The late Chuckie Williams of Shreveport, Louisiana. Quite a painter, he stacked them for ten years in his mother's house until a fire forced dozens of his works out onto the front lawn. At the time I was studying Justin McCarthy, a self-taught painter from Pennsylvania. Mr. Williams work is quite similar, although both worked in relative isolation. Neither had any mysterious, innate, romantic "outsider" skill, they just worked very, very, hard and earned their style. Both painted the celebrities of their day, landscapes, religious scenes, animals, images from television and magazines...you name it. (Here Mr. Williams holds Janet Jackson, Rhythm Nation style) Both worked text into their paintings. Both worked fast. Both sketched the image in pencil or pen and were so anxious to finish they seldom took the time to fill all the spaces. Both knew they were artists long before anyone else did, and it was persistence and hard work which produced the body of work, not a fevered mind, the hand of God, an affliction or a voice from anywhere.
Chuckie Williams, Shreveport LA, circa 1993 Original 35mm photo collection Jim Linderman
I just learned Lux Interior of the Cramps passed away. I am not a blogger who links to clips and sound bites. I hardly even discuss music in public anymore. Enough sappy mix tapes sent to indifferent girlfriends over the years finally taught me music is personal...as personal as religion and just as important. The Cramps meant more to me than I can ever describe. I wrote the above brief history in a now sadly obscure and sadly rare book titled "International Discography of the New Wave Volume II" published in NYC by Omnibus Press and One Ten Records in 1982. It was a massive labor of love by B. George, Martha DeFoe, Henry Beck, Nancy Breslow and a cast of a thousand punks who participated by sending in their homemade 45 records, flyers, blurbs...and love. Every damn one of the 736 pages was typed by hand, and if I recall correctly, the whole lot of 1000 copies was gone immediately. I was so damn proud to see my name associated with the band in print, no matter how insignificant it might appear today. I purchased my first Cramps record and saw them for the first time in 1978. I saw them every time I could. Everyone is special and everyone is unique, but if the phrase "one of a kind" is applicable to anyone with all the glory that expression should imply, it goes to Lux.
At risk of alienating, well...14% of the entire US population, I confess to being indifferent about tattoos. It is a beautiful art to be sure, a friend has the most spectacular collection of antique tattoo flash you could imagine, and I mean a world-class big time serious collection of ART in a big font art. My favorite body modification is the pair of perfect tooth-shaped dog bites I have on my right elbow, the dog who gave them to me is a four-legged miracle. I was thinking about ink because Valentine's day is approaching and I was wondering if the heart is the most popular image. I gave up trying to verify it, but I can tell you one website offers (for $19.95 that is) access to over 10,000 heart images from which you may pick your favorite. I once saw a woman with a thong string and pouch tattooed on her lower back and found it pretty striking. In January 2008, a survey conducted online by Harris Interactive estimated that 14% of all adults in the United States have a tattoo. The highest incidence of tattoos was found among the gay, lesbian and bisexual population (25%) and people living in the West (20%). Among age groups, 9% of those ages 18-24, 32% of those 25-29, 25% of those 30-39 and 12% of those 40-49 have tattoos, as do 8% of those 50-64. Men are just slightly more likely to have a tattoo than women (15% versus 13%"Hello Priscilla" linen Post Card c. 1950 collection Jim Linderman
I do not know what Mr. Heflin's complaint with the VA was, but it made him mad. He was also pretty steamed that a member of his race would be discriminated against.Original 35mm photograph near Montgomery, Alabama 1993 Collection Jim Linderman
The House of David continues to operate here in Michigan to everyone's surprise. Most communes which prohibited sex (not to mention haircuts) have pretty much gone away, but this Utopian dream persists with a wonderful park, restaurant, museum and a fascinating history. Founded in 1903, the religious commune became known primarily for their barnstorming baseball team, they also had a top-notch musical band which toured the vaudeville circuit (shown here "Miles Davis" style). It is a terrible historical flaw that no known recordings of the band exist, but one well-known tune "The House of David Blues" has been recorded by many groups. One source even indicates the tune caused the Harlem Globetrotters to begin using "Sweet Georgia Brown" as a response to the House of David Basketball team playing of this song before games (!) A fascinating story which this post can only BEGIN to tell. Many more tales and artifacts are available on the incredible House of David Museum website
House of David Real Photo Postcard c. 1930 collection Jim Linderman
Former Civil War soldier George E. Carr carved this high-rent neighborhood for birds in 1911, it was situated at Barber's Corner, a mile west of Sciopioville, three miles east of Levanna in Cayoga County. It was 18 feet high. Cayuga County Totem Tree Postcard 1912 collection Jim Linderman
Original 35mm photograph c. 1991 Collection Jim Linderman
Long building, Long nameOriginal 35mm photograph 1991 collection Jim Linderman
A beautiful Stereoview and one I have owned twice over the years. Also known as stereographs, stereo views, stereoscopic views, stereo cards and my favorite, "Victorian Television." They were initially photographic experiments aimed at producing a more realistic image. If you are adept at staring at your own nose, you should be able to bring these images together and see the three dimensional Palmetto tree even without a wooden viewer. Once the photographic technique of mounting two nearly identical images to produce the 3-d effect was established, commercial photographers and suppliers churned these things out by wagon load. If you think your aunt's travel videos are boring, imagine loading images of historic buildings in Europe over and over and over and over into a clunky hand held eyepiece. However, they ARE actual photographs (of many types...nearly every early photographic form was produced in stereo) and on occasion achieve the simple, serene and elegant beauty of this image. Jerome Nelson Wilson went on to form a partnership with O.P Havens and produced southern regional views before passing away in 1897.
Albumen Stereoview J. N. Wilson Savannah Ga c. 1870 Collection Jim Linderman
