Inspiration for Luna’s Art Deco Guitar

The Great Gatsby is going gangbusters in the theaters, its lush Art Deco setting having a great influence on current fashion and design.

Art Deco was an influential design style which first appeared in France during the 1920s and flourished internationally during the 30′s and early 40′s. It is an eclectic style influenced by machine age imagery and materials. One of Deco’s major attributes is an embrace of technology which distinguishes it from the organic motifs favored by its predecessor Art Nouveau. The style is often characterized by rich colors, bold geometric shapes, and lavish ornamentation.

The fingerboard and rosette ornamentation on Luna’s all solid Art Deco guitar was inspired by Deco’s strong geometry.

During its heyday Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, and faith in social and technological progress. It was a time of energy and excitement. Folks were willing to make bold, new statements with their art, wardrobe, home decor, architecture and automobiles.

ARCHITECTURE

These were the buildings of the future: sleek, geometric, dramatic. With their cubic forms and zigzag designs, art deco buildings embraced the machine age. Yet many features of the style were drawn from ancient history. The very shape of these buildings expresses a fascination for orderly forms and primitive architecture. The early Art Deco skyscrapers suggest Egyptian or Assyrian pyramids with terraced steps rising to the top.

Perhaps the most famous example is New York’s Chrysler Building designed by William Van Alen. Briefly the world’s tallest building, the skyscraper is adorned with eagle hood ornaments, hubcaps and abstract images of cars. Other Art Deco architects used stylized flowers, sunbursts, birds and machine gears.

Chrysler Building

Chrysler Building detail

Chrysler Building Detail

355 Burraud – Vancouver

Paris Art Deco

Mauretania 1934

classic South Beach

INTERIORS

cast iron entrance Domus on Madison NYC

Lobby Empire State Building

metal work Chanin Building NYC

Ventillation grille – Goelet Building NYC

AUTOMOBILES

A radical era in automobile design that spawned sleek, streamlined cars with unique aeronautical names.

Delahaye 175

1937 Delahaye Type 135

The 1939 Graham “Spirit of Motion.”

1925 Rolls Royce Phantom I Jonckheere Aerodynamic Coupe

Deco Cadillac

Blasolene Decoliner

Not a car but a Henderson Motorcycle

EVERYDAY OBJECTS

Deco pen

1930′s perfume bottle

Auguste Bonaz 1925

Royal Doulton Art Deco TANGO tea set

Art Deco Paul Schreckengost Tea Pot, 1938.

Deco letter box

FASHION
Defined by the women’s liberation movement, a prosperous economy, and key improvements in technology, all of which led to the development of a whole new way of life – a life of progressive modernity, luxury and leisure.

Greta Garbo 1920′s

Bebe Daniels

Mariane Morehouse in Chanel for Vogue

Vogue 1928

circa 1920

1920′s ~The Costume Heritage Museum ~ Madrid

JEWELRY

Tiffany – Art Deco lady’s wristwatch

Art Deco coral, diamond and emerald ear pendents by Cartier

Early Art Deco briolette cut aquamarine and diamond pendant, French 1920

Art Deco Pendant Chromium plated brass Glass French, c.1930.

French Art Deco necklace with sapphire and diamonds, c1930

Inspiration for Luna’s Craftsman Guitar

Luna’s Craftsman Guitar

The Craftsman style is an architectural, interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts style and lifestyle philosophy that began in the last years of the 19th century. As a comprehensive design and art movement it remained popular into the 1930s. However, in decorative arts and architectural design it has continued with numerous revivals and restoration projects through present times.

The American Craftsman style has its origins from the British Arts and Crafts movement which began as a philosophy and artistic style founded by William Morris earlier in the 1860s. The British movement was a reaction to the industrial revolution, with its disregard for the individual worker and degradation of the dignity of human labor. Seeking to ennoble the craftsman once again, the movement emphasized the hand-made over the mass-produced.

The British movement was a response to the Victorian, but the Arts and Crafts style’s arrival in the United States was precisely at the moment when theVictorian era was coming to a close. The American Arts and Crafts Movement also encouraged originality, simplicity of form, local natural materials, and the visibility of handicraft. It was distinguished by being concerned with ennobling the modest homes of the rapidly expanding American middle class, which became the Craftsman Bungalow style.

Dard Hunter

Dard Hunter was an American Arts and Crafts designer whose designs for books, leather, glass and metal helped unify the Roycroft product line and distinguish it from that of other American Arts & Crafts enterprises. His highly recognizable Rose motif was the inspiration for Luna’s Arts and Crafts guitar.

