Roger, The Apostle, At Year's End

What a way to end this year. It's taken me this past week to wrap my head around our experience in California. I feel humbled and honored at the same time, everything and nothing. Great fodder for my internal philosopher.

Roger Steffens is remarkable. Incredibly giving, generous with his time and energy, sharing his stories about Life. As a kid, captivated by sci-fi comic strips, he wrote a letter to his favorite and ended up becoming lifelong friends with the creator and having his name used in the strip. As a teen, looking up to Alan Freed, he saw some of the first group shows of the birth of rock-n-roll, later to be called himself 'Alan Freed' by Little Richard. As a young adult in the time of the Vietnam War, he found reggae, so impressed with a Gonzo-writer's article in Rolling Stone. Since then he has become THE chronicler of Bob Marley and his contributions to the world. Collecting every scrap of audio, video, and printed material about Tuff Gong or even remotely related to Bob, Roger has created an archive that not only would reduce any superfan to drooling, but would make that fan want to add his collection to Roger's. There is a genuine sense of driven purpose to preserve the essence of Bob's life. Befriending Bob's family, The Wailers, and any photographer, musician, roadie connected to Bob, Roger continues to seek connections worldwide, spreading One Love. That's why I would characterize him as Marley's apostle. It is that deep of a love.

After throwing in stories about his friends Timothy Leary, Carlos Santana, and others, Roger connected me and my family to his collection. Looking back, it was very interesting, deliberate. Listening to Bob's solo jamming in the background, Roger asked us all about pieces of our stories, taking pictures with me and the paintings, learning that my wife's birthday was the day Bob died, hearing about my father-in-law's Vietnam enlistment rejection, and sharing his personal photos of Bob with me to see if I'd be interested in having any copies. Oh my! What beautiful shots he had, some he took, some Peter Simon took. I'll definitely paint more of them. Connecting me further. Such an honor. It was truly a moment of mutual respect, something very unique. Life reconnecting with Life. One Love.

I don't know if I'm portraying the experience well enough, but I think at least I've given a sense of it. Overwhelming would be the one word for sure. Also, more practically, overwhelming is the fact that I basically broke even financially this year, even with paying for my health insurance! Pretty cool for my first full year. I've also got several irons in the fire, as they say. Primitive Kool sold Hendrix and SRV, Wild About Music sold SRV, and I've got a few potential commissions. Also, http://www.notcot.org/, a very cool site, posted about me, leading to a couple other blogs asking for info to do their own posts. I've got many more contacts on Flickr as well. So, it's spreading! I'd better get painting, huh?

If you're coming to this blog unaware of my Vinyl Art, please, take a bit to read through more of my posts. They really do give a good sense of my background and what I'm doing with it. Then, you can also see other examples if you:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and please have a safe and happy New Year's. Peace.

Merry Holidays!

So here it is! Roger Steffens' own photo from the cover of "Soul Almighty", a collection on JAD Records. The gold of "Exodus" makes such a cool background. I hope it'll be good enough to go in the museum! I bought a piece of glass to use in the frame instead of the plex that comes with it, looks more professional that way. Doesn't scratch as easily as well.

Paul at Primitive Kool just sold the Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jim Morrison, but had to swap out one piece of plex. Shipping glass just scares me though. But, hey 2 more sold! I think he's doing a 20% off deal for the holidays. He has a few more of mine, listed at http://primitivekoolart.com/pages/DANIEL.html, and of course they are all available by commission! So read through my blog and then see more examples when you:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: http://www.vinylart.info/

and have a safe and wonderful holiday! Peace.

GIFTED - Bob Marley 12/20/07

One Love

Watched "Scrooged" this week. Great Christmas movie. Love Bill Murray. Good message too.

Also saw "No Country For Old Men" in the theater. Wow. Probably won't watch it over and over like "The Big Lebowski", but it is a top-notch Coen Brothers film. Everything about it was brilliant, necessary, certainly fulfilling their roles as auteurs.

I made a video of the new Bob Marley: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05psVut4Ep4. I was nervous painting it, since it's for Roger Steffens, and, again I'm not sure if the clip turned out too dark. If you take a gander at it, let me know what you think! I also added the painting to my gallery that you can see if you:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: http://www.vinylart.info/

Peace.

GIFTED - Bob Marley 12/14/07

1 For The Money, 2 For The Show, 3 To Get Ready

[EDIT - 5/15/08: To all who arrive at this post looking for information about the song, it's "Blue Suede Shoes", written by Carl Perkins. It was also performed by John Lennon (GREAT video!), so it ties in nicely to the rest of this post as well.]

I am so lucky to get to do what I'm passionate about and to share it with others. Getting to give back is amazing, a great feeling. A whole bunch of things are coming together to make me feel really good about what I'm doing. Just one of those confluence of events that seem to mean Life, the universe, karma, is on your side. John Lennon, George Clinton, and Joao Gilberto are for Free Art Seattle Exhibition, which, after a month on display, will be given away. "An opportunity to make someone's day." Indeed. I love it.

I saw Brad Pitt on Larry King, and along with MadeByGirl, I'm very impressed with his genuine caring for New Orleans and strong desire to give. And speaking of John Lennon, it's the anniversary of his death on 8 Dec and Yoko sent out an e-mail inviting people to Imagine Peace and remember we are all together... now. Then the planning of perhaps the coolest thing for my wife and I related to my artwork yet. As I mentioned a while back, Roger Steffens has invited me to paint Bob Marley for his archives as he prepares them to become the founding collection of the Bob Marley wing of the National Museum of Jamaican Music in Jamaica. Hoo boy. To have my art included as a contribution to the history of such a source of pure love and unity as Bob Marley will be amazing. SO wonderful. Just a good feeling.

Anyway, I do have a Bob Marley painting in my online gallery, so if you haven't:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: http://www.vinylart.info/

and do remember John with love.

GIFTED - George Clinton, Joao Gilberto, John Lennon 12/07/07

Woohoo! Paypal Works!

I used PayPal both to sell the already-painted Jerry that someone saw on YouTube and to accept payment upfront for a commission for Louis Armstrong! Worked beautifully. So, if you're interested in a commission, E-mail me and I can make a PayPal button all quick-like, post it for you only and then you can pay with your credit card. Pretty slick.

I'm going to paint 3 for the Free Art Seattle Exhibition after some unexpected finds today at the store. Also, I've got 2 of Bob Marley in the works, one that'll be part of that Bob Marley wing of the new music museum in Jamaica. Sweet. I still have time and frames for holiday orders too, so it's not too late if you've just found out about me. For more background and examples,

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: http://www.vinylart.info/

and see who you might want hanging on your wall!

SOLD - Louis Armstrong 12/05/07

The Verve - Blackpool - 6 Nov 2007

I'm sitting here looking out of my Phoenix window at a day that belongs in London.

I'm listening to a very good taping of the show 3 days before the show we saw in London.

