My Favorite Sparkling Storybook Fae

To celebrate my fairy daughter's birthday, Fairy Queen Grandriel made a secret story book to keep magical fae memories! My little fairy is now the "Keeper" of two sprites herself and has the mighty job of keeping track of plenty of sparkling fairy dust. I thought this would make a good project idea for a fairy grandmother (as if I don't have any others). So now I will have to make other pages! Oh my!

My old 35mm Nikon finally died. Still I was inspired by a photo taken by my tiny 'coolpix' camera at an 'Art In The Park' event where the grand children were playing on a big rock. Since I have not posted much about the grandchildren for awhile, I guess it's time to enthrall you, as we grandmothers do! 

You can see our Princess Aowyn is quite lost in thought deciding if she is going "here" or "there!"

Happiness found while making a flower from recycled water bottles. Serious business!

Yes, we both got our hands deep into the glitter and glue! Every good fairy simply must find glitter stuck to various bits of skin and clothing the rest of the day don't cha' know.

Multi-talented guitarist husband known as "Ben Sherman Guitar" was playing solo acoustic style in the sunshine. The wee and the tall townsfolk came out to frolic on this beautiful early summer day up on bewitching Emerald Hill! I thought we lived in Lothlorian...Are we in OZ?

Everyone took to relaxing in the shade of the trees, except mommies of the tiny toddlers, who were running, climbing, and playing tag! This was a great family and kid friendly situation, which does not always happen for our gig life. A super opportunity to have the grandchildren join us.

So as soon as "Ben Sherman Guitar' was finished his musical set for the afternoon, his favorite fairy insisted he smell the beautiful plastic flower she made! Isn't that the best kind of fan!

There was a total of four gigs this past weekend! Later Ben and myself were off to a gig with the fabulous classic rock band "Hectic Red,"  and the next day with the Steely Dan Tribute Band "Technicolor Motor Home." (Who by the way, are going to be opening for 'Three Dog Night' on June 29th.) Until then, Grandriel and Grandalf savored the astonishing moments with the most adorable fae in all the land! Soak in the love, play in the glitter of life, and smell the magic flowers!

Credits: Digital artwork by Crystal Visions Art

Musical Vintage Victorian Ephemera And Freebie

'The Painting Queen loves ephemera, vintage or digital. Honestly, collecting digital ephemera may be an addiction. Oh let's be nice and call it a hobby! My love of vintage images actually started when I was in art college studying typography. I happened to tell my grandmother about the design class where we studied the history of type usage. This resulted in her gifting me two amazing vintage albums filled with trade card collections! Very often I sat with those old volumes on my lap, gently turning the care worn pages, marveling over the sometimes curious old trade cards. As I looked closely at the detail in each card, I thought about the people who made the art, as well as those who were taking the time to collect the post card sized trade cards. As part of a work study job at my college, I designed an event brochure trying to emulate this type of artwork and typography.  A sad student attempt for sure, none the less done with love and excitement.

I so dearly loved and valued the antique images within those old albums my Grandmother had so thoughtfully given to me. Unfortunately someone in my life was jealous of this antique gift. They saw those albums as worth only money, and took them from me. As the wheel of karma turns, apparently the albums were stolen from that person, and possibly sold on E-bay. Sad. If left in my care, those images would be here to share with you today. Thankfully I still have two of the soap trade cards to enjoy, since they were kept under glass on my bureau. You can see one of the trade cards above this post, I call her the pink lady. In the Spirit of giving back to the Universe, and honoring the gift from my grandmother, I am sharing her with you freely today. You can click on the image and download her to use in your creative digital artwork projects. This way we can share the beauty together! Some unknown artist in the past did a lovely job drawing this pink lady. So let us celebrate that creative life, beauty, and people we love!

 

Now let me share with you the talent of a creative artist that does incredible ephemera work, and astonishingly lives in our time! Besides ephemera, you know 'The Painting Queen' also loves music, and when both favorites meet within an exceptional project, I must share that good news with you!  English traditional ornamental glass artist David Adrian Smith was commissioned by Sony Music to create the stunning album cover artwork for John Mayer's new release called 'Born and Raised.' You can click on the link above to view many large photos of the artwork on his website.  David A. Smith has the unusual vintage Victorian skills to create mirrors and Victorian inspired signage using glass embossing, acid etching, reverse painting and artwork, gold leaf, creative typography, and incredible line and scroll work. Watch the video above to learn more about the artist and the process.



