The Ronettes- Sleigh Ride
This song by The Ronettes is from the classic 1963 holiday album- A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector.
Dec 242025
Nov 212025
In The Recap this month- music, art, art shows, murals, spooky season posts and more. Check it out here and subscribe!
Oct 312024
The painting above is Norman Rockwell’s The Fiddler, 1921, currently on view at Brandywine Museum of Art in Pennsylvania.
From the museum about the work-
Best known for the paintings he did as cover illustrations for The Saturday Evening Post, Rockwell also did extensive work for other major publications. “The Fiddler” appeared as a cover for The Country Gentleman in October 1921, still relatively early in his career. Rockwell celebrates autumn and Halloween, represented by both the grinning jack-o-lantern and the corn cob and autumn leaf garland. He skillfully mimics the effect of stage lighting in this painting, highlighting the musician’s expression and hands, creating an illusion of three-dimensionality.
Oct 312023
This painting was spotted at The Factory in St. Pete. It was one of the works in the group exhibition Medium.
It combines several Halloween staples- pumpkins, bats, skeletons, candy corn and bloody knives.
Nov 012022
Little Día de los Muertos mural in Dunedin, Florida, by Anna Hamilton Fields.
Nov 012020
Artist Scherezade García’s large-scale community altar at Green-Wood Cemetery’s Historic Chapel for Día de los Muertos. Visitors were encouraged to bring personal offerings to a community altar, including flowers, photographs, and notes, among other objects.
Info from the artist’s Instagram–
Inspired by altars found throughout Mexico and the Mexican diaspora, Garcia’s altar combines her own unique style with this centuries-old celebration of the departed.
The centerpiece of the altar is a weeping, cinnamon-colored Statue of Liberty. By mixing all the colors in her palette, Garcia achieves a brown hue that embodies the ideals of diversity and inclusiveness. Her rendition of the Statue of Liberty, an iconic symbol of New York City, evokes the multitudes of immigrants that have found home here, including large Latin and Caribbean American communities. Garcia has dedicated the altar to all the New Yorkers who fell victim to the coronavirus.
Nov 012020
The sad news is that because of the pandemic Hollywood Forever Cemetery’s grounds are closed for its annual Día de Los Muertos Festival.
The good news is that they are having a Día de los Muertos event online today at noon! It’s hosted by Fernanda Kelly and includes performances by David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez of Los Lobos, Buyepongo, and Tropa Magica.
Oct 312020
Oct 302020
Diego Rivera’s Mandragora, 1939 seen at the San Diego Museum of Art.
From the museum’s wall description-
Diego Rivera created many portraits during his long career. Some portrayed unnamed individuals who agreed to pose for the artist, while others depicted close friends and well-known figures in the arts. The sitter of this work has been identified as Maya Guarina. The delicate lace headpiece and dress worn by Guarina contrast with the skull she she holds in her hands and the spiderweb in the upper left-hand corner. In the upper right-hand corner emerges a small mandrake, a plant identified as a hallucinogen and associated with magic. While these objects might reveal something about Guarina, they also contribute to an enigmatic portrait with Surrealist qualities,
Dec 242019
It’s almost Christmas and if you are in Los Angeles- celebrate the season at Grand Park’s Winter Glow. Several light installations are on display in the park until 12/25/19.