I'm feeling very overwhelmed, overflowing with emotion, Life's an Ocean. Intense gratitude for life. Their music definitely is directly connected to what's real. Space and Time. I'm aware of how big little moments can be. Even though I've only got a handful of subscribers yet, and most people who've found my website are looking for vinyl art toys, I'm extremely thankful and want to shake the hands of everyone whose given me moments of their energy, their life. I know it can go unnoticed, unappreciated. I know.

But then you can connect, communicate with Life. Everything happens for a reason, a reason one might not know at the time, but a reason. To be open to that is a trick. Computers crash, garage door openers hesitate, websites show up unexpectedly. I get to paint portraits of musicians I and others love. Then I get to share them. Cool. I really do crave feedback. Not to validate my existence, just to know if I've impacted others' existence. I keep creating profiles at every social networking site I find to do just that, give others a chance to find me, to see what I do, maybe to share me with other others.

I know I'm rambling a bit, repeating myself from earlier today. But I just want to emphasize this content's connection to Life, to what's real. Human contact. Community. And with that, appreciation of individuality and uniqueness. Who are you? Tell, show the world. Open up. I'll listen, and respond.

SO, that's that. Gotta box up Willie! See him in my post from a coupla days ago, or:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and thanks for listen, no I mean, reading.

Family And Friends

Stevie Ray for my brother-in-law in Austin and Lennon for our friend down in Tucson. I love giving gifts! I'm painting these for music-lovers who share our passion, so why not give them away too? Obviously I need to sell some, and the holiday season is the perfect time to get your commissions in, but sharing the love of music is what it's all about. This weekend I'm going to try to find the ones I'll do for Free Art Seattle. More giving. I'm looking forward to participating in other shows like it. If you know about art shows in your area that you think my work might fit into, please let me know!

I also created a profile at XING, kinda like LinkedIn. We'll see what connections I make there. Also, happened upon LiveVideo, so I created my channel there too. Basically, it's a duplicate of my YouTube channel, but it'll reach a whole new group of people. I'm tellin' ya, if I ever have to change E-mail addresses with the number of accounts I have... yikes. I just want people out there to know about what I'm doing and to give you all as many ways to find and connect with me as possible. I'm hoping to get more regular subscribers to this blog, but I'll take what I can get. Just give me feedback! Also, sorta important, if you haven't seen my online gallery, please:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: http://www.vinylart.info/

and E-mail or even call me. Don't be shy, I won't bite.

GIFTED - Stevie Ray Vaughan and John Lennon 11/30/07

For The Love Of...

I was listening to The Verve's live recording of "Gravity Grave" on "No Come Down" while I was painting this Willie Nelson and something clicked inside reminding me of why I'm doing this artwork. The passion that true music-lovers share for the music that means so much is powerful; a raw emotional bond that you can see in someone when they "get it". Getting moved to tears by music is a gift for which I'll always be thankful.

So it made me all enthusiastic-like, which was good timing because Herbertos on Flickr found me and let me know about his Free Art Seattle Exhibition. Pretty cool idea, to have art up for a month in a cafe and then give the art away. The deadline is Jan. 5, so I'll probably do a couple for it, most likely with the clear coat and no frame like I did for Vinyl Killers 5.

I may also have gotten my first call from a visitor to the R.A.R.E. show earlier this year! I didn't expect anybody to contact me from there because most of the "Really Avid Record Enthusiasts" consider vinyl sacred, and even repurposing unplayable discs for art made them shudder. A few, though, had thought what I was doing was cool, certainly different than anything they'd seen at a vinyl collectors' show. We'll see if a commission comes out of it!

If you haven't seen the other commissions I've done, you can take a look at several if you:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: http://www.vinlart.info/

and go to the online gallery. Plenty of time for holiday gift commissions!

SOLD - Willie Nelson 11/28/07

Trying Out eBay Again

The Jerry is still available that I made the YouTube video of a couple weeks ago. So I decided during the holiday buying period to try out eBay again. I've put it up for auction. It's up through next weekend. I figured people might be checking things out during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. We'll see.

Bob Marley and the Jerry Garcia that Primitive Kool had in their show sold along with the Hendrix at Wild About Music. Also, I've gotten some great response from other blogs:

http://hippiesounds.com/vinyl-art-video/
http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/records-vinyl-art-by-daniel-edlen
http://www.curbly.com/DIY-Maven/posts/3061-Daniel-Edlen-s-LP-Canvases-

so I'm glad I made those videos! I'm excited to see what ripples spread from those posts. Maybe I'll get that swarm of wasps buzzing yet! To see other examples of my work, as always:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: http://www.vinylart.info/

and scroll through the jukebox to find your memories! I'm off to do Stevie Ray Vaughan.

The Verve - Front Row In London!

Friday 9 November 2007 at The Roundhouse in London

Best concert we've been to by far! Guitarist Nick McCabe just said, too, that it is officially his favorite gig of all time. The trip was completely worth it for this show. Richard Ashcroft is incredible to watch sing and play acoustic. We were front row for the whole show! I'd never done that before. I boxed out my wife so she wouldn't get smashed against the rail. I got jostled a bit but not too badly. We were right in front of bassist Simon Jones who drives their music and he was extremely fun to watch. I feel silly trying to describe in words how good is was so here's what they played:

New Decade

This Is Music

Gravity Grave

Weeping Willow

Life's An Ocean

Sonnet

Sit & Wonder

A Man Called Sun

Already There

Stormy Clouds / Reprise

Let The Damage Begin

On Your Own

Rolling People

Drugs Don't Work

Bitter Sweet Symphony

Encores:

A Northern Soul

History

Lucky Man

Come On

I'll let that suffice. Fans'll know.

London was wonderful, cold and gloomy, but wonderful. We got to see many of the sights, including Abbey Road Studios and the famous crosswalk. So cool. The wall in front of the functioning studio is painted white and covered with scribes from people who've travelled to see it. The employee who nicely told us there were no public tours said that they have to repaint it weekly because of how many people sign it. Somebody who lives nearby could take pictures of the wall before they cover it each time and do a sweet video of it. There was a great stencil painting combining the iconic Che Guevara face with Lennon's, so basically Lennon wearing the revolutionary hat. Well done.

Nothin' new on it since last week, but if you haven't:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

Maybe a Verve piece'll show up!

Ripples From Vinyl Killers And Newport Nights

I'm trying to get to these orders before hopping the pond to London. The request for Jerry came through the Vinyl Killers show and Damian Marley came through Newport Nights at Primitive Kool. I'm working on a ZZ Top which came through Wild About Music. I also delivered the pieces to Red Dog Gallery downtown which might lead to more connections. Great place! If you're in the area you should check it out this Friday after 7pm. They're #70 on the PDF map.

We bought memory foam neck pillows and ear plugs for the flight. Next is organizing all our clothes and vital items. Getting a bit nervous about dealing with airports and public transportation in another country, but it'll be a fun adventure. Hopefully I'll have something profound to say when we get back. For now, though, (yes, I'll say it again) there're new ones in the gallery, so:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and we're off!

Jimi Hendrix Backed By Dylan On YouTube!

