Mr. Funny (PW Long) 2011

Mr. Funny (PW Long)
Acrylic and house paint on found wood
48" x 24"

So in my music pantheon, none are much higher than the sporadic, nomadic, elusive, and intense Preston W. Long of such awesomeness as Mule (the truest bluest hillbilly punk that there ever was) and PW Long's Reelfoot (same bombast, a little less piss, little more soul.) Mr. Long's solo stuff of late has been freakin' amazing as well...Remembered, awesome album, seriously, I cannot paint and have a few frosty ones with while playin' without a little choke up and a bit of tears...damn powerful. Anyway, I saw this guy play at the High Five, and it was liking watching a legend make a holy din miracle before a chosen few...damn amazing.
So this is it the young and less young...still intense perhaps even more focused now.
"You could put your wishin' in one hand and shit in the other and to see which one fills up first"...wisdom my friends

Viva La Revolucion (El Vez) 2011

"Viva La Revolucion" ( El Vez)
48" x 42"
acrylic and house paint on found wood

This is one of my favorite pieces so far this year. First large piece I have done in a while. El Vez is billed as the Mexican Elvis, which he is, but he also so much more...listening to one of his albums is like watching the Simpsons (kinda). Its a lot more enjoyable if you are musically learned...El Vez is like a pop culture, pop music rock'n'roll history crash course. Honestly none of this does him or his art justice, just check it out!! Viva la Viva!!

Dirty Doctor Galapagos (2011)

"Dirty Doctor Galapagos"
25" x 24.5"
acrylic and house paint on found wood

Roughly based on Philly band, Man Man. I love the sickly green the yellow turned on the old wood...sweet eats!

Fun and Loose: Thee Billy Childish and "Skip" Spence (2011)

"Oar" (Alexander "Skip" Spence
acrylic and house paint on found wood
12" x 14.5"

"Thee Wild Billy Childish"
acrylic and house paint on found wood
16" x 16.5"

So I have really been diggin' the portraiture of Barry McGee lately. His use of line is gorgeous and jaw-dropping. Line is the fundamental element of all things art, so I tell my Kindergartners. I have even been doing mini-portraits on old liquor bottles. Of course they are totally gutbucket and raw, not as beautifully polished as Mr. McGee's. Oh well, I do however, love getting back to just line and a few colors. These pieces are fun and relaxing.
Thee Wild Billy Childish has been an idol of mine for quite some time. The dude makes killer punk-blues-folk-calypso sounds, paints and makes art in general, he's a writer, a producer, a publisher, and all around renaissance man with a penchant for anarchy...love'm.
Alexander "Skip" Spence was a casualty of drug culture in the 60's and never quite recovered after a stay in mental hospital...a wild story involving a fire axe and possible black magic and a lot of drugs, but in a moment of sheer genius and lucidity, he crafted one of thee greatest albums ever, by himself and a producer...Oar. Check it out, if you haven't.

Mama, Where You At? (Mayeus LaFleur) 2011

"Mama, Where You At?" (Mayeus LaFleur)
ink and acrylic and found wood on found wood

LaFleur's story is a brief one and a sad one. He was abandoned by his mother while he was an infant, raised by his father til his was a toddler, and then given to an uncle when his father could no longer raise a child and make a living. His uncle taught him to play accordion, and he quickly became one of the finest musicians around Louisina. So good in fact, one of the greatest fiddlers of the time, Leo Soileau, made him his partner. Together in 1928, they recorded one of the first Cajun records. On the day Mayeus got paid, he said he was going to use the money to find his mother.
Coming home from a gig, Mayeus stopped at a friend's ( a liquor bootlegger)house for a drink, when a man came up and started a quarrel with the bootlegger over a truck and broken porch. The man started shooting and shot the bootlegger and Mayeus ran to his friend's side to get him to safety and took a bullet to the heart and died instantly. He never had the chance to hear his own record. Told you it was a sad one.