When exceptional musician John Mayer found this unique artist, he worked with David to create John's vintage style vision for the album cover of  Born and Raised . Yes I said album cover! This is not dinky little CD case artwork. This is the real glorious, hold the large album in your hands, and pull out a real record artwork! The video above is an 18 minute documentary about the artwork and design process. This is a real must see for any designer, artist, or lover of vintage things! Behold this master of vintage art and Victorian typographic design, David Adrian Smith! You will experience all the time, care, and detail that went into his designs. If you would like a poster of the design you can go here. Both videos on this post were created by film maker Danny Cooke.

Most recently, Jamison Whiskey in Dublin had David design and execute a label celebrating St Patrick's Day 2013 for a limited edition collectors bottle. You can view this design along with others of this modern/vintage master at his uber-gorgeous website. Filled with drawings, designs and photos, this website is superb eye candy! You are going to be blown away by this man's incredible skill! Along with some of his scroll designs and fonts, David also sells a gilding tool he created for fellow gilding artists there as well. I recommend you look through the photo gallery on his gold leaf gilding workshop page, the Peace sign makes me cry. The beauty of his lyrical line work is beyond words.

The John Mayer album design is reminiscent to me of the wonderful old album covers I could hold in my hand and then display in my teenage room. In our last home we had a room dedicated to displaying about 20 of our old favorite album covers. Perhaps someday in this current 'Hobbit House' we can find a place to hang a few album covers in the basement, when we get around to setting up a practice area for Ben. Well...way back in those high school days I had told my fellow art students that when I grew up I wanted to design album covers. 

Although I never did live that dream... I sure do a lot of website designs and photos for my musician husband Ben Sherman seen above. Certainly you can see the vintage influence on Ben Sherman's main gig and teaching website design which you will find also has a fun steampunk twist, even within the photos section. Then there is Ben's other website Ben Sherman Classical Guitar. A more modern young bride look. Hint: White is the new black.  Marketing. Marketing. To marketing I must go.

Attack Of The Santas! and Snowmen! and Elves!

It was a dark and chilly night like any other night in this small country town. I was sitting at a teensy-tiney table at a cozy little bar on the east side of town, watching my hubby play acoustic guitar. Suddenly a large band of ruffians entered the room hooting and hollering. They were pushing forward and filling the small bar in all directions including the outside porch. Dressed in red Santa suits, Santa dresses, Santa mini-skirts. elf gear, Santa hats, and glowing lights, the space filled fast. There was even a giant abominable snowman!

Accompanied by a pair of polite Marines carrying a donation bucket, this sudden invasion was the 3rd annual Santa Pub crawl organized to raise money for the 'Toys For Tots' program in our area.

Ben continued to play classic rock tunes rallying the crowd into sing-a-longs! They gladly participated, singing and dancing with their merry little selves...or elves. Song requests were made and played. The donation bucket was passed around in the ensuing frenzy.
"Santa Is In The Building!" a large Elvis Santa exclaimed! And so he was, and quite a jolly ole' fellow. Since I only had my teensy-tiny phone camera with me this past weekend, I did my best to capture the magnitude of the massive Santa attack on this venue. The Santa people just kept streaming into the bar. It was red Chaos! So how often do you see "Frosty" drinking a beer? Or Santa? Or a gaggle of Santa's drinking for that matter?

Unfortunately the Queen had to quickly vacate her teensy-tiny table due to a flock of young chickies who started to fill the Queens table with their drinks as if the Queen was not present. They were so busy squawking, texting, and taking photos of each other, they were obviously unaware of their rudeness. The Queen's Guardian Angels whispered to "get out now!" "Something is going to happen!" I quickly scooped up my belongings from the table and shoved them into my precious fairy bag. As I stood and turned to leave the area, the foreign drinks on my table began falling over and spilling in all directions. I was thankful I heeded the message to vacate the area, other wise my notepad, me, and my bag would be a sticky wet mess. 

