Thieving Magpies>Non-attachment>Redemption>Triumph…CRB heads north to NYC, to Red Rocks for the Mock Show and more!
04/06/09: This little entry promises to be quite a bit less depressing than the last mass mail (if you’re not on the email list, contact me at crazyredbeard@crazyredbeard.com and I’ll put you on). When I last wrote, I believe that I’d told you all that someone nabbed a painting at the Canal Club a few Mondays ago. Though it didn’t turn up, I decided to make the best of a bad situation. Oh wait! If you don’t get the newsletter, you wouldn’t know that! Well yeah! Someone stole ANOTHER painting! This is forcing me to tighten security but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In any case…read on:
The original painting was smaller and was an Om symbol with Thunderbird wings. It had been painted to Highly Classified, which contains 2 members of the DJ Williams Projekt. So it was a special piece to me, because DJ was the first band that really let me paint live (at Cafe Diem in 2006).
EOTO was the band that followed them and I created a different painting during their set. Very cool music…livetronic goodness from Jason and Travis from String Cheese Incident…they were both really nice guys and acommodating over the 2 days I painted with them. Which leads to the next night, post theft, in Charlottesville, VA. EOTO was playing again at The Gravity Lounge that evening and after a few calls, I was set to paint. I love a hometown show. All of my friends are there and I always love knowing that they’re right there dancing behind me. It’s just…comfortable. Of course, at this point, I have pockets of phamily everywhere, so it isn’t much different. But you guys understand what the home crew is about. I just got to show teh respects. 
In any event, I decided to recreate the painting in a larger format. Over the course of 2 EOTO sets, an Om symbol with butterfly wings emerged and several of my friends contributed to the piece in various ways. After the show, I retired to my friend Yaga’s place for some much needed reflection and expansion.
Wednesday found me driving back to the scene of the crime at The Canal Club in Richmond, VA for GTV and 2020 Soundsystem. This time around I made sure to keep all of the paintings in an area where no itchy hands could grab them easily. I also alerted security to Monday’s incident (they knew) and they promised to come and get me if anyone left with ANYTHING. Just to check with me.
I continued to work on the previous night’s EOTO piece and finished it that evening during GTV’s set. It’s called Ombullet With Butterfly Wings.
I would later sell this piece on Friday evening which definitely made up for Monday’s debacle. But we’ll get to that. I also sold the other piece created to EOTO on Monday to Bo, the owner of Atlas Comics here in Charlottesville, VA. If you don’t know Bo or don’t know Atlas Comics, do yourself a favor and get acquainted. He has one of the coolest comic stores I’ve ever seen and he’s a huge supporter of the arts and music. If you’re in town, make sure you stop by and support him! He’s good people.
Thanks to GTV for warming up the joint. 2020 Soundsystem then proceeded to blow the entire place up with bass bombs galore. These guys absolutely know what they’re doing and the tension build and release they’ve got going is great. They know how to get an audience completely tilting around the room with glee, laughing and fist pumping with electronic mirth. I’m glad they’ve made the states a seeming mainstay for their tours. I look forward to more shows with these gents in the future. The painting that resulted was titled Seeing Music 2020 and is sale for $700. It’s 24×30 and signed by 2020 on the back.
So, by Wednesday, I was feeling pretty good about life again, with some paintings I was really pleased with. I’ve decided to continue tightening up existing pieces at shows (that is, working on pieces over the course of multiple days). It really allows me to make the works even more psychedlic, I think. Not always going to do this, but I think if the mood is right…
Got to catch up with my hometown friends that night after the show and then came back to Charlottesville that Thursday for a short respite. Friday saw me run up to Washington D.C. to paint for a new band (to me) known as The Funk Ark. Many, many thanks to Josh Kay for completely turning the week around completely by Friday. Do yourself a favor and go see these guys if you live near D.C. Why? Because they’re an 11 piece funk band, that’s why. And you really owe it to yourself to get funked up. Again…thank you Josh!!! Much love and respect, brethren! I created the piece attached titled The Fun(k) Ark, which is now hanging over his computer in his home. 
I also created one more piece that night to NOMO, a band from Michigan that’s an experimnet in “Afro-beat explosion”. Though I was told that they didn’t want me to paint when their set rolled around, there was no way I could’ve broken down with all of the people surrounding my table at that point. So I just painted another piece. Rebel movements, as a wise man once said, cannot be stopped.
Finally, I capped off the weekend with another hometown show with Basshound at Is in Charlottesville. What can I say about Basshound that I haven’t said already? Nothing. But I’ll still repeat it: GO SEE THIS BAND. There. I said it.
Boombox Bark Jam: $450
SO! Where does that leave us? I’ve captured both Ombullet and Seeing 2020 Music and these can be purchased as matted and framed prints for $60 as usual. I also captured Mockthunderbird so you can pick that up as well.
I’ll be at the Canal Club this Tuesday so please come out for that and pick up some art. Help me get ready for Some Kind of Jam 4!
This weekend finds me treking back up to NYC for The McLovins and Strange Design at Sullivan Hall on Friday, April 10, 2009. This will be a special show for a lot of reasons so please try to make it out and tell them at the door that you’re there for the McLovins. These kids are the next gen of our music scene. If you don’t know who the McLovins are, do yourself a favor and do some net research. You’ll be surprised at what you find.
Saturday will find me back in Jersey at The Old Bay for The Natural Breakdown. I’ve missed these guys. Bad.
Oh, and here’s some BIG NEWS: I’ll be exhibiting at The Mock Show in Colorado in coincidence with the 4 day Phish run this summer. Organized by the same folks that put on the BPCIII in Hampton, this show has more artists (and some different ones) and I’ll be set up RIGHT NEXT TO JIM POLLOCK. I’m very, very excited for this, even though I don’t have any tickets to the actual Phish shows. Yet. So be on the lookout for more lot art from yours truly. It’s coming.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR THE CONTINUED SUPPORT! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here’s the list of upcoming events:
04/10/09: The McLovins and Strange Design @ Sullivan Hall, NYC, NY
04/11/09: The Natural Breakdown @ The Old Bay Restaurant, New Brunswick, NJ
04/15/09: Particle @ IS, Charlottesville, VA
04/16/09: Orchard Lounge @ The Canal Club, Richmond, VA
04/20/09: The Disco Biscuits @ The 9:30 Club, Washington D.C. (not painting, just unsking)
04/22/09: Existor @ The Canal Club, Richmond, VA
04/24-04/26/09: SOME KIND OF JAM 4
PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR ANY COMMISSIONS, ESPECIALLY FOR SOME KIND OF JAM 4!!!
Take care and I hope to see you all again soon! Suzi!!! YOU ROCK! Thank you for the love!!!!
PEACE!
Jon
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Jon Blake
Crazyredbeard Productions
1843 Ivywest Lane
Charlottesville, Virginia 22901
The site: www.crazyredbeard.com
crazyredbeard@crazyredbeard.com
434-295-9653