Well, I used the "Are You Experienced?" I found. Hope I did a good enough job for such an amazing album. It'd be like using "Revolver" or "Pepper". I created a YouTube video for it as well. I used "All Along the Watchtower" behind it and it turned out pretty nice. So maybe if it gets enough exposure, more people will get hip to what I'm doing and why. I know, just know, I'll have to explain again that I use albums a phonograph needle would run and hide from and that, yes, they are handpainted directly on the record, and no, you can't play them anymore. It's fun though, kind of an ice-breaker to a discussion about vinyl, music, recycling and so forth. That's why I'm creating these, to give people something positive and creative to talk about that adds to and celebrates our pop culture.

First Fridays attendees who visit Red Dog Gallery will see 8 pieces to talk about, compare and share. Who's your favorite? Dylan, Cash, or Hendrix? Nah, Ozzy! Sweetness.

I can still get commissions done for the holidays, so:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and let me know who the music-lover in your family would want!

Top 9 Things To See In London?

Now live on YouTube! Click on the photo to see my new movie.

I've got some done with still much to do. Today, besides putting the video together, I did Damian Marley and Warren Zevon for commissions from Newport Nights. I've got a Jerry Garcia and Miles Davis to go, so far. I'm hoping for more interest after Primitive Kool puts those 16 up on their website. It looks like the Otis Redding sold too! We're going to London next week so I won't be posting here or able to paint, so I've got to get a lot done this week. I've got to get the ones done and framed for First Fridays, which'll be next week too. Feelin' the crunch!

Speaking of our trip to London, these are the things I'm most excited to see:

The Verve concert
Stonehenge
Westminster Abbey
Abbey Road
Tate Modern
St. Paul's Cathedral
London Bridge
Mary Poppins
Hyde Park

Please let me know what else we should hit! Otherwise:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and comment on my videos on YouTube too.

Miles, And Miles, And Miles!

Newport Nights rocked! It was a great gig, lots of people. I got to watch quite a few checking out my work. Ocean Beach is a cool place and getting to see the ocean was wonderful. A couple pieces sold, with more commissions as well. The Miles Davis they had sold online and another of him was requested by one of the employees of Primitive Kool. We'll definitely be heading back there for a future show!

Red Dog Gallery in downtown Phoenix is going to be displaying 8-10 of my pieces during the upcoming First Fridays! I've been hoping to find a place that participates in that monthly event as well, as the turnout of people interested in local culture is supposed to be huge. Woohoo!

I also found an inordinate number of records today at 2 local used stores. Bob Marley, Hendrix, the Dead, Pink Floyd, SRV... man, that was sweet! So now I'm stocked up and ready to paint. Besides the Miles Davis movie, I've also got the shots taken for a Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix so I'll be posting those this week. In the meantime, I've still got my gallery so:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and, please, leave comments here, on YouTube, or email me!

EDIT: I wanted to note that the image I use for the Miles Davis piece is the 1985 photo by Anton Corbijn. He's well known in the music world for his photography and music video work and I wanted to make sure to give him credit for the initial beautiful vision of the legend on muted trumpet.

The Man In Black On His Ring Of Fire

Dylan worked out alright, 40 some odd views so far. So here's Johnny!

Let me know what you think and if you like it, share the link from YouTube!

Heading out to SoCal on Saturday, but I'm tryin' to get two more done that they already sold. Anybody got a Hendrix record they don't want? Hehe, yea. So you can still see the ones for the show in San Diego if you:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and help me blow away the smoke and ash!

Dylan On YouTube

This is making me nervous. I haven't done one before and I don't know how well it worked. I made a time-lapse movie of my painting of Dylan. There are some 20 slides as the painting develops. I'm not sure if it's too dark. On one computer it might be, but on another it looks the way I want it to be seen. I've also done one of Johnny Cash that I need to tweak and add music.

We're still planning on being at the Newport Nights show on Saturday. Hopefully the San Diego fires will be contained enough to allow traffic through. We don't know how many people'll show up, but maybe it'll be a nice welcome home for some locals if they had evacuated. Four pieces have already sold, but they're keeping them for the show. Pretty exciting.

I also am in contact with Roger Steffens who is interested in possibly adding one of my paintings of Bob Marley to what will be the founding collection of the National Museum of Jamaican Music in Jamaica! Whoa! I've got a pic of what it'll look like in my gallery online, so:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and please let me know what you think about the YouTube video here, by email, or on YouTube.

Exposing Myself

I love doing what I do! I get paid to expose myself! Being an artist is hard, but satisfying in that my direct creative expression is getting attention and appreciation. I put part of myself, my soul, into my art, and yes, my goal has become to sell myself. I used to shudder thinking about that aspect of being a professional artist. Now, though, it feels better than working for someone else. I AM my business. It is frustrating to not get feedback and to feel ignored sometimes, but it has built my self-confidence a great deal. I believe in myself. I'm not sure anybody would recommend becoming an artist to bolster one's self-esteem, but it definitely encourages self-reliance. I have to be my own biggest fan. For me, that's big, as before now, I was my biggest critic, not cutting myself slack for mistakes and imperfections that I far overlooked in others. I still hold myself to high standards, but optimistically!

I'm realizing this on a day with little visible progress. I painted Otis Redding because I wanted to, not for a client. I added an XML sitemap to my website for search engines which already have me indexed. And I created yet another profile/gallery for a free artists' directory with no other posts in its forum since September. Yet, the more things I do to promote my online presence, my artwork, myself, the more I realize that I must consider myself worth it! I'm spending all this time on me!

This post, then, is meant to share my inspiration. Not quite an epiphany or anything too profound, just a simple acknowledgement of how lucky I am to be my own business. My ultimate goal in being an artist is to spread my idea and creativity to as many people as I can, to bring people together by communicating about our collective culture, and to live a human life. It's why we're here I think, to be humans and to be understood as the individuals that we are within humanity.

What do YOU think?

I also submitted a press release to AP.org regarding Newport Nights this October 27th at Primitive Kool in San Diego. Hopefully they'll find it suitable for distribution, but in the meantime, if you haven't:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: http://www.vinylart.info/

and see the 16 pieces that'll be on display and for sale!

Otis Redding 10/19/07

Do Work!

The Man in Black is definitely giving Zep a run for their money in popularity, at least as far as my paintings go. A collector already bought the one I had done for Newport Nights at Primitive Kool before they even publicized them! They asked if I could do another one for the show so they could sell that one along with paintings of Johnny Cash from a couple other artists. So, I did work! This one is on the Pickwick release "Walk the Line". I had to reunite it with it's cover at the record store because it's a bit warped and they were going to sell just the sleeve. Doin' my part!

Speaking of my part, apparently Blog Action Day was a huge success. They took down most of their site so I had to put the banner image on my site. Makes sense, though, to streamline their site. They probably didn't want some 20,000 blogs hitting their site constantly for those banners. In any event, feel free to use my copy. You can find it in my previous post:

http://vinylart.blogspot.com/2007/10/blog-action-day-make-it-more-than-day.html

Also, if you want to see more examples of my work, you can go through the rest of this blog and:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: http://www.vinylart.info/

and tell me how you found me!