Then the rude girls who caused this minor incident, turned their backs, and ignored my requests to pass, so that I could go sit by my hubby up front. Since I have encountered this behavior in other venues with young women before, I wonder if parents teach their children kindness and consideration anymore. Not the first time my dining table in a club has been used as a trash bin for young adults drinks. I say get your nose out of your phone, come down from your "me, me, me cloud" and notice what's actually happening around you, in the now, little teensy-tiny girls! I also notice they will often ignore each other, to text someone else, that they are having a wonderful time...doing what?....texting?

Eventually the Queen was able to take refuge from the claustrophobic red velvet crowd on a bench near the hubby. Safe from the invasion at last! No it is not the first time I had to save myself from over zealous young people. Once a girl decided to do a cheer-leading flip onto some guy and kicked me in the side. Never a dull moment on the road! Even on a teensy-tiny one!

The crowd was having a great time singing with Ben and that was fun to watch. Even the owner was dancing with the Santa girls. He then thanked Ben for doing a great job of uplifting the crowd, and making great music for everyone to enjoy. The long line of Santa's trailed out and into their yellow school bus, a bit happier than when they came to this bar...and the Queen let out a teeny-tiny sigh of relief. Ho! Ho! Ho!

The REMaking of the Ben Sherman Guitar Website

The new and improved Ben Sherman Guitar website just went live!  
It has been in the works for over a year.  I started my page designs in January, and then in March my health once again took a nose dive.  I did not have the energy to work on this huge project until this October.  So lately every moment we have had to sit side by side late into the wee vampire hours of our day, my hubby and I were cranking out each page and working out the bugs.  

As an artist I have to admit the inspiration for the makeover of the BSG website is due to two talented men.  The first is my loving husband, and my artistic Muse, Ben Sherman. Playing classical guitar, acoustic guitar, electric classic rock, jazz fusion, teaching and writing a book, his talent is awesome. I never tire of all the various ways I can showcase my Ben with my own artistic vision, whether it is by taking photographs at gigs, videoing him in a band, designing promo and merchandise, or creating artwork featuring the Shermanator!  So of course he deserved my very best effort when creating a website to promote his outstanding musical endeavors.  Unfortunately he had to wait out my health issues for most of the year.  Actually the delay made me revisit some of my early designs and make some revisions.  Artists are never satisfied.

I wanted to create for Ben a platform that expresses his commitment to excellence with a richly textured website full of images that would be a visual treat to the viewer.  So the second man who inspired the overall look of the website is Jerry Jones of Shadowhouse Creations, someone I have never met.  Jerry's texture collection constantly wows me, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to showcase what can be done with his textures.  Additionally Jerry's personal digital art gallery is stunning, and even Jerry's personal artwork certainly influenced two of the digital art pieces I added to Ben's new photo gallery.  You can see one I created at the top of this post. I truly hope you visit the Shadowhouse Creations gallery so you can enjoy Jerry's intriguing artistic world.  

Some of my website background designs for BSG were created using various Shadowhouse textures and then using Photoshop blend modes multiple times.  Other textures were used just as Jerry created them, as I felt they were totally captivating just as they were made.  Amazingly Jerry is a generous soul who gives you the use of his textures freely, as long as you use them in your artwork, do not sell them, or claim them as your own. Those of us who follow and respect Jerry are very protective of him ...so don't mess with his rules.  

When Ben and I created his former BSG website in 2008 I was just struggling to learn digital design on the little Paint Shop Pro that came with the computer.  I have learned so much since then about using Photoshop that I was very excited to dig into this website makeover.  Ben actually does all the coding for the BSG website so 
he is the one who makes the magic happen that I have in my head!  
We truly are partners together and that is so cool.  I guess you can tell Ben is my soul mate, and I am his number one fan.  Although 
Ben has some other long time music fans that would dispute that 
fact with me!  hah!

