My portrait of Jessica Watson - The Art of Doing

Jessica Watson by Amy Crehore 2013, oil on linen, 8" x 10"

 

I created this portrait of the amazing Jessica Watson for Camille Sweeney and Josh Gosfield's blog dedicated to their brand new book The Art of Doing: How Superachievers Do What They Do and How They Do It So Well. There are many wonderful interviews in this book, including one with friend Mark Frauenfelder of Boing Boing .

At the age of 16, Jessica Watson became the youngest person to sail solo around the world.

The interview with her in the book is quite fascinating.

The authors share some of it today on their blog, have a look: 

LINK .

You can buy the book on amazon here.

 

 

The Art of Amy Crehore

Amy Crehore Originals

 Homage to the King of Cats, 2001, 18" x 22", oil on linen ©Amy Crehore SOLD

 "Checkers", 2003, 18" x 22", oil on linen ©Amy Crehore SOLD

 "Feed the Bear Blues" 2007 preliminary drawing, pencil on 8 1/2" x 11" paper ©Amy Crehore SOLD

 "Black Cat Tease", 2005  oil on paper, image 6 1/2" circle © Amy Crehore SOLD

"Geyser" Camp Uke, 2009, oil painting (on Lyon & Healy antique 1920s) ©Amy Crehore SOLD

The Art of Amy Crehore

Here are some originals of mine that have recently found new homes with collectors in NYC, L.A., Austin, etc.

The top two fine art paintings were award winners in national competitions, Communication Arts Magazine and the American Illustration annual. The "Homage" painting was also exhibited in NYC some years ago at the Museum of American Illustration in a show called "Dreams". The antique ukulele was part of my "Dreamgirls and Ukes" show in Los Angeles. The pencil drawing was a preliminary sketch for a painting that was shown in a Brooklyn, NY gallery a few years back (the painting is still available). The circle painting is one of my "Little Pierrot" series (10 Little Pierrots were selected winners in the American Illustration annual some years ago and 4 were shown in a Santa Monica gallery).

 For more information visit my website.

Walt Kuhn and Guy Pene du Bois

The painter Walt Kuhn (above) was actually one of the organizers of the 1913 Armory show in NYC as a member of the Association of American Painters and Sculptors. Here's a link to Kuhn's records.

This is Walt Kuhn's gorgeous "American Beauty" painting, 1934. It is in the collection of the Chrysler Museum (Norfolk, VA). LINK

It is one of the many portraits of performers that Walt Kuhn painted. More images here.

 

An artist named Guy Pene du Bois was included in the 1913 Armory show along with 299 others.

Below are some of his works (not necessarily in the Armory show, just works that I like). Mysterious and deceptively simple compositions.

Read about Guy Pene du Bois 

More images here.

 

The Art of Amy Crehore

!00th Anniversary of Groundbreaking Armory Show 1913

It is the 1913 Armory Show's 100th anniversary. You can find the list of artists here .

And, oh, what a list it is! 300 artists introduced NYC to "modern art".

Read about the history of this show here.
See a cool map of layout of building and links explaining the art of 1913 Armory show.

 

The Art of Amy Crehore

What am I working on?

I'm drawing with very small brushes using waterproof, fadeproof ink right now.

Just having fun.

Here's a sketchbook example that I drew yesterday. Letting the ideas flow and learning new techniques by practicing.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Inspired Poetry- A post for Valentines Day

(Detail of a painting by the talented and lovely Lang Leav)

 I can't think of a better way to spend Valentines Day than to sit around eating chocolates and reading the wonderful poetry of Lang Leav and Michael Faudet .

Painting of the Day by Otto Dix

 

Self-portrait by Otto Dix 1912. He sports a bowl haircut and corduroy jacket. He is holding a pink carnation. The hand and flower are painted with delicacy, but he gave himself an intense stare. Nice contrast. (Thanks, Benjamin Phillips)

Album Cover by Dali for Jackie Gleason

 

Wow. Dali created this cover art in 1955 for Jackie Gleason's album Lonesome Echo.