Blog Action Day - Make It More Than A Day

Fits right in. I recently considered the recycling, repurposing, reuse aspect of my artwork:

http://www.treehuggingfamily.com/recycled-vinyl-art

So, here I'm wandering online and I happen to find Emily Chang and the post on eHub about today in the blogosphere. Since I'm a reasonably active blogger, I thought I'd do my part to spread the idea. Especially since my artwork has a bit of a connection to at least saving landfill space.



If you don't know about my art, you can find more info in this blog or you can:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and leave me feedback too!

The Godfather - Vinyl Killers

This James Brown is for a show in Portland called Vinyl Killers - http://www.craptastica.com/vinylkillers/vkmain3.htm

The sheen is from the acrylic clear coat I sprayed on liberally. Made my garage smell lovely, but it'll protect the painting without needing a frame. I've thought of using resin, but this was much easier, other than a slight ventilation problem. The effect is kinda cool, almost glossy with the grooves smoothed over. Most of the submissions are spray paint, but Klutch said mine'd fit in. We'll see. The show is at a place called The Goodfoot, which I didn't know when I choose The Godfather to paint, so a cool connection there.

I can't go to the show because we're going to San Diego that weekend to see my 16 pieces at Primitive Kool. You can see those in previous posts or when you:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: http://www.vinylart.info/

and help me get the buzz going!

Knocked Up, a.k.a. The Top 101 Unforgettable SNL Moments Revisited

[EDIT - 5/15/08: To those of you arriving at this post searching for information about E!'s 101 Most Unforgettable SNL Moments, I know there isn't too much out there, including from E!. I found this which lists all the moments. I do hope you're not too upset that you've ended up here. Happy trails!]

What a great movie! So honest. I like comedies like that, like "Little Miss Sunshine" and "The 40 Year Old Virgin". You'd think I must like Steve Carell. But I don't. I don't? Wait, yes... yes... I don't. What? I do. I do what? I do... not like Steve Carell. That can't be right. I do like Steve Carell, no? No. Wait, no I do or no I don't? What? Like Steve Carell. No. No, I do. I really do... like Steve Carell. Yeah? Yeah... I don't. Really? No, I do. What? I must like Steve Carell. Do I? No.

I feel a little guilty about using the Top 101 Moments of SNL on a preceding post. A bunch of people are finding it because I initially screwed up and put "100", which, because it was incorrect, got my post kinda high up in Google. People hitting that link see Jimi Hendrix and a list of comedians. Some from SNL, but honestly the show was only tangentially related to the post. Well, it did inspire the post, but there wasn't any info about it. I didn't even put a link to the E! page for it or anything. Was that wrong? I hope people at least like my artwork. I am genuinely putting those lists to give a sense of who I am, what from our pop culture has seeped into my brain. And I'm trying to keep my rambling to a minimum, so I don't add paragraph upon paragraph detailing why each item on a list is there. Otherwise my posts would be epic, but in a bad way.

Right now, though, comedians like Steve Carell and Will Ferrell are making me laugh the most. Even "Blades of Glory" was a riot in spurts. They're kind of like modern-day screwball comedies, fast-talking, physical humor, silly, yet with an undercurrent of intelligence. Of course, as previously noted, "Bringing Up Baby" and the others of its time are in our limited DVD collection. I love it when funny people come together with a funny script and the perfect director for their time and place.

The owner of the Tempe Improv balked at my paintings of Steve Martin, Bill Cosby, George Carlin and Robin Williams, so if anybody's interested, let me know here or:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and email me. Let me know, too, who your favorite comedians are!

Some Like It Hot

I was amazed that I found an album of her recordings for her movies that was in bad enough shape to paint. I hope I did her justice. I wouldn't want to offend Joltin' Joe's memory of his Marilyn. What the American public has considered "beautiful" has sure changed over the years. I've considered many very different actresses to be gorgeous. I used to draw and sculpt the figure from live models, so I became aware of the subjectivity and individuality of beauty. Here is a group of publicly known women that helped shape my sense of feminine exquisiteness:

Audrey Hepburn
Lauren Bacall
Rita Hayworth
Marilyn Monroe
Barbara Feldon
Shannon and Tracy Tweed
Gillian Anderson
Michelle Pfeiffer
Anna Nicole Smith (as the Guess girl)

So American... oh well, that's where I grew up! And near Hollywood. I suppose, then, these really capture what I consider the beautiful celebrity, not feminine beauty in general. How shallow is that? This is, however, a part of who I am and of my pop culture, so it's definitely relevant to this blog.

Also relevant to this blog about my trials and tribulations as an artist, the glass of 2 of the 3 I sent to Wild About Music broke in transit. Blast! This is the third time. I am switching over to plexiglass for everybody now, for sure. It's just not worth the worry every time I send one with glass. Plex is lighter anyway. The practical issues of being an artist are trying. I just want to be able to paint and make people happy, not be bothered by packaging concerns. If you'd like to see the ones I sent to Austin even though they aren't displayed for sale yet, you can:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and look through the online gallery.

Newport Nights Collection

They're a little small, I know. But I've posted most of them already. This is just to show the whole show together. News emails and posts have gone out to spread the word. If you know someone who lives in the San Diego area or will be there October 27th, please let them know about my art. Http://primitivekoolart.com has the details.

They don't however have the paintings yet. I'm going to send them next week. There's still plenty of time for commissioning me for holiday gifts too, so let me know if you're interested! You can leave comments here or:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and email or call me. Thanks!

Top 101 Moments Of SNL

[EDIT - 5/15/08: To those of you arriving at this post searching for information about E!'s 101 Most Unforgettable SNL Moments, I know there isn't too much out there, including from E!. I found this which lists all the moments. What follows here is another more personal list of mine.]

We were watching the countdown on E! last night and it reminded me of how important comedians and comedy have been in shaping my outlook on life. From the zany Monty Python troop to the warmth of Bill Cosby, there've been tons of funny people through the years who have connected with and influenced what makes me laugh:

George Carlin
Steve Martin
John Belushi
Dan Aykroyd
Gilda Radner
Bill Murray
Lucille Ball
Mitch Hedberg
Burns & Allen
Fry & Laurie
Sid Caesar
Steve Carell
Charlie Chaplin
Bill Cosby
John Cleese
Chris Farley
David Spade
Jimmy Fallon
Tina Fey
Will Ferrell
Mel Brooks
Christopher Guest
Phil Hartman
Rowan & Martin
Tim Conway
Caroll Burnett
Harvey Corman
Andy Kaufman
Buster Keaton
Denis Leary
David Letterman
Conan O'Brien
Marx Brothers
Tracy Morgan
Bob Newhart
Trey Parker & Matt Stone
Carl Reiner
Molly Shannon

These are a bunch of the biggies for me. There are lots of comedic actors, but they don't fit in with this list, I don't think.

