Hobo Blues\Always Behind the Eightball (Seasick Steve) 2011

Hobo Blues/ Always Behind the Eightball
49" x 51"
acrylic, house paint and found objects on found wood

Good Ol' Seasick Steve, one of America's greatest contemporary blues dudes, hobo'd for awhile, played geetar of Eric Clapton, was Modest Mouse's touring guitarist, and now an expat, livin' in England...where he is the toast of the blues scene. This painting here is freakin' huge and really freakin' heavy, but it does have a working diddley-bo on it...the first I ever made.

Goin' in for the Master Stroke

Seriously, painting with this guy is one of my favorite all time things! Unlike his father, this dude is a conceptual artist. I love asking him about his creations. Every stroke, mark, and bit of found debris has a purpose. Huzzah for studio time!! Viva la Vida!

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!

Mike and Ike (Mike Watt and Ike Turner) 2011

"Rocket 88" (Ike Turner)
acrylic and house paint on found wood
9" x 18"

Say what you want, the dude may have been a sonabitch, but he was one badd-ass musician. His version of Rocket 88 is credited as being one of thee first rock'n'roll songs ever recorded. Let's not forget to mention his funk and soul stuff from the late 60s and early 70s...schmokin', and of course the sheer wickedness of Tina Turner and her work with ol'Ike. I was really looking forward to his collaboration with the Black Keys, but sadly he passed before the project was completed.

"Hyphenated Man" Mike Watt
acrylic and house paint on found wood
22" x 24"

The Flannel -Clad Punk Rock Opera writin' hardest working man in the music biz...Mike Watt. I am looking forward to hearing his latest album, Hyphenated Man. It is all based on the artwork of Heironymous Bosch! Sounds art-nerdy- sweet!

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.

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!

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.

Angola Special/ Two Wings (Robert Pete Williams) Nov. 2010

I started this piece in the summer. Had it built and inked, but just couldn't bring myself to start painting it for some reason. I started painting it toward the end of October and finally finished it in November.
Robert Pete Williams was a Louisiana blues man (kinda like the Thelonious Monk of country blues) who was imprisoned in Angola State Penitentiary for homicide. He claims to have shot a man in self-defense, but was sentenced to life in prison. Long story short, a folklorist did some field recordings in the prison, and couldn't believe the stuff coming out Robert Pete Williams. In a plea for Williams' freedom, the folklorist played the music for the judge. The judge was impressed and set Williams free with several years of not being able to leave home. The probation ended just in time for Williams to enjoy the folk and blues revival of the late 60's and 70's.
Anyway, ink, acrylic, and found chicken wire on found wood

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)

Lucha Verde! La Parka (2010)

Another piece for the Chile Verde Mini-Gallery...the infamous Lucha, La Parka, big and bad and makes think what if Glenn Danzig was a luchadore?!
Ink and acrylic on found wood

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!

A Long Walk Home (James 'Son' Thomas) 2010

Like I said before, wicked wicked wicked! My sculptural tribute to Mr. Thomas: sun-dried clay mixed with sawdust, pine cone pieces for teeth, rope, dryer lint, foil, cigarette, plastic rat, paint can lid, .38 bullet casings, found liquor bottle and found wood...and a whole lotta swearin' and hollerin' (wood working ain't my thing)

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.