Iron Leg (Mickey and the Soul Generation) 2011

"Iron Leg" (Mickey Foster and the Soul Generation)
Ink, acrylic, pop can bottoms, and found wood on serving tray and cookie sheet

Mickey and Soul Generation were one of thee first albums that got me into old school funk and soul. I was a long time fan of the organ groove/soul jazz/ Dr. Smith/Jimmy Smith/and of course Booker T. thing, but this was something new and fresh. It had those bubblin' organ grooves, but was served with a side of grit and looseness...killer stuff!
I wanted to do this painting on a old muffin tin, but the thrift stores were fresh out, so I made my own out of an old cookie sheet and pop can bottoms. Mickey is painted on a very fancy mini-serving tray. This is one of those pieces done during paint night, where only non-project oriented pieces can be worked on...kinda like the old days at Kent, with "passion night" as we called it. This one's for you Doug and Jerry!

Hot Bat/ Phill-Ay-Oh-Soul (Honus Honus) 2011

Hot Bat/ Phill-Ay-Oh-Soul
26" x 31"
All kinds of materials on cardboard and found wood

One helluva nice guy from a helluva nice band...Honus Honus, one of many hairy dudes fronting the white clad junkyard art damaged Philly doo-wop band, Man Man. Catch these guys live if you can, you will not be disappointed!

Trouble Weighs A Ton ("Grocery Store" Dan Auerbach) 2011

"Trouble Weighs a Ton"
ink, acrylic, found paper, found objects on found wood
30" x 5.5" x 29"

This here goes out to Daniel Tiberius Schmidt and Ty"rone" Debvoise(?)...good ol' everyman Dan Auerbach of the infamous Black Keys. Now Mr. Auerbach probably doesn't know about his blues moniker, "Grocery Store", but there is a story behind those words, and it isn't really even a good story, but...Dan Schmidt was shopping for groceries in Akron and saw a guy who looked like Dan Auerbach also shopping for groceries. So Dan Schmidt casually asked Dan Auerbach if indeed he was Dan Auerbach and Dan Auerbach said indeed. Dan Schmidt being a very respectable and respectful person, left it at that and let the man shop for groceries in peace.
Anyway, it got me thinking that even wicked 6 string shredders, like Dan Auerbach, need to shop for groceries too...a kinda equalizer of sorts...anyway, everyman "Grocery Store" Dan Auerbach. (And the moniker is helpful when I am telling other people the story so they do not get the two Dans confused.)

The Denver Gentleman (David Eugene Edwards ) Nov. 2010

David Eugene Edwards, I am not going to write a lot about this man, other than he is very pinnacle of passion when it comes to his faith, performing, and his craft. I have the utmost respect for this gentleman. I had heard he is a self-taught musician and plucked his first banjo from someone's garbage can...and the rest is history. Check out 16 HorsePower and the Woven Hand, two powerful tomes to this man's legacy!

Ink, acrylics, found objects, found wood on found wood

Banjo (November 2010)

Something new and something fun!! I had been listening to a lot of old-timey music and the sweet tunes of Banjo Outlaw Demi-God, Charlie Poole. This baby is life size and fame of all found objects: two hubcaps, fence wood, garden wire, twine, and curtain brackets.

Lust for Life (Iggy Pop) 2010

The Rockin' Iguana, godfather of punk, Iggy Pop from his fantastic album Lust for Life (one of my top 100 albums I ever heard). Nice quick little piece: ink, acrylic, and pine cone pieces for teeth on found wood...worth a million in prizes!!!

Keep Cool: The Gypsy (Reinhardt) 2010

The King of Cool, The King of Gypsy Swing...Django Reinhardt! Ink and acrylic on found wood, heavy man. Django is pretty damn amazing. The dude lost the use of all but two fingers on right hand due to a fire and still is one of the greatest guitarists ever, jazz or other wise. I found a sweet recording he made toward the end of his life, where he recorded with some hip young modern jazz cats and it freakin' swings, all angular and raw with his finesse intact...killer, unexpected from Djanago!