(Thanks, Decaying Hollywood Mansions, FB)

Picture of the Day

Alert! A wild, vintage double entendre, hokum banana image:

Cousin Cora's Corp of Coy Chorines and Curious Cronies

(Thanks to Mark Dylan Sieber's facebook)

Latest Courbet News: The Head Was Cut Off

I guess the big art news today is that someone found a painted head in an antique shop that was cut off of the "The Origin of the World" painting by Gustave Courbet, 1866. Of course, the fellow only paid about 1,200 pounds for this head and it is supposedly worth 35 million pounds.

(LINK photo Philippe Petit)

Read full story in the Telegraph.

See the NSFW masterpiece that most people are familiar with (without the head)
HERE: wikipedia 

Cropping made it so dynamic.

Here's the original sketch by Courbet (link):

 

New Cat Figurine for Monopoly Game

Exciting new cat monopoly game piece! Read story at HUH magazine.

The Hokum Scorchers Perform "Stamps Blues"

This was inspired by the Tony Hollins 1941 version of the song. Lou and I recorded this in 1995. I'm playing the washboard and Lou is playing a vintage National guitar.

Original Paintings by Amy Crehore

Although many of my original paintings have already sold, I still have some wonderful original works available in my inventory for collectors, such as the ones shown below. These were all previously exhibited in gallery shows in Brooklyn and NYC (Ad Hoc Gallery, Last Rites) or Los Angeles (Corey Helford, Thinkspace, Robert Berman Gallery) or The Shore Institute of Contemporary Art (NJ). All of these are oils on stretched linen or linen panels. Here are some choice pieces that represent some of my best work. Various sizes.
All images ©Amy Crehore

The Art of Amy Crehore

 Snake Tamer's Ditty

 Weed Smoker's Dream

 A Moonlit Ride

Deja Vu Waltz

 Song of the Sea

 Hokum Hallelujah

 Song of the Wind

Please Don't Bug Me Blues

 The Art of Amy Crehore 

 Second Fiddle Infatuation

 Feed the Bear Blues

Lolita #2

 The Art of Amy Crehore 
There are 3 sections of fine art paintings on my website currently.
I also have preliminary drawings,
one-of-a-kind painted antique ukes, limited edition prints and t-shirts.
More things to be added and more things to show you...
stay tuned.
Contact: amy@amycrehore.com
All images ©Amy Crehore

Dreamgirls on Ice with Ukes

Of course I have to share this one. It's a great shot from 1923 of "dreamgirls" dancing on ice with ukuleles, including a banjo uke. (Thanks, Mark Heller's facebook.)

 

The Art of Amy Crehore

(Dreamgirls and Ukes)

Disappearing Video



This is exactly what the weather has been like where I live (in the Willamette Valley of Oregon) for the last two weeks. Only it's more of a freezing fog. David Horvitz captures the essence of fog in his beautiful Disappearing Video.

Happy Birthday, Manet!

 The Plum by Manet

Manet died at the young age of 51 from complications of syphilis. 

They had to amputate his foot. 

That's a sad ending for a beautiful genius who gave much to modern art.

350 William Blake Etchings Found

Hundreds of William Blake's commercially designed etchings were hiding in the University of Manchester's  Library. After two years of searching, students (under the guidance of an art historian named Colin Trodd) found 350 of them. Here are a few examples and I love these so much.
William Blake, artist and poet- born 1757-died 1827.
I am newly inspired.
LINK


The Art of Amy Crehore

Happy Birthday, Eartha Kitt

Did you know she had a Spanish album? Here's a sample.
(Eartha Kitt born Jan 17, 1927, died in 2008)
My friend, artist Carlos Lara, pointed out to me that she sings in perfect Spanish.

Photo of the Day: 1920s beach photograph

Beach photograph of a photographer, woman and Felix the Cat puppet, a photo by National Media Museum on Flickr.