We added a beautiful new photo gallery and video gallery to the new website. In addition to gig photos, there are retro photos from Ben's musical past, (you know...the ones with the funny hair like below) as well as digital artwork I created for fun. (see the artwork at the bottom of this post) There are also newly released videos of Ben, including one I requested myself as I really wanted him to release the song called 'Cliffs Of Dover.' The Video was taken with Hectic Red during the 20th anniversary show.  This is the same song he was playing on stage the night we re-met and I had said to myself, 
"Oh yes he will be mine!" I just felt the connection to him immediately through his music.  It is the stuff of dreams.

 
The reason I have not been posting very much is we have been working our butts off on the new BSG website...  so I hope you will take the time to check it out! Let me know what you think!

'Technicolor Motor Home' Gets Baltimores Best Tribute Band Award !!!

It just hit the news stands people! We are very excited!!!! 

Baltimore Magazine just selected "Technicolor Motor Home" 

as the 'Best Tribute Band In Baltimore!' How cool is that!!???!!!

Here is what they said in Baltimore Magazine: 
"For years Steely Dan did not tour because their songs were too darn difficult to replicate on stage. And when they did tour, they had something of an orchestra in tow. So it was surprising to learn that a local group was tackling such elegant and beloved pop music. 

Led by 'Crack the Sky's' keyboardist Glenn Workman, the band not only plays selections from every Steely Dan album, it does so with the necessary precision and passion, horns and back up singers included. TMH proves you can buy a thrill - just check out one of their shows."

It is all true! Everyone raves about TMH where ever they play! If you live in The greater Baltimore area be sure to check out the TMH website and join their facebook page. Next year is going to be big! The fearless leader Glenn Workman on keyboards, is the man to contact about booking Technicolor Motor Home. 

The dynamic duo of Ben Sherman and Bryan Ewald on guitar will satisfy your rock n roll cravings. The always spectacular killer horn section of Dave Makowiecki, Jim McFalls, and Barry Caudill rocks.

Oh Yeah we've got to have the wicked drums of Mark St. Pierre !!!

And of course you need the cool tones of the TMH back up singers Meg Murray and Kelly Butcher, along with Bass player Anthony Setola.

Congratulations everyone in Technicolor Motor Home 

for your pursuit of musical excellence landing you such an honor!

Okay! Now that you know about the best...it's time to look your best 

at the next Technicolor Motor Home performance! 

 

We've got lead guitarist for 'Technicolor Motor Home,' Ben Sherman, modeling some sweet TMH schhhwagggg. Along with the two different TMH t-shirts he is wearing in the photos above, there are other designs and products available for TMH at Shermanator Gear. 

I have more designs and artwork to come, as I want to explore doing some more designs in the 60's 70's psychedelia style. Trippy Hippie! 

For more information, photos, and videos of Technicolor Motor Home, along with one of my TMH inspired digital creations, check out my previous post about Technicolor Motor Home here.

(Isn't the hubby adorable!*)(*sigh*)

Hectic Red Classic Rock Website Updates

We've added a gorgeous new video player on the 'Hectic Red' website video page! You can pick your own 'Hectic Red' video selection, or just start with the top video and the rest of the current 'Hectic Red' videos will play in automatic succession. If you would like to listen while you work on the computer this is a nice option. To celebrate, we added two new videos from the vast 'Hectic Red' library! 'Bodhisattva' and 'Angry Young Man,' which are both fan favorites! 

Go enjoy the best classic rock musicians in the Mid Atlantic area! Nobody does it better! Next year 'Hectic Red' will be celebrating 25 years together with same four guys! No other classic rock band in the area can make that claim. These guys are tight!

We shortened the audio visual page by adding a different smaller music player. The sound control is now placed inside the amp under the robot. The photos in the slide-show on this page are really fun. I had an awesome time rocking out cool photo-shop effects while listening to the Hectic Red audio. I hope you take the time to watch the slide-show I put together. 

The audio clips are from a live show in Frederick Maryland at Baker Park and the sound is taken directly from the soundboard. I love this soundtrack so much I have my own CD of the concert. You can really hear the quality of Hectic Red's four-part harmonies! Right now I am listening to Hectic Red's clip of 'Don't Fear The Reaper!' Soooo good! You can also let this page play behind your online workspace.

Since discovering this tiny music player, we have also decided to add the music player to the Hectic Red Fan page, and the Hectic Red Retro page. I love how the new tiny audio player fits right into the graphics of each page. With this player you have the option to jump to the next or previous song, as well as muting the sound.

