New Book by Mark Frauenfelder- "Made by Hand"

"Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World" (Hardcover) by Mark Frauenfelder is available for pre-order at Amazon and elsewhere. I'm looking forward to this! Here's a link to more info about the book: LINK

The Jungle Nymph

A friend sent one of these to the house the other day.

Only it was a dried specimen under glass (aka heteropteryx dilatata female).

Pretty amazing. Video courtesy of gallan30 (Bug Boy).

My Green Duco Vintage Ukulele

Nip-Cat Design for headstock of vintage green duco ukulele 1920's, copyright Amy Crehore

Back of my green duco-finish uke from the late 1920s. Click to enlarge.
There's a beautiful green duco-finish vintage ukulele in my collection that I am getting ready to enhance. I won't touch the back and sides, but I have something in mind for the headstock and part of the front. Here's my pencil sketch for the headstock design. I call it my "Nip-Cat" uke. I scanned the back of the actual uke on my scanner bed. You can see the gray and green crystallized finish. This baby was found in it's original Montgomery Ward mail order box and had never been played.
More of my hand-painted fine art ukes can be found here , here and here. Some are vintage and some are built from scratch. My Dreamgirl's gallery show in L.A. last year featured 13 of them including another duco (a black one) called The Demon.

The Art of Amy Crehore

My Mobile site

People and Their Houses

Photo copyright lovedaylemon

Lovedaylemon has the most beautiful vintage set on flickr of people standing in front of their houses (such as the gothic victorian house above).
Us Outside Our House

(flickr)

A Grandfather's Trip Around the World, 1926

click on image to enlarge (detail of larger photo, copyright Mark Lowrie)

Hawaii, 1927. One of the girls is playing a pineapple uke. This photo looks as fresh as if it were taken yesterday. And, in a way, it is that fresh. My good friend, photographer Mark Lowrie from L.A., recently found a treasure box of negatives of his grandfather's trip around the world. His grandfather's name was Robert Henry Lowrie and they called him "Bulldog". He was an engineering teacher in Honolulu. When he got divorced in 1926, he decided to take a trip around the world. Mark had read his grandfather's journal many times, but he didn't realize there were photos, too. The contents of the box were so amazing, that Mark decided to put together a book:

"This book is a combination of his day to day journal entries and recently discovered photographs of the journey. Following the trade routes by ship around the globe, there are period photos of Japan, China, the Philippines, Ceylon, the Mid East, Europe, and a road trip across the United States. He flies across the English Channel, (the year before Lindy crosses the Atlantic), meets the President at the White House and the Pope at the Vatican (refusing to kiss his ring)."

How cool is that? Here's the link to Mark's book:

"The Voyage of 'Bulldog' Lowrie"

The Art of Amy Crehore

Gus Cannon,100 years old, playing banjo

thanks, suprovalco — A mini-documentary with a short clip of Gus Cannon playing ragtime banjo- "Walk Right In"- at age 100! He had a jug band called Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers in the 20's and 30's. Read more about his career and life: LINK

New Crehore Artwork

Above is a quick (distorted) scan of a recently painted headstock. I tried to scan the painted banjo head, but it didn't work. This banjo-uke is finished except for the varnish, tuners, etc. When done, I will take complete photos. I am drawing up designs for more ukes, plus working on some complicated canvases at the moment. More often than not, art takes longer than you would imagine. I experience many ups and downs during the process, especially when I'm charting new territory for myself. It can be frustrating and exhilarating...from one day to the next. Just like the weather.

The Art of Amy Crehore

The Very First "Wizard of Oz" Book 1900

The cowardly lion had glasses and a bow in his hair and was featured on the cover of the very first edition of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum. This was the year 1900. W. W. Denslow was the illustrator. Dig those flying monkeys. They don't seem scary at all.

"W. W. Denslow's original artwork consists of black-and-white line drawings, but the illustrations were printed in color. Some appear in full color and others in only one. Each locale of the story has its own color scheme: Kansas is gray; East, blue; West, yellow; South, red; the Emerald City, green; and, the areas between sections, brown. Because their publisher was concerned about the expense of producing the book, Baum and Denslow paid the cost of including the full-color plates." Read more about the author and illustrator at the Library of Congress exhibit website. Looks like they may have had a little falling out later on.

LINK

Here's more about The Cowardly Lion character (wikipedia).

I painted a few lions myself for my solo show in Los Angeles last year.

I have to say, they are fun to paint and, in our imaginations, they make wonderful, complex characters. Maybe it was the Wizard of Oz which made me think lions might be fun to lounge on and hang out with. (?!)
The Art of Amy Crehore

Highlights from 1903 film, "Alice in Wonderland"

First-ever Alice film. Thanks, BFI films.

There is also a longer version of this on youtube.

"Nature Boy" Sung by Nat King Cole

One of my all-time favs.

Original "Alice" Manuscript - None Compares!

Lewis Carroll's art Copyright © The British Library Board
Copyright © The British Library Board

Copyright © The British Library Board British Library, Add. MS 46700 - all above images: Copyright © The British Library Board

What could be more beautiful than the original manuscript? This is the original version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, the pen-name of Charles Dodgson, an Oxford mathematician. It is called "Alice's Adventures Underground" and it is a treasure of the British Library. The book is in their online gallery and you can look at each hand-written, hand-drawn page (all 91 pages). Here is the link:

British Library Online Gallery-Virtual Book .
Fascinating and original!