Photographer, woman and Felix the Cat puppet

My Painting for Garrison Keillor's article

Nostagia Man painting by Amy Crehore 1996 9 1/2" x 10 1/2"

Over the course of my career, I painted many illustrations for top American magazines. My illustration for Garrison Keillor's 1996 article for the New York Times Magazine called "The Future of Nostalgia" now accompanies a brand new article published today by Matt Novak on Smithsonian Magazine's blog PALEOFUTURE. 

Read the article here: Garrison Keillor's 1996 Predictions for the Future of Media.

Shown above, the surreal oil painting I did in 1996 for the original article in the New York Times Magazine. It certainly was fun illustrating something that Garrison Keillor wrote.

I'm calling it "Nostalgia Man".

The Art of Amy Crehore

P.S. The many magazine (and book) illustrations that I did over the years are not currently on my website. I am still organizing them and I hope to add them in a special section sometime in the future. You will, however, find many other paintings on my site, such as the fine art works in my previous blog post. (Follow link above)

2012 Paintings by Amy Crehore

 Blue Mirror, oil on linen, 16" x 16" by Amy Crehore © 2012

 Rose Quarry, oil on linen, 12" x 14" by Amy Crehore © 2012

 Basker's Cove, oil on linen, 18" x 24" by Amy Crehore © 2012

Girl With A Fig Leaf Parasol, 16" x 20", oil on linen by Amy Crehore © 2012

The Art of Amy Crehore

Stu Mead and Dorothea Tanning exhibits

Ape-Girl-Artist painting by Stu Mead 2012

 Birthday drawing by Dorothea Tanning 1976

 There are a couple of events happening in California tomorrow (Sat. Jan 12th, 2013) that I would not mind going to. The first is a Stu Mead exhibit at Hyaena Gallery (1928 West Olive, Burbank, CA). The opening party is from 8 pm til midnight. What fun! I can't go because I live up in Oregon, but I would if I could. Stu Mead lives and works in Berlin, Germany. His solo show will be up until January 31st, 2013.  I just ordered his new book Fentasia.
The second event is a scholarly one called A Dorothea Tanning Round Table Discussion from 2pm - 3:30 pm at Gallery Wendi Norris (161 Jessie Street San Francisco, CA). The gallery is currently having a Dorothea Tanning exhibit: Unknown, But Knowable States (Jan 10- March 12th). Dorothea Tanning, surrealist painter, lived to be 101 years old. She passed away about a year ago. I like this drawing she did called "Birthday" (same title as one of her books).

The Art of Amy Crehore

What Am I Reading?

I received these two books in the mail from Amazon yesterday.

GOYA by Robert Hughes and Los Caprichos, Goya's etchings (a Dover book). 

The actual Robert Hughes book was cheaper than the kindle version. 

A beautiful book it is, with illustrations throughout.

 This will be a good excuse to shut off the television and the computer at night. 

I miss Robert Hughes and I know these two books about Goya will inspire me. 

The Art of Amy Crehore

P.S. As you can see, Little Hokum Rag looks totally different now! My list of blog links disappeared and I will try and get them back. I also lost my feedburner counter which showed that I had almost 13,000 readers. I do think that you will find this blog easier to read and to navigate. The archives are still intact, so all is well....I hope you will continue to follow my future posts and read the old ones as well. Thanks! Amy

New look for Little Hokum Rag ...

Little Hokum Rag is way overdue for a face lift. This morning, I could not upload any photos to this blog from internet explorer (due to a problem that blogger is having) and then I noticed that the flickr badge was not displaying properly when using firefox. It was covering up my profile information.

So, I have decided to finally update my template and get a brand new look for this blog. Hopefully, when it is done, everything will work properly with all browsers.

Please stay tuned...I am not going anywhere....and what you are seeing now is NOT the final version.

Love, Amy

http://amycrehore.com

 

 

Lucky 13

 

Bring it on! Happy 2013!

(Headstock of one of my painted ukes from my L.A. show 2009)

 

The Art of Amy Crehore