I love designing promo and taking photographs for the bands and projects that Ben Sherman is involved with, as I feel like I have married the perfect muse! You cannot go wrong when you are designing for the best of the best!

Technicolor Motor Home Inspires Babylon Sisters

There is a new band in town, a 'Steely Dan' Tribute band named 'Technicolor Motor Home' and they are truly amazing!  It was due to this new band that I was inspired to create this funky digital collage art piece called 'Oh Those Babylon Sisters!' Constantly for weeks, I had an earworm in my head singing "Babylon sisters...shake it!" Anyone who knows the song may recognize some of the symbolism from the lyrics in the image. I had a fun time creating this artwork, even though right now the earworm is starting up again singing, "You got to shake it baby. You got to shake it baby. Shake it!" Yes, I certainly foresee more song inspired artwork to come! Ideas are already formin' in me head! (Click images to view larger, then hit back button.) (Credits for collage elements I used at bottom of post.)

If you live in the Maryland area 'Technicolor Motor Home' is a must see event!  Wowie Zowie!  The excitement for this powerful 10 piece band was felt by everyone at their incredible debut performance at the Recher Theater in Towson Maryland Feb 25.

When you listen and watch the video's posted down below of the bands premier performance you will not believe that they only had a few rehearsals, due to snow and ice storms occurring every time a rehearsal was scheduled. 'Technicolor Motor Home' persevered by drawing on the mechanized hum of another world. And now I can have more crazy fun playing with motor home images like the one below! I see a trend happening....

The success of their debut performance is a sign of the supreme musicianship and talent recruited for this band by the perennially barefooted Glenn Workman, who put this project together. Glenn plays keyboards, and sings most of the songs in their repertoire.

Steely Dan music is difficult and challenging to learn, because of the deep jazz influences and constant changes occurring during each song. You really need to know your stuff to do this material correctly. The musicians in 'Technicolor Motor Home' are well known as some of the best in Maryland, and you will see many smiles in the crowd for 'Technicolor Motor Home', as they really do justice to these great songs. As amazing as this band is now, it is going to get even better!

The horn section of the band is powerful and adds a fullness to the sound, recreating the Steely Dan songs as they were meant to be played. During the concert the hard core Steely Dan fans appreciated the sound created by Jim McFalls on Trombone, Dave Makowiecki on Trumpet, and Barry Caudill on Saxophone.

The backup singers Meg Murray and Kelly Butcher provide the authentic details that this music requires.

Mark St. Pierre on drums, and Anthony Setola on bass, play the perfect Steely Dan riffs and rhythms.

Ben Sherman and Bryan Ewald, both incredible guitarists, add the spark to the infamous Steely Dan guitar solos. Along with playing lead guitar Ben Sherman also sings lead vocals on some SD songs.

This is the band to see in Baltimore! Keep an eye on the 'Technicolor Motor Home' schedule for the word is out on this powerhouse band!

'Oh Those Babylon Sisters!' are ready to rock and highly recommend you enjoy the following two videos of 'Technicolor Motor Home' Live!  

Visit the colorful TMH You Tube page for more great music videos! You are invited to be a friend at their TMH facebook page here.  

Note: This is only the second time I tried using a hand held video device which is Kodak's version of a Flip. I think the visual quality is pretty good for web. The sound is from the live mixing board at 'The Recher Theater' by Keith Nachodsky. Next time I hope to try out the zoom button! (For anyone who may not know, the awesome guitarist Ben Sherman is the Painting Queen's King! Love to hear him play!!!)

Credits: 
Photos and videos by Crystal Sherman,
Babylon Sisters Artwork Copyright 2011 by Crystal Sherman/Crystal Visions Art
Elements used in digital collage: Tumble Fish Studios - (Jubilant, Ethereal, Splendor), Rasberry Road Designs - (Domestic Goddess, Grungy Alpha), Deviant Scrap - (Beth Rimmer (Romance), Finecrafted Designs (Zetti Revamp) Holliewood Studios (Random Alpha) SherrieJD (License Letters), Texture: Shadowhouse Creations - (Odds and Ends)