Monday night, my friend DWJ and I went to see one of my FAVORITE singer/songwriters, Alice Smith (if you don’t know who she is I’ll give you a minute to check her out, sans judgment). With her stunning multi-octave vocal stylings, she puts on an AMAZING show. Yes, at one point, I got up from my dinner table and danced (evidently it wasn’t  that type of show, but hey, I was overcome by good music).  After the show, I started to buy a poster. But after a comical exchange with the cashier at  Ram’s Head on Stage in Annapolis, MD, I figured out that what I really wanted was a poster-sized version of the album cover.

Then, BOOM, I realized something… Her album cover is the work of an artist that I have known about for a while, Audrey Kawaski. Audrey’s melancholy, otherworldly painting style are the perfect compliment to Alice’s otherworldly, soulful voice.  And what I really like about the album’s dreamy cover art is that it’s reminiscent of dreamy vintage rock posters from the 1960’s.

Bonnie MacLean’s 60’s design for the Yardbirds:

vintage poster from wolfgang's vault

Which makes a ton of sense because like those posters, Audrey Kawasaki’s influenced by art nouveau. But she also says that there is also a relationship between her work and the manga comics she read growing up. This is clear in her use of themes juxtaposing the natural and the fantasy world and her use of flowing feminine lines. And like both art nouveau and some manga, her art walks a fine line between the exploration of sheer innocence and fierce sensuality.

Audrey Kawasaki’s Art ( images from http://www.audrey-kawasaki.com/) :

lydia, oil on wood

she who dares, oil and graphite on wood

I love it when two of my favorite artistic disciplines, music and the visual arts, collide. Click Here to see if Alice Smith will find her way to a city near you. And If you want find out more about Audrey Kawasaki’s art, process as well as past and upcoming shows check out her blog.