I've gotten all the paintings done for Primitive Kool. Now I've just got to frame and box'em! The Newport Nights show is going to be 2007/10/27. http://primitivekoolart.com/ has more details. I'll do commissions of the ones that'll be in the show too, if you can't make it, or any other musician you'd want! I'm going to put a post of all 16 pieces together soon. For now:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: http://www.vinylart.info/

and tell me who you'd add to my funny people list!

Two For Tuesday

Rockzone Records hung the ones I gave them! They look great. I'll take my camera next time I'm down there and get a shot of'em. I'm sending 3 to Wild About Music today and the ones for Primitive Kool are almost ready to go too.

Yesterday, I tried to contact the radio stations I listened to growing up to see if they'd be interested in my work. We'll see. They did play an important role in what pop music I listened to during my teens. I found out about classic rock groups from KLSX, heavy metal masters from KNAC, and all those great alternative bands from Pirate Radio. All of those are different now, but KLOS, KCBS, and KROQ are still there. Grunge certainly wouldn't have influenced me as much if it hadn't been for radio and MTV. I'm looking for a Nirvana record right now to do for Primitive Kool, but they're hard to come by for sure. Ozzy's available through PayPal in my online gallery, so if you're interested:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and scroll through the jukebox.

Call Me

Or, at least:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: http://www.vinylart.info/

Al Green 09/28/07

15 From Across The Pond

Since The Beatles have had the biggest impact on my musical taste, it's natural that I like any decent Brit pop, prog rock or metal. Getting to see the Verve in London is going to be extraordinary for my wife and I. It seems that most of the music I've listened to over and over, especially recently, is from the UK:

The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
Queen
Led Zeppelin
Black Sabbath
Pink Floyd
Genesis
10cc
Nick Drake
Oasis
The Verve
Stereophonics
Gomez
Kasabian
Arctic Monkeys

A couple people have suggested I paint Nick Drake, so if anybody happens to have an LP of his on vinyl that they're looking to get rid of, please let me know, ;) Right. Sure. But here's hoping! If you want to see more of what I do with old LPs, scan through more of my blog and also:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: http://www.vinylart.info/

I'm not adverse to shipping oversees either. UK galleries particularly seem very hip.

Freddie Mercury 09/27/07

15 Musical Landmarks In My Life

Rockzone Records in Chandler has six pieces now: Lou Reed, Jim Morrison, Michael Stipe, Bob Marley, Pink Floyd, and KISS. I've got pics in my online gallery. Jerry and Otis are for Primitive Kool. I realized I haven't really talked about what music has been important to me over the years. Here, then, are some of the bands and musicians that were pivotal in shaping my musical taste and have become part of my musical culture:


The Beatles - my dad introduced me to Revolver, on vinyl of course
Genesis w/ Peter Gabriel - lead me into prog rock, thank you MTV and "Big Time"
Pink Floyd - prog rock/psychedelia crossover
Jefferson Airplane - full-blown psychedelia
Jimi Hendrix - psychedelia/blues rock connection
The Doors - added in more keyboards and hammond organ
Led Zeppelin - blues rock/heavy metal transition
Black Sabbath w/ Ozzy - "Paranoid" was my first heavy metal CD
Nirvana - grunge diversion, I was a teen in the 90s
NIN - moving into industrial, helped with teen angst too
Autechre - headlong from industrial into electronica, got a little intellectual around then
Acetone - hometown band that combined grunge, heavy metal, and interesting vocals
Lou Donaldson - got a little funky on the horn as electronica lead me into sampling
Stereophonics - a move to Phoenix and it became more about the vocals in front of the rock
Blind Melon - and passionate, pure, raw beauty

This is by *no* means near complete, but it does give a bit of an outline of my journey, musical landmarks if you will. While in college, I spent a LOT of time in used record stores listening to anything I hadn't heard before, so my interests got very diverse, and quite weird at times. Maybe someday I'll actually catalog my CDs and post a list or something. For now, here's mister Otis Redding:

Tell me about your musical journey!

Jammin' For Primitive Kool

Painting up a storm for the show. Don't have much to say today other than I'm curious why my blog ranking jumped so much yesterday. I wish readers would leave me comments. Let me know how you found me or start up a dialog. Something. Anything. Also, there are more examples in my online gallery if you want to:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: http://www.vinylart.info/

For now back to painting! Woohoo!

What's Your Story?

I saw a few segments of the old HBO Taxicab Confessions the other night. Our schedule was a bit outta whack after the Arctic Monkeys concert, which was excellent. It reminded me how those early shows on cable that were more raw and more reality did a lot to make me more tolerant. While it also desensitized me a bit, it made me want to seek truth and individuality, to strip away preconceived notions and let people be who they are with no judgement. Everyone is worth listening to and showing love for simply that, who they are.

That's why with my portraits I try to be true to the individual, to celebrate their natural beauty. I want the person to come through with no filters, no externally imposed beliefs. To me, it makes them feel more personal, more connected, instead of homogenized and flat.

I get to do another Zep, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Johnny Cash for Wild About Music as they sold 3 last month! Roy Robbins also sold the Sammy Davis Jr. he had on display. Here come more frames! Keep an eye on my gallery for new ones when you:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: http://www.vinylart.info/

Christmas is coming! Still plenty of time to commission pieces!

Marvin Gaye 09/24/07

Papa's Got A Reused Recycled Bag

I hadn't thought of this before, but you could call my work "recycled art". I am repurposing beat-up LPs, saving them from the landfill. I like it. Jennifer Chait of http://hippiesounds.com/ thought of it.

We get to see the Arctic Monkeys tonight! It'll be awhile before our next concert I think. We're going to see The Verve in London in November.

Meanwhile, I'm getting ready for my first group show! Primitive Kool is including me in their October exhibit/beach party. I get to do some 20 pieces! James Brown and Ella Fitzgerald were first, with Marvin Gaye next. Who do you think I should do? I've got a good list together but I'd love suggestions. If you need to see others I've done:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: http://www.vinylart.info/

and please feel free to call me. That's why I put my phone number up.

James Brown 09/21/07

Make That "Concert, Concerts"

Shoot, The White Stripes cancelled their whole US tour a couple days before we were going to see them in Albuquerque. Totally bummed is the feeling. We were so excited! Oh well.

There are a couple of paintings newly added to my online gallery, so you can:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

to see'em. Please, too, do leave comments here, send me e-mail, or even call me with feedback!

Give And Take

My goodness! Primitive Kool already sold all five I sent them!

http://primitivekoolart.com/pages/DANIEL.html

How... well, "kool"! I hope they want more! If you haven't seen what Vinyl Art's all about, you can also:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and give koolart@pacbell.net a hooray!

The Kings

I'm starting to get some really good feedback from the exposure started by Josh Spear! It's exciting to have some genuine interest coming from online! Primitive Kool in San Diego, CA received the blues portraits and should have them up soon. Janis is off to SoCal as a commission. How do you think it turned out?