The Art of Amy Crehore

Danish Siblings

siblings
Originally uploaded by svenderik

The pointy hat appeals to me.:)

Poorly Framed Photo Makes Great Art

Poorly Framed
Originally uploaded by stevechasmar

That's exactly why I like this.
The head is cut off and the pose
is a hoot. I used to compose my own
art photos cutting off the tops of heads
..but, never the entire head. Wonder why I
never thought of that?

My Serge Sketch

Here's my sketch of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin. I drew this for the Draw Serge blog.

Thanks, Jonathan Edwards.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Famous Paintings Recreated in Music Video

70 Million by Hold Your Horses ! from L'Ogre on Vimeo.

Engraved Pearl Inlay

Detail of fingerboard on John C. Haynes 1895 banjo -made for William E. Stratton

I love this design.

From the amazing book,

"America's Instrument- The Banjo in the Nineteenth Century" by Gura and Bollman

Crehore Piano at auction this week

This is interesting.There are a few bass viols and a piano made by Benjamin Crehore, an ancestor of mine, in The Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Up for auction this week is another piano that was part of the Boston Library collection (detail shown above). Partial description:

Federal Mahogany Inlaid Benjamin Crehore Piano, Milton, Massachusetts, c. 1800, ht. 34 3/4, wd. 84, dp. 23 in. Note: Benjamin Crehore (1754-1831) was born in Milton, Massachusetts, and was the first instrument maker in New England to build pianos. Lot 381

LINK to more photos and description. View lots: American Furniture & Decorative Arts - Boston - March 7 2010 11:00 AM

Previews all week at Skinner Skinner, 63 Park Plaza, Boston, MA

Auction time: March 7, 2010 11 AM Auction #2494

News for antique instrument lovers in NYC: The André Mertens Galleries for Musical Instruments reopened yesterday at Metropolitan Museum after an eight-month hiatus. Showcasing more than 230 works of art. LINK
A daylong exploration of early music on Saturday, March 13, 2010—Early Music Exposed—at the Metropolitan Museum will celebrate the reopening of the galleries.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Trompe l'oeil Banjo Uke

Uke Design Drawings copyright Amy Crehore 2010
Here's the sketch for the head and headstock of the antique Slingerland birds-eye maple banjo uke (1920s) that I am currently painting. This one is a lot like my black tuxedo uke, but it is blond-color. I have created an original design (shown above) where the little pierrot is popping through the head. Looks a little bit like trompe l'oeil. I am having fun painting it. I will show you photos of the finished ukulele when I'm done, so stay tuned.

These vintage ukes are like "found objects" to me - transformed into fine art objects. Each instrument is lovingly restored to playability by my luthier (I wouldn't have it any other way). This one is in excellent shape. The banjo heads, for me, are just like painting on stretched canvas -complete with their metal and wooden frames. Each one is different and unique. For more info on this hot little jazz age instrument- Wikipedia: Banjolele or Banjo Ukes.

I am also currently working on some regular canvases and a letterpress print project. Although I play vintage music now and again, my main concentration is painting. I feel like my art should reflect everything that I am interested in.

If you'd like a Banjo Gal print for $40, be sure to order by midnight March 3, PST.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Bessie Smith Singing on Film (1929)

Bessie Smith - St. Louis Blues (1929) Thanks Robert Dominkovic

Bessie Smith bio

Late 1800s, Siblings, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Siblings, Star Gallery, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Originally uploaded by mrwaterslide

Photo of the Day

Amy Crehore's "Banjo Gal" Print Offer, Limited-Time Only $40

"Banjo Gal" Print by Amy Crehore

This image is from my AI award-winning "Little Pierrot" series. The original painting was exhibited in a Santa Monica, CA gallery in 2006 along with 3 other "Little Pierrots" (all of them sold).

I am offering limited edition, giclee prints of the finest quality for collectors. Each print comes in an archival sleeve with a certificate of authenticity and postcards (while they last). Individually hand-signed and numbered by me (Amy Crehore). This is a 7" square image (exactly as shown), centered on 10" x 10" Hahnemuhle acid-free photorag 308gsm white paper. Printed on the finest printer available with superior ultrachrome inks at Sterling Editions. Edition of 250.

Order a "Banjo Gal" print between now and March 3rd, midnight PST

Only pay $40. total (shipping/handling are included), one per person.

Here's the LINK

(Original price was $79., plus shipping)

The Art of Amy Crehore

To view entire series of "Little Pierrots"originals: LINK

Old Movie Titles

"Them!" (1954) Gordon Douglas
Artist Lou Brooks has selected some nice old stills of Hollywood movie titles and blogged about them on his blog.
More of them at: The Movie Titles Stills Collection

Old Lady Lent

My friend Valerie (who lives in Barcelona) sent me these interesting images, along with this explanation: '"La Vella Quaresma" (Old Lady Lent) is a Catalan tradition. During Carnival week she fights with the King of Carnival (Carnestoltes) and finally wins, so his rule of feasting, and wild celebrations is over and is replaced by order, fasting and calm. She carries two salt codfish and is in charge of making sure children eat fish not meat during the seven weeks of Lent. She has seven legs, one for each week. The tradition was to hang her picture in the house with a sweet attached to each leg, at the end of each week the children pulled off a sweet (and a leg). On the Island of Mallorca, (top illustration) they used to saw an effigy of her in half in a public square midway through Lent and children were threatened that the Sawed Lady would come to take them away if they ate meat!'

The Art of Amy Crehore

Matthew J Richards Plays His Banjo Ukes

I love this little video where Matthew compares the sounds of 4 different vintage banjo ukes in his collection. Such a lovely instrument! Thanks Matthew!