Roycroft Magazine

Dard Hunter Book Cover

Dard Hunter Stained Glass Design

Dard Hunter Tiles

Architecture

The “Prairie School” of Frank Lloyd Wright and other architects in Chicago, the bungalow and ultimate bungalow style of houses popularized by Greene and Greene are some examples of the American Arts and Crafts and American Craftsman style of architecture. The “Prairie School” of Frank Lloyd Wright and other architects in Chicago, the bungalow and ultimate bungalow style of houses popularized by Greene and Greene are some examples of the American Arts and Crafts and American Craftsman style of architecture.

Stickley’s Log Home

Duncan Irwin

Gamble House 1

Gamble House 2

Advertisement for small Bungalow

Small “middle-class” Bungalow

Interior Design

The Arts and Crafts style initiated a variety of attempts to reinterpret European Arts and Crafts ideals for Americans. These included the Craftsman-style furniture, and other decorative arts such as designs promoted by Gustav Stickley in his magazine, The Craftsman. Furniture and decorative arts were meant to be not only beautiful but functional, in harmony with nature, timeless and built with integrity.

Craftsman Interior Drawing 1

Craftsman Interior Drawing 2

Craftsman Interior Drawing 3

Gamble House Interior 1

Gamble House Interior 2

Gamble House Stair Detail

Gilliand House 1

Gilliand House 2

Greene & Greene Duncan-Irwin House

Greene & Greene Thoorsen House

Greene & Greene

Gustaf Stickley Home

Gustaf Stickley Home 2

Applied Arts

Ginko Leaf Tile

Acanthus Leaf Wallpaper

Celtic Knot Wallpaper

William Morris Trellis Wallpaper

Stickley Highlans Park Carpet

Decorative Arts

Craftsman Pottery

Craftsman Lamp

Stickley framed tile

Stickley Copper Work

Edward Burnes Pamona Tapestry

William Morris Birds Tapestry

Glass

Stickley Style Glass

Greene & Greene Glass

Inspiration for Luna’s Art Nouveau Guitar

Luna’s Art Nouveau guitar was inspired by the Art Nouveau movement. This is, admittedly, a long post but there were so many facets of life influenced by Art Nouveau that I hope to do justice to its scope.

Art Nouveau was a artistic movement which peaked in popularity between 1890 and 1910 which was practiced in the fields of art, architecture and applied art. It is a French term meaning “new art” and is characterized by organic and plant motifs as well as other highly stylized forms. The organic forms often took the form of sudden violent curves which were often referenced by the term “whiplash”. You can see organic motifs at the rosette and 12th fret of  the instrument as well as a “whiplash” curve at the rosette.

Art Nouveau’s success was a reaction against  late 19th century academic art and was replaced by the development of 20th century modernist styles. Art Nouveau was most popular in Europe, but its influence was global and influenced many different mediums:

ARCHITECTURE
Architects tried to harmonize with the natural environment.

INTERIORS
Art Nouveau is also considered a philosophy of design of furniture and other elements of interior design. The focus was design keeping the entire building in mind and making all details part of ordinary life.

GLASS
Glass art was a medium in which the style found tremendous expression—for example, the works of Louis Comfort Tiffany in New York, Charles Rennis Mackintosh in Glasgow, and Emile Galle and Rene Lalique in France.

emile galle

lalique

lalique

lalique

lalique

lalique perfume bottle

tiffanny chandelier

tiffany dragonfly lamp

tiffany wisteria lamp

tiffany window

JEWELRY
Jewelry of the Art Nouveau period revitalized the jeweler’s art, with nature as the principal source of inspiration, complemented by new levels of virtuosity in enameling and the introduction of new materials, such as opals and semi-precious stones. The first image is os a woman adorned in the art nouveau style….a perfect blank canvas for the stunning jewelry and hair combs to follow.

art nouveau fashion

lalique moth pendant

lalique cicada pin

lalique dragonfly necklace

lalique necklace

lalique pendant

lalique dragonfly pendant

lalique peacock pendant

lalique skylark pendant

lalique

lalique

lalique

lalique

lalique

lalique

lalique

lalique

POSTERS
The flowery, ornate style was born practically overnight in 1894 when Alphonse Mucha, a Czech artist working in Paris, was pressed to produce a poster for Sarah Bernhardt, the brilliant actress who had taken Paris by storm. His creation was the first masterpiece of Art Nouveau poster design. The poster craze of the 1890s witnessed the spread of poster art to all of Europe and America and with it the Art Nouveau style.

Alfons Mucha

mucha

mucha

crescent bicycles

mucha

mucha

mucha

adolph hohenste

toulouse-lautrec

privat livemont

private livemont

privat livemont

paul berthon

Songwriting in Character

Tip from Mary Amato: Try Character-Based Songwriting

Mary Amato has multiple personalities. She is an award-winning novelist and songwriter who often takes on the roles of her characters. Her books Guitar Notes http://thrumsociety.com/and The Naked Mole-Rat Letters both feature music and a forthcoming novel will include original songs on uke. In her book Guitar Notes, the main character, Lyla, picks a Luna as her first guitar. Mary plays her Luna Safari on book tours. Here she talks with Luna about her process.