The Kings of Leon were excellent at the Marquee last night. Their "show" is getting more exciting and they rocked it! Such good music, so talented. Great venue too. I would highly recommend it for Phoenix area concert-goers. The only thing about the place is the perhaps overly high-strung security. It's about like the airport, just without the actual metal detector! I don't understand the need, just not the level to which they take it. Once inside though, it's sweet.

I haven't been to an overwhelming number of concerts. I only started going with my wife when she showed me bootlegs of Black Crowes shows she'd been to as a teenager. We've seen some pretty nice ones. We're making it a priority and like planning trips around shows. The best so far for me was seeing the Crowes reunite in Atlanta. We could see the tour bus from the window of our hotel room! Beautiful city and fun venue, The Tabernacle. We also just saw Marc Ford at the Rhythm Room here in Phoenix. A little dive club, we got to sit stage left right in front of him! Sweet merciful crap, that was incredible seeing him jam for like over 3 hours.

What's your most recent concert and how did it rank with others you've seen? I wish I had been around during the 60's to see some of the people I've painted:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

Now where's that Otis Redding record...

Concerts, Concerts, Concerts!

Today starts a string of concerts my wife and I get to see. First is the Kings of Leon in Tempe, AZ. We saw them in New Orleans at the House of Blues and were excited they were going to come to the Phoenix area. Then the White Stripes in Albuquerque and in San Diego. Yes, we're seeing both concerts! They put on such great live performances we couldn't resist. "Anywhere within a 6 hour drive," my wife said. Then the Arctic Monkeys back in Tempe.

This won't be cutting down on my painting much, though. I've got commissions to work on and several I want to do because I know they'll make great pieces. I'll keep posting pics as I get them done too. Oh, that Dylan wasn't at Raw Style, it was at Wild About Music in Austin, TX. I had done 2 Dylans and didn't remember which was where. But now my brother-in-law has it!

I'm trying to decide who to show at Rockzone Records. So far I've got Jim Morrison, Ozzy Osbourne, Bob Marley and Lou Reed. I'm thinking for the DJ crowd to throw up Rick James "Street Songs" with Superfreak and Isaac Hayes "Shaft" dance mixes to make'em chuckle and think. Or Queen and Kiss. What do you think? I'll post the pics after I get them framed and hung, so who do you want to see? If you need examples:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and take a look at the gallery.

Holy Jibbitz, I've Been Blogged!

Josh Spear saw fit to blurb me in his blog! David Vo wrote the concise, well-composed post:

http://www.joshspear.com/item/daniel-edlen

He used the Bob Dylan painting with the text, one of my favorites that I almost wish I hadn't sent off to hang at Raw Style in Santa Monica, CA. I've sent off the five blues greats, Howlin' Wolf, Billie Holiday, B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, and Ray Charles, to Primitive Kool in San Diego, CA as well. A fan who bought a Johnny Cash at Gasoline Gallery in El Segundo, CA is interested in Silverchair as well, and I actually found an album they pressed on vinyl! I've got a local record store interested in consigning some pieces as well, so I get to paint more! Off to decide who to do... oh, first, in case you'd like to see others like the one above:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: http://www.vinylart.info/

and scroll through the jukebox!

The Purpose Of Education In Life

It's hard not to question myself. I do it all the time, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. I end up talking myself out of doing things and taking chances. I got lucky and was sort of hit on the head with the realization of who I am. Before that, I was floating, unsure of myself because I didn't know who that was. I suppose everyone goes through that during their formative years.

One of the main reasons I got anywhere was my sense of commitment. It also made it difficult to start anything, because I would try to plan out the whole thing in my head before even attempting it. But I did do school well, really well. Academics was my commitment from an early age. I've since realized that that wasn't who I was meant to be, so I stopped after getting a B.S. at UCLA. However, after elementary, middle, high school and university, I've come to understand what school was for, at least for me. I think my understanding would benefit others and help avoid the frustration many have with academic education, so here goes.

School is a framework built to teach how to learn and how to communicate. At least up until grad school, the content of education, in and of itself, isn't as important as the structure. Every field of study ended up being another language, another way to communicate about humanity and our place in the universe. It seemed all academics basically sought to understand who they were and where they fit into life, but did that by focussing on just one framework of understanding. I characterize myself as mostly a "big picture" kinda guy, so the best pieces that I gleaned from different areas of study ended up being those that were new ways to learn and communicate about life as a whole, not those simply useful as independent frameworks. I think schools should begin to realize their place in people's lives as providers and facilitators of communication and understanding. The purpose of learning the 3 Rs is not just to learn them independently of each other and separated from all other aspects of a student's life, but to begin to provide students with a common language and way to learn about themselves and society. Tools, they're tools.

Pop culture is humanity's most immediate and purest communication of what it's about at any given time on a large scale. One of the beautiful things about the Internet is that it's making more facets of our culture widely available more rapidly and generating more communication, which pushes our popular culture in new less explored directions. It's very inspiring to me and it's why I'm trying to be a part of it. Everybody's got something to say and school's job should be to facilitate that communication and others' understanding of it. The actual knowledge passed on is so much less important than passing on the ability to access and understand new knowledge. Hence, communication and learning to learn.

I think following this would create a more satisfying educational experience for everyone. Students wouldn't be made to feel inferior/superior to others by focussing so much on test scores, but instead would revel in being able to find out who they are in their own lives and to share that with classmates, receiving acknowledgement and understanding. Teachers wouldn't have to concentrate on regurgitation, but instead would get to use their subject matter to connect with their students' lives and help them relate to their own culture to future generations' cultures. Then students would have the desire to seek new knowledge and see how it can enable more understanding of life and a greater sense of belonging to the world.

I hope this ramble isn't ill-conceived. I certainly mean well. I'd like to think that communicating my viewpoint, sharing my passions, and being creatively productive is worthwhile. I value it in others. I do also seek acknowledgment and understanding, so please give me feedback, whether it be a comment here or an E-Mail or phone call. My E-Mail address and phone number can be found on the contact page if you:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

Like all artists, I just want to be heard.

19 Memorable Actors

I just saw "The Straight Story" on TV during lunch after painting this one. If you haven't, rent it, take a chunk of time and watch it. I'd seen it when it came out in the theaters and it hasn't lost its impact. Not at all what one would expect from the director of "Blue Velvet", but oh my goodness what a beautiful movie. Poignant. Everything succinctly said with no unnecessary off-topic dialog. And the soundtrack is gorgeous. I remember when I saw it in the theater I almost couldn't see because I was constantly welling up with tears. Did today too.

David Lynch is so good at casting his movies. It got me thinking about actors that have had a lasting impact on me. Some are comedic geniuses and some are dramatic powerhouses, some both! In no particular order:

Jack Nicholson
Marlon Brando
Johnny Depp
Steve Martin
Katherine Hepburn
Cary Grant
John Cleese
John Goodman
Christopher Walken
Kevin Spacey
Sandra Bullock
Gary Oldman
Brad Pitt
Bill Murray
John Turturro
Dustin Hoffman
Jimmy Stewart
Robert De Niro
Michelle Pfeiffer

Another odd list when I look back at it. Performances that have stuck with me though, for sure. Who'd be on your list? I really would like to know. Please give me comments and see the new-ish gallery layout when you:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

won't you?