Masterpieces of the Future (Omar Souleyman, 2010)

Oh yeah, my homage to Syrian Pop Sensation burnin' up the airwaves, Mr. Omar Souleyman. Omar has been creating a wicked blend of traditional Arabic, Persian, and Syrian music with hardcore electronics...he is the voice to some amazing poetry..."I will dig your grave with my bare hands, I will bury you in my chest..." wow, some heavy stuff here!!! Cool stuff and he has made over 500 albums since '94 and the fine folks at Sublime Frequencies have released three wicked compilations of Mr. Souleyman's pure intensity in the last few years. (They have put out plenty of other far out releases, that need to be heard to be believed!)
Ink and acrylic on found metal, found wood, and found tape recorder with plastic flowers

Hoodoo'd Blues (Lightnin' Slim, 2010)

On a a roll here!!! Thee wickedest swampiest bluesiest gueetar slinger ever there was...Lightnin' Slim. His album Rooster Blues is all that and a bag a chips and an ice cold sixer on a humid day (like today)...ink, acrylic, found, pine cone pieces for fingernails on found wood...this one is headed for the new cajun digs in Gahanna, J. GUMBO'S.

Soul Rebel (Bob Marley, 2010)

It has been a couple of crazy weeks, but finally we are getting some art up. This was a commission for the greatest bartender at Chile Verde Cafe, Maggie T. Good Ol' Bob Marley, never outta fashion, he will forever be the man...24" x 24" ink, acrylic, found wood, and pine pieces for teeth on wood (a cool little idea I picked up from folk artist Richard Burnside)

Anywhere the Sun Shines (Joe) 2010

Joe from the rockin' newly reunioned Flower Travellin' Band: old school Japanese blues/psyche/ hard rock/ proto-metal sweetness!
Ink and acrylic on found wood...greatest pair of skinny jeans I have ever painted!

Devil Blues (James 'Son' Thomas) 2010

So, this guy is kinda a holy grail in my own particular niche of geekdom...he was a blues musician who also made some wicked folk art and had a mighty interesting life story. James 'Son' Thomas was a grave diggin' skull scultpin' geetar playin' dude from Mississippi. Here is an awesome interview with Mr. Thomas done in '81. Wicked Wicked Wicked...anyway this man has already been the basis of a painting and sculpture and the second painting is on its way!!!

This here painting is on found wood and done with acrylic and ink, found rope, and homemade clay skulls with foil eyes. (It is as if this wood was condition for this image)

Mr. Tambourine Man (Big Chief Monk Boudreaux) 2010

Now this is thee big chief, I believe, one of two "thee big chiefs" of the Mardi Gras Indians of New Orleans. Big Chief Boudreaux has been leading the Golden Eagle Tribe for nearly a decade after a long run in the Wild Magnolias, chiefed up by Big Chief Bo Dollis...anyway The Mardi Gras Indians are a very wicked culture! This here is the Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, ink, acrylic, feathers, jar lid, poker chips, and pie pans on a found wooden ironing board.

The Fonky Fessa (Professor Longhair) 2010

The one and only Big Chief, the Professor of Piano Hisself...Professor Longhair. The genius behind and beyond the keys bridging the old and new, the funky and exotic...ink, acrylic, bottle caps, and found wood on found wood.

My Time Outside the Womb (Titus Andronicus) 2010

Titus Andronicus: a nasty little play from Shakespeare and a nasty little band from New Jersey. I saw these guys in a tiny little hole in the wall and it rocked: kinda like the Pogues and Bruce Springsteen jamming at an east coast hardcore show...good stuff, anyway here is the lead singer/songwriter of the group...Titus does have a very wicked beard! Ink and acrylic on found wood.