How does writing fiction influence your songwriting?
You have to get “into character” to write fiction. I do it with songwriting, too. It’s liberating to shed your own ego, dive into the soul of another person, and see the world from that point of view.
How do you get started writing a character-based song?
First, imagine a character. This can be someone you have invented, or you could be inspired by a stranger or a person in a photograph or painting. Next, make a choice about whether you’re going to write in “first person” or “third person.” If you pretend you are the person and you are using “I,” then you’re writing in first person. If you’re singing about the character and use “she” or “he,” then you’re writing in third person.

Can you give examples?
Sure. John Prine put himself in a woman’s shoes to write “Angel from Montgomery” which has been covered often. “I am an old woman named after my mother…” That’s a first-person, character-based song. Paul McCartney chose third person to write about the Eleanor Rigby in his classic song. “Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been…”

You can read the full lyrics to both of these songs at the end of this blog.

What tips do you have for songwriters who want to try writing character-based songs?
Try one of these brainstorming ideas and then use the raw material that you come up with to craft your song.
• Write a diary entry as if you are the character.
• Interview yourself as the character. Ask all kinds of questions: What do you love? What are you afraid of? What makes you smile?
• Take a walk, imagining that you are the character and allow yourself to think the thoughts of that character. Jot down all your thoughts when you return.

Let go of any inhibitions you might have and enjoy!

Angel from Montgomery video and lyrics 

I am an old woman named after my mother
My old man is another child that’s grown old
If dreams were lightnin’ and thunder were desire
This old house would’ve burned down a long time ago

Make me an Angel that flies from Montgomery
Make me a poster of an old rodeo
Just give me one thing that I can hold onto
To believe in this livin’ is just a hard way to go

When I was a young girl, well, I had me a cowboy
Weren’t much to look at just a free ramblin’ man
But that was a long time and no matter how I try
The years just flow by like a broken down dam

Make me an Angel that flies from Montgomery
Make me a poster of an old rodeo
Just give me one thing that I can hold onto
To believe in this livin’ is just a hard way to go

There’s flies in the kitchen, I can hear ‘em in there buzzin’
And I ain’t done nothin’ since I woke up today
How the hell can a person go to work in the mornin’
And come home in the evenin’ and have nothin’ to say?

Make me an Angel that flies from Montgomery
Make me a poster of an old rodeo
Just give me one thing that I can hold onto
To believe in this livin’ is just a hard way to go
To believe in this livin’ is just a hard way to go

Eleanor Rigby Lyrics Video

Community Music in Public Spaces

Here are two wonderful examples of how the magic of music can dismantle the ordinary and invite people to interact in public spaces.

The first, located in Montreal, is a recent project by Canadian design collective Daily Tous Les Jours. It is a giant musical instrument comprised of 21 swings that trigger melodies influenced by the people swinging. This installation brings people of all ages and backgrounds together and creates a place for playing and hanging out in the middle of the city centre.

The second installation is in Odenplan, Stockholm. The Volkswagon Initiative financed the creation of a musical stairway, to see if people would rather have fun making music while climbing stairs or ride the escalator. The results seen in this film speak for themselves!

Freeing the Song Writer Within

Natalie Goldberg’s “Writing Down the Bones…Freeing the Writer Within” is a remarkable book for all kinds of writers. Aspiring or established songwriters can get lots of inspiration for lyrics and develop their craft by following her no-nonsense, informal advice.

Here are some inspirational quotes from her book that you can apply to songwriting or to life:

“We are important and our lives are important, magnificent really, and their details are worthy to be recorded. This is how writers must think, this is how we must sit down with pen in hand. We were here; we are human beings; this is how we lived. Let it be known, the earth passed before us. Our details are important. Otherwise, if they are not, we can drop a bomb and it doesn’t matter. . . Recording the details of our lives is a stance against bombs with their mass ability to kill, against too much speed and efficiency. A writer must say yes to life, to all of life: the water glasses, the Kemp’s half-and-half, the ketchup on the counter. It is not a writer’s task to say, “It is dumb to live in a small town or to eat in a café when you can eat macrobiotic at home.” Our task is to say a holy yes to the real things of our life as they exist – the real truth of who we are: several pounds overweight, the gray, cold street outside, the Christmas tinsel in the showcase, the Jewish writer in the orange booth across from her blond friend who has black children. We must become writers who accept things as they are, come to love the details, and step forward with a yes on our lips so there can be no more noes in the world, noes that invalidate life and stop these details from continuing.”

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“If you are not afraid of the voices inside you, you will not fear the critics outside you.”