Creative Repetition - Top 8 Musical Examples

One thing I really admire is consistency. Luke Chueh is a lowbrow artist who's got it down. At it's base, consistency is sophisticated repetition, I think. Warhol. You know. It's what I strive for, especially when I do more than one of the same image. These are handpainted, but I try to get them as close as possible. They always have their own character, but they do stand up to the side-by-side test.

In music, same thing. I like looping and repeated melodies. Philip Glass and Steve Reich are pioneers in modern classical music (gotta love that oxymoron). The Beatles were one of the first bands to use loops in popular music. During my teen years, at one point I got into electronica and sampling at the same time. Here are some albums that defined those genres for me:

"Le Parc" by Tangerine Dream
"Endtroducing" by DJ Shadow
"Lifeforms" by Future Sound of London
"Dig Your Own Hole" by The Chemical Brothers
"The Grassy Knoll" by The Grassy Knoll
"Maxinquaye" by Tricky
"Incunabula" by Autechre
"I Was Young and I Needed the Money!" by Clifford Gilberto

Looking through my collection, I found a whole bunch more, but these are the standouts for me. At some point I'll tell you how some of these, along with a bit of teen angst led me into industrial and heavy metal. Fun stuff. Now I listen to funk and blues while I paint legends like B.B. King. My online gallery now has PayPal Buy it Now buttons for some immediately available pieces, so:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and see if one you want is already for sale!

Flickr On And Off

I'm getting some sparks of interest, including comments on the Audrey Hepburn on Flickr. My page there is:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vinylart

I've made my main website gallery clearer, too, as far as buying currently available ones and locations of others. Any painting you see on my main website or my other site at http://www.hartshandmade.com/vinyl.htm is either currently for sale or available for commission.

I'm off to paint a couple more, but in the meantime:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and let me know what you think! As it evolves, I need feedback as it's for you after all.

Speaking Of Soundtracks

I saw a bit of Batman directed by Tim Burton yesterday and it reminded me how much I love soundtracks. I even took a class in soundtracks at UCLA that looked in depth at Pulp Fiction's collection of songs with dialog interspersed. Such great music! Over the years I've ended up buying some soundtracks that I love listening to even without the movie:

Passion: The Last Temptation of Christ by Peter Gabriel
Get Shorty by Booker T. (among others)
The Fugitive by James Newton Howard
Slaughterhouse Five performed by Glenn Gould
Jurassic Park by John Williams
Romeo is Bleeding by Mark Isham
Dick Tracy by Danny Elfman
Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me by Angelo Badalamenti
Elf

Had to get one great collection of Christmas songs in there! Those certainly are some powerhouse contemporary soundtrack composers. Good movies too. In any event, just another sampling of what has sunk into my pop culture subconscious for you.

I think I'm rounding the curve before the home stretch as far as setting up all my online accounts and profiles having done LinkedIn, Bestuff, and Flickr. I'll get there. I'd love to know how I'm doing, so if you haven't, please:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and also leave me comments here! I'll respond, I promise.

12 Movies I'd Watch Anytime

Timeless, eh? Not many like Audrey Hepburn. I felt like painting movie stars who sang a little on soundtracks to films in which they starred was worth trying. Next, I'd like to do one of Marilyn on "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is just such a classic though. Again in my comfortable lounging position, when cable brought the world of movies into my living room, I indulged. Most were forgettable, but a few were those unbelievable pieces of art. Auteur directors giving iconic actors the opportunity to become part of our pop culture. Here're a few that I can watch over and over:

Philadelphia Story
The Big Lebowski
Casablanca
I Heart Huckabees
Halloween
His Girl Friday
Joe Vs. The Volcano
Fight Club
The Jerk
M*A*S*H
The Princess Bride
Feris Bueller's Day Off

Yeah, that's actually the list. Surprised me too! There are so many films that I think are amazing, but wouldn't watch over and over. Blockbusters, cult classics, screwball comedies, indie dramas, and animated masterpieces among them, I'll come back to movies I've loved for sure. This diverse group, however, are the ones that have become part of my pop culture sub-conscious and who I am. That's why I'm writing this blog after all, to tell you who I am, to get you interested enough in me to:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

What movies would you say are part of who you are?

Whew! PayPal Can Be Nerveracking!

I did get it to work though. Now in my website's online gallery page at www.vinylart.info/why.htm, there are a few paintings that I still have on hand which are available to purchase directly through PayPal using your account there or a credit card. I just pay a minimal fee for the transaction and it allows me to accept credit cards! Pretty sweet.

The rest of the paintings in the gallery are either sold or consigned to a gallery. I do work largely on commission however, so if there is one you are interested in me painting again or a different one, please let me know! I require payment upfront for commissions, but the time I need to get it to you is only around a month currently.

I'll be adding others I still have available to the gallery soon as well. You never know, I might've already painted the musician in whom you are interested! Just ask! But you won't know unless you:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and, please, give me feedback either by E-Mail or comment here!

Top 11 Voices - A Nice Unround Number

Billie Holiday, just one of those voices that hit you right in your soul. Voice in music has been very important to me over the years. I'm quite picky - too whiny, too jangly, too something. But then there are those voices that knock me out of my comfortable lounging position. This, then, is a list of those voices or groups of voices that struck me as most stunnning, unique and wonderful:

Kelly Jones
Peter Gabriel
Jefferson Airplane
The Beatles
Janis Joplin
Nina Simone
Jeff Buckley
Kurt Cobain
Richard Ashcroft
Kate Bush
Otis Redding

I know this is an odd group, musical styles ranging from prog rock to the blues, but it does relate to the types of music I listen to the most. This blog is as much about self-discovery as it is communicating to you all about me and my art, so it was interesting to look through my CD collection to compile this list. My wife has always told me I listen to some weird music! I'll get into the extent of that weirdness in later posts, but suffice it to say I've got Nina Simone's raw blues next to Tangerine Dream's ethereal electronica.

Who are your favorite singers? Please leave me feedback about what you think of my choices and, of course, to see other singers I've painted:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: http://www.vinylart.info/

Don't be a stranger!

eBay And Feedback!

I've gotten my first comment! Woohoo! And from another artist too. How exciting. I hope more will follow.

I also have a couple pieces available on eBay for a couple more days. I thought I'd mention them here since they haven't really caught any attention there yet. I've got Buy It Now prices on them at the price that they are mostly selling for in galleries. I know 2 days notice is short, but I'm trying to make the most of my 7 bucks for posting them:

Santana - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=170142992944
Jim Morrison of The Doors - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=170142994102

So, take a look and see what you think! Indeed, these two are also shown in my gallery that you can see if you:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

Come one, come all!

