27 Jan 2011

Can a ukulele be art?

Is a ukulele just a functional instrument, or can it be art? A friend of this blog directed me to the work of Amy Crehore recently which may answer the question!

Amy, from the US is a celebrated fine art oil painter and has been exhibited in many galleries, exhibitions and magazines over the years and I adore her vintage and dare I say, slightly spooky style of art. I say spooky, the images show a childlike innocence, but then you look into them a little more and realise that things are not quite what they appear to be.

Aside from her paintings, in 2007, Amy started to paint ukuleles, completing her first "Tickler brand" uke shown below

credit: original artwork copyright Amy Crehore

And since then she has gone on to paint many ukes, 13 of which were exhibited in her solo show "Dreamgirls and Ukes" in Los Angeles in 2009. The ukes are all one of a kind fine art pieces of work, and I think they are wonderful.

Below are a few more of my favourites from her collection. You can find out more about Amy on her webpage THE ART OF AMY CREHORE

And you can browse her fabulous work, including her ukulele collection, on her Flickr page - AMY CREHORE FLICKR

Amy also blogs here - LITTLE HOKUM RAG

Enjoy!