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“Play around. Dive into absurdity and write. Take chances. You will succeed if you are fearless of failure.”

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“Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. Just lie down.”

Just lie down!!!!

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She urges writers, above all, to keep a notebook and write every day.
The process of writing in a book is a different process than writing on a keyboard. Find a pen you like and choose cheap spiral notebooks that aren’t intimidating to write in. Recording your thoughts, no matter how mundane or how wild, will give you lots of grist for the mill. You can start with 10 minutes and increase your time each week. The time doesn’t matter… just do it. And here are 6 powerful rules to help your practice:

1. Keep your hand moving. (Don’t pause to reread the line you have just written. That’s stalling and trying to get control of what you’re saying.)
2. Don’t cross out. (That is editing as you write. Even if you write something you didn’t mean to. Leave it.
3. Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar. (Don’t even care about staying within the margins and lines on the page)
4. Lose control.
5. Don’t think. Don’t get logical.
6. Go for the jugular. (If something comes up in your writing that is scary or naked, dive right into it. It probably has lots of energy.

Keep at it. What you don’t use now could be inspirational years from now.

Intrigued? Find out more at nataliegoldberg.com/ Definitely worth the read!

My Design Process by Yvonne de Villiers

Hmmmmm…

Where to begin? I will attempt to make logical sense of what is not necessarily a linear process.

1. DECIDING ON A SUBJECT

Whenever I consider a new design idea for Luna, I start by thinking how it will fit into the whole line.

Luna is organically growing into an iconic, increasingly recognizable line of instruments…and that’s not by accident.  We mindfully choose universal symbols and designs that go beyond the creation of “pretty guitars” to connect with customers on a visceral level. From the Henna guitars and Tattoo ukes based on body ornamentation by Alex Morgan to our Flora and Fauna designs that let each player bring their own meaning to the instrument … authenticity and connection are our prime concern.

Our instruments are the brand. Heartfelt letters we receive from players telling us why they chose their Luna (or their Luna chose them) confirm that.

One of our in-progress designs for 2013 is the Moonflower…a natural addition to our Flora line. The Moonflower is a tropical American climbing plant of the morning glory family with large sweet-smelling white flowers that open at dusk and close at midday. The moonflower only blooms at night. Out of darkness comes blossoming, as joy, inspiration, and hope can blossom from the dark night of the Soul.

2. IMMERSION

After deciding on a subject, I immerse myself in looking at images online and/or in books. One of the first things to grab my attention was this video of a Moonflower blooming in real time. For those of you that are impatient…start at :35. Amazing!

I spent many pleasant hours reading about moonflower form, function, history, and legends before putting pencil to paper.

Moonflower architecture 2

Moonflower architecture 3

Moonflowers in full bloom

Sphinx moth feeding

I was also distracted by moon gardens (filled with flowers that bloom only at night) but, though I digress, wandering is a part of the process.

Moon Garden

3. PENCIL DESIGN

I start out with a rough pencil design at the size that the design will actually be to get an idea of what is feasible for inlay. Since I’m not in a design program where things are easily undone, rotated etc., I wear out lots of erasers! The first photo is of my new office with lightbox where I do my drawing. A big shout-out to my talented husband Mike and equally talented friend James Streeter!

Drawing table

Pencil drawing on light box

Sketch for matching fingerboard

4. INKED DESIGN

To do the inked design, I scale the size up on a copier and use my light box to trace the design.

Inked rosette

Sphinx Moth inlay

5. AI. FORMAT

Because our manufacturers require all artwork in ai. design, this involves giving the inked design to one of our in-house graphic designers to render. A huge “Thank You!” to Steve Czaplicki and Chris Williams!

ai. rendering – rosette

ai. rendering – fret board

6. COLOR REFERENCES

In the case of an inlay design, we will make color references to indicate mother of pearl, tinted abalones or sometimes different types of wood.

Rosette color reference

Fret board color reference

7. SPEC SHEETS

Because clear communication with our manufacturers is vital, the next step is creating a specification spreadsheet with visuals. There are many decisions to be made at this point…profile shape, body materials, fingerboard materials, hardware etc. This is just the beginning of a back and forth process which will take place between now and 2013. For instance…before producing actual samples, we will request tops only with paint color to make sure we are where we want to be. Pantone colors are helpful but translate differently when attempting a trans finish.

Specifications spreadsheet

8. EMAILS

After the spec sheets are sent we begin a close dialogue with our manufacturing partners via email to make sure things are spot on and on schedule for the next trade show. Even though this instrument is targeted for our 2013 catalog we’ll need samples in time for an October catalog shoot.

This is a small glimpse into one of many exciting instruments for next year. Alex Morgan, our UK artist in residence, has an entirely different process we will share in a future post. As always, please feel free to send us any suggestions for instruments you would like to see. We’re always listening!