Karen Cannon has painted a new tribute to our beloved Father. The painting is titled Salute!, and honors both Bill Monroe and the mandolin he used to create the bluegrass music we know and love.

Karen has painted Bill Monroe and his mandolin before, and she explains how the image for this new original pastel painting came to mind…

“I wanted to do a painting that would pay tribute to ‘the instrument behind the man.’ In this case, I’m paying homage to perhaps the most famous mandolin in the world, Bill Monroe’s faithful Gibson Lloyd Loar F-5.

The new open-edition art print will be featured in my exhibit at the California Bluegrass Association Father’s Day Festival in Grass Valley next week.”

Might this be a candidate for a Bill Monroe postage stamp design?

You can see all of Karen’s bluegrass-themed art on her web site, where you can also sign up for her studio newsletter.

Our friend Karen Cannon has unveiled a new painting in her collection of bluegrass-themed art. Entitled No Respect, it captures a feeling that may be familiar to a good many banjo players out there, treed by a bunch of rowdy critics.

The original was done as a pastel on canvas, and mounted prints are available from her web site.

Karen shared a few words about how she created this image…

“Following my mentor Norman Rockwell’s footsteps, I prefer to work with live models. My model for this piece is Ron Lynam, who was the banjo player in the popular Front Range Bluegrass band from Ft Collins, CO.

Ron was a perfect model… He hillbillied up his costume and even brought the correct type of banjo. We allowed him to use a ladder to climb the tree and then handed up his banjo. So I hope we won’t get busted by the Banjo Humane Society!

The ancient cottonwood tree is in a public area near a river here in Ft Collins. You should have seen how funny folks looked at us walking along with a ladder, a hillbilly, and a banjo. Quite a sight! I couldn’t find dog models, so they’re fictitious.”

Cannon offers her many musical images as art prints, which can be viewed and ordered online. She will also be exhibiting at Merlefest later this month, where she will be available to meet folks and sign prints at her booth.

The November 2008 edition of MoonShiner Magazine marks the 26th birthday for the Japanese language magazine. Congratulations MoonShiner!

Moonshiner (translated page) is the premier bluegrass and acoustic music magazine in Japan. Featuring product reviews, interviews, and lots of articles about vintage and custom instruments, the magazine has long been the source for information to those who live in Japan and are fascinated by bluegrass music.

This 301st issue features some familiar cover art for anyone who paid attention to this year’s IBMA World of Bluegrass. It seems our friend Robert Yonke has gone international with his art!

Richard Matteson JR lives in Louisville, KY. He teaches guitar at a local music store. He began playing bluegrass in the early 1980s with banjoist Derrick Phillips. In 1997 he formed his band, the Bluegrass Messengers. Matteson has published ten books. His most recent book, Bluegrass Picker’s Tunebook, is currently available from Mel Bay Publications.

Aside from his playing and writing, Matteson has begun to promote bluegrass music via the visual arts. In 2006 he began a series of paintings based on traditional American songs. The lyrics of the song are engraved on the canvas in small print and the painting depicts the story of the song. He has painted such bluegrass tunes as: Bury Me Beneath the Willow, Careless Love, Darlin’ Cory, Banjo Pickin’ Girl, and Molly & Tenbrooks. Matteson has kindly shared these five images with us.

Matteson continues to paint other songs while also doing concerts performing the songs he’s already painted while displaying the accompanying artwork. The Kentucky Music Hall of Fame & Museum, in Renfro Valley, KY, recently acquired two of Matteson’s paintings for display.

Matteson performed at the museum, displaying all ten of his bluegrass series song paintings, last Satuday Oct. 18th. Director of the museum, Robert Lawson, found the paintings compelling enough that he plans to exhibit Molly and Tenbrooks in the Bill Monroe exhibit area, and is currently working on a new display for Lily May Ledford, which will feature the painting of her song, Banjo Pickin’ Girl.

The paintings may be viewed on Matteson’s new Bluegrass and Artwork Blog.