Feedburner Activated - Television Gathering Dust

My first post that'll be sent through Feedburner! Don't know if anyone'll get it, but it's there! RSS/Atom subscriptions are kinda like TV, I guess. Or maybe Tivo. Anyway, it's like push *and* pull content combined. I like it. I was at UCLA in the late '90s when the Internet and World Wide Web were just getting public interest. I got so interested in the underlying technology and software that I changed majors to the computer science-based Cybernetics.

Way off topic, sorry. Won't get into THAT too much. Suffice it to say that television took up much less of my time. Yet, TV was and is an important influence on me. It's helped develop my visual aesthetic, my sense of humor, and my ability to sit comfortably without moving for hours. Great pop culture skills. There were many shows that have become embedded in my media-saturated brain, but here're the ones that stand out:

The Simpsons

Get Smart

Looney Toons

High-class humor, huh? But so creative and, really, kind of revolutionary for their time. They each had their impact on our culture and on me. At the very least, I really really REALLY wanted a shoe-phone. And now, amazingly, my phone *could* fit in my shoe under my foot if I wanted a smelly phone. And you could get my post on your phone! What a world. Well, it'll all help to spread my idea if you:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and tell your friends!

Blues Roots

John Lee Hooker is among the blues legends that influenced most of the musicians that I listen to regularly, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The White Stripes, The Black Crowes, and the Rolling Stones to name a few. So this is my painting from yesterday. Whad'ya think?

I also wanted to share some more important influences on me. Since I'm already talking music, let's talk music. It is my main passion other than my wife, so I have a lot to say about it. To start, though, I wanted to list the albums that had the biggest initial impact on my outlook towards music. In no real order:

"Revolver" by The Beatles

"After Bathing At Baxter's" by Jefferson Airplane

"Foxtrot" by Genesis

These albums formed the beginnings, the roots of my deep interest in music. My passion can be traced back to these albums and their creators. This isn't to say that all that I listen to relates to these in particular, but they are why I love music as much as I do. In future posts I will explore where my musical interests have meandered, but for now this is a start. If you haven't yet, you can see my painting of Peter Gabriel from his early solo career after leaving Genesis if you:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

And please leave me comments! I thrive on feedback.

The Clothes Make The Man

I needed to inspire myself this morning, so I started thinking about what has influenced me. My culture has been formed by music, art, books, movies, television, clothes, and other creative media. In one of my favorite movies, Joe Vs. The Volcano, Ossie Davis tells Tom Hanks that to ask someone what kind of clothes they should wear is like asking them to tell you who you are. I'll get to other movies in later posts, but today I want to address my dress.

It is fitting that my style has been primarily influenced by 3 musicians in bands that my wife and I are crazy about. They are the most passionate and seemingly pure creative people I've seen perform in a long time. In no particular order, they are Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes, Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon, and Jack White of the White Stripes. Their attitudes toward life and music are so inspirational and contemporary. It's great to see individuals contributing positively to popular culture by just being who they are and doing what they do. And of course, they look so cool doing it!

I don't want to over-analyze these influences, so I'll list'em and keep the rambling to a minimum. I just want to share with you who and what has made me what I am today. I hope you'll be interested enough to see what it all has led to and:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

Wearing a black cowboy shirt with white piping, a black necklace, and narrow black-striped slacks, I wish you a good day!

Best 3 Things About Austin, TX

1. My brother-in-law Jason lives near there.

2. http://www.keepaustinweird.com/

3. Wild About Music, the first gallery to show my work, has sold yet another Led Zeppelin! They took a chance on me and sold a Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong, Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King, and a bunch of Zeppelins. So if you're in the Austin area checking out 6th Street, drop in and say hello!

And, if you want to see more examples of pieces like Page and Plant:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT WWW.VINYLART.INFO

Now I can buy more records and frames!

Comedians Too?

"But, Daniel, comedians aren't musicians," you might say. True usually, but, they are part of our pop culture. An important part, I think. So I've painted George Carlin, Robin Williams, Steve Martin, and Bill Cosby to start. The owner of the Tempe Improv is going to take a look at them this weekend hopefully! Leave me a comment if you want me to paint another comedian on commission for you! All they have to have is an album out on vinyl.

Also, if you don't have a clue about what these are, don't worry, just:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT http://www.vinylart.info/

and also, please let me know how you found me! Thanks!

Howlin' At The Trees

Here's a pic of the piece I painted yesterday. I also updated a whole bunch of images on my secondary site which I'll be using to sell through PayPal. They're in the "For Sale" section. Check 'em out and let me know what you think!

I also did another portrait of Johnny Cash flipping everyone off for Gasoline Gallery, which has sold several of those. I have a pic of another Johnny Cash I did on my MySpace profile page.

Here's a random piece of advice I picked up today: don't trim up evergreen trees like pine trees in the heat of the Arizona summer. Apparently it puts them into shock.

Just thought I'd share that with you as I try to get a large branch that broke off cleaned up and to get you to:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

I'll post more pics here too, if you want to see more.

Opening Myself Up - Success Online

Well. Days after creating this blog, things are already rolling. I don't know if that's directly related to this blog or not, but I'm inspired. Three people have contacted me interested in more information, having found me through my MySpace, searching for "vinyl art" on google, and seeing the piece I did for a local radio station to give away at a concert. Further, a gallery is very interested in showing my work of specifically blues musicians. I just painted one of Howlin' Wolf for them yesterday. I'll let you all know when they have it for sale on their website. So stay tuned!

In the meantime, if you don't know what Vinyl Art is about:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT http://www.vinylart.info/

Better pics with PayPal capability coming soon!

Top 3 Questions That Popped In My Head Last Night

First, how do I find other blogs that relate to mine substantively?

Second, is the highly ranked content really truly new content if it's typically a rehashing or simply reposting of current goings-on from elsewhere?

Third, why is one of my hips higher than the other? How about yours, are they uneven too?

I found a bunch of great suggestions at http://www.problogger.net/ that I hope if I follow effectively will lead people to:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

I want to know your answers, those weren't rhetorical!

Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants

Something I always like to do when I can. Hey, it's how we learn new stuff, right? So, my guess is that most of the people intially who'll find this blog will also be bloggers. Another newbie question for you: how do you go about bringing traffic to your blog? Then, shamelessly, what are some suggestions to ensure that once here, visitors will:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

I can offer my assistance with javascript/html/css/graphic design in return.

Blogging Conventions

On Day 2 of the existence of my blog, I have a question. Why do the posts get displayed in reverse chronological order? I switched the order for the archive, but it appears that blogs in general are formatted that way. It seems weird to me because then any flow of the poster's thought is broken by reading down the page, unless each post is supposed to exist independently from the previous and subsequent ones. Or if there is a series of posts that need to be read sequentially, like my first four, one has to trace back to the first relevant post and then scroll back up to read them in order. So, I'm leaving my archive listed chronologically so one can click through each post in order of creation.

In any event, I already had one person arrive at my site from this very blog, even entering it and looking at several pages! I haven't a clue how they found this blog in the first place, but the important thing is that they did. And when you've found this blog, please:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT WWW.VINYLART.INFO

Also, leave a comment, or email me at vinylart@danieledlen.com, if you know the answer to my question.