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

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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

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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

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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!

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Taking a Great Portrait with your Instrument

Chances are you own a camera. You may not think it’s optimal for making beautiful portraits, but you’ll be surprised. Try this list of tips for getting a worthy shot of you and your Luna.

Kristen Porter

1 – Plan It. Luxuriate in the task. Think it through. Decide if you want a torso or full body shot. Do you want a
recognizable background or stream of light? Might you need a prop or two?

2 – Set it. Match the shot in your mind with the perfect setting: sky, water, a wall, an alley, a staircase, a spit of sand.
Whatever you choose, don’t lose yourself and your instrument in the background.

3 – Dress up (or down). Reflect your personality and style. Set off your instrument.

4 – Find your mood. In every photo session there is an element of mood. Where’s that emotional place you go when you
play music? How do you get there? Incorporate the journey.

5 – Pose & Frame. Hold your instrument naturally and try several things. Play. Move. You and your photographer will
both be moving as you look for the angle that frames you and your instrument. It is possible to have the instrument
connected to you without actually playing.

6 – Light. To insure a clear and sharp picture try to get as much light as you can on the subject (you!). Avoid shadows
in the picture frame. Also, make sure the camera is held as still as is humanly possible or use a tripod.

7 – Take lots of pictures. Take luxurious amounts of time. In-between each shot, change something. Move slightly, or
change an option on the camera. Or change the lighting slightly. Anything. Completely fill the memory of your camera. Or
even better, stop and download, erase and start again. The more pictures you take, the greater the odds that you’ll find
something among the many that is really, truly you.

We would love to see what you come up with and will post the most creative results in next month’s newsletter!
Please mail your favorites to yvonne@lunaguitars.com.

Here are a few more inspirations to get you started….all different vibes!

Zac Holtzman - Dengue Fever

Paz Lenchantin

Haley Phelps

Julianne

Carol Wedgewood

Roland Gallus

Tyler White

Rachael Pearl

Morgan Taylor

Risa Hines

Bernie Travis

Taylor

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NAMM – Day 3

The good news…..Luna has had an AMAZING show! The booth has been packed for the past few days and we have gotten some great feedback and lots of orders. The bad news…..we were so busy walking dealers through our new product line that I hardly had time to take any pictures. Here are a few that I managed to snap today.

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Day before the show!

The last post was about gearing up for NAMM….here is a photo narrative of setting up the booth the day before.




















STAY TUNED!!!!!!!!

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Gearing up for NAMM

What is NAMM???
NAMM, or the National Association of Music Merchants, is the largest and longest-running musical instruments and products trade show in the United States held yearly in Anaheim, California.  For those that have never been, it is a hard experience to describe. Last year there were over 90, 000 registered attendees and 1417 exhibitors showcasing anything and everything to do with music. Most of these exhibitors had instruments. Imagine all of them cranking it up to 11 to be heard above the din! OK….now imagine being there for 4 straight 8 hour days in that soup of sonic sound waves. Hopefully this helps you understand why the word “intense” describes the experience. NAMM…”Not A Mellow Moment”

Developing New Instruments
Luna is in low gear for the event all year by developing new products to showcase. Each new Luna instrument involves :
1. Coming up with an innovative idea. Depending on the instrument, this is done by myself (Yvonne) or by our UK artist in residence, Alex Morgan.
2. Sending artwork and specifications halfway across the planet to our partners in Korea and China
3. Exchanging a ka-zillion emails and photos with our overseas partners until we are satisfied we have a winner. Receiving and opening a box with a new prototype inside is like Christmas morning every time! We have had 28 such boxes arrive at Luna headquarters this year! You can read about the inspiration for two of them, the AMM 100 and AMZ 100.

AMZ 100

AMM100

Catalog
Things shift into high gear around October as we start to get our new catalog together. This year was even more challenging than usual but we managed to throw a Hail Mary pass over the printer’s deadline!
Take a peek here!

Compiling Show Instruments
The next quest is stockpiling one of each Luna instrument for the show. This may seem simple, but because we have been so massively back ordered this year it was quite a feat. Especially during the holidays when customers were calling in to say that the only thing their son, daughter, husband, wife, mother, father, etc. had their heart set on for Christmas was a specific Luna, and the only one in the warehouse was on a NAMM pile. Hard to hang tough when the heart strings are being tugged! Every instrument on every pile then has to be set up by our instrument technicians before being placed in crates and trucked from Florida to California.

One of many NAMM piles

California Bound!!!!

Planning for Booth
Our booth is 20′ x 20′, yet every year we have to figure out how to fit more instruments into the same space. This year we made the decision to bring acoustic instruments only. Instruments tags and booth signage are designed. Our staff flies out 2 days ahead of the show start to set up our booth and place instruments. Here are some pics of this year’s signage and last year’s booth.

2012 NAMM signage

2011 Booth first morning before invasion

Incidentals
The main reason that we fly across the country and go through all of the above steps is to foster relationships with our dealers. It’s a chance to meet with them face to face and gauge their first hand response to our products as well as gain their input. We put together gift baskets for our top dealers as a personal thank you. This year we’re giving them a basket that will hopefully soothe their body as well as their spirits. The traditional offering of wine and quality snacks is being augmented by a NAMM SURVIVAL KIT consisting of ear plugs, Airbourne Immune Support, hand sanitizer, mints, herbal throat lozenges, aspirin and a nice bottle of sea salt bath soak!

Preparing the Gift Baskets

And Finally
Packing!!!!!!! Please stay tuned for updates from this year’s NAMM show.

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Meet Luna Forum Senior Moderator, Ed Sott

Ed Sott - Luna's forum moderator

Luna is very grateful to her advocates and Ed Sott, who volunteers to moderate our Luna forum and keep it running smoothly, has certainly proven his loyalty over the years. Ed has sent us a mini bio of his musical journey….so it is my pleasure to introduce Ed to the rest of our Luna Tribe.

In Ed’s own words:

As a child back in the early 70′s my family spent a good deal of time traveling both in the states and abroad. It was within this time period that I fell in love with music and that my personal musical journey began.

I can remember at the age of 4 going to the local hall in Wantage, Oxfordshire, UK with my dad and spinning records, reel to reel,
8-tracks, and cassettes at a disco which he threw for the locals in the district.  I can remember playing the music, singing and dancing, and seeing how much joy people got from music, as I too shared in that same joy.

I  came to the understanding at an early age that music, and the arts; dance, poetry, painting, acting, writing, drawing, and reading, could take me to realms that I never dreamed possible.

In the 80s I spent time learning all I could about how music developed. Listening to the radio, and singing along with artists of various genres.  This led to my personal decision that I, too, could do this.  I began to teach myself not only the theory behind musical composition, but also how to play keyboard and piano. While this further developed my love of sound, it was in the 80s that I realized that my hearing was failing me.

When I was born I had a perforated eardrum in my left ear.  Back then there was no corrective surgical procedure and over the course of 12 years I totally lost my hearing in that ear.  I also discovered that I was tone deaf in my right ear. This progressive loss of hearing, however, never stymied me.  Instead I learned to develop a deeper appreciation of music by learning to actually “feel the vibrations” and interpret the sound accordingly.

In the 90′s, I continued to sing along with the radio, and now and then played the keyboard.  However, playing music for me diminished and I began to focus more on writing novels, plays, poetry, and lyrics.

It was around 2008 when I bought my first Luna guitar….the Luna Gypsy Muse.  It was love at first sight and thus began my return to music fully. I couldn’t, at this time, play much more than a few simple melodies. Some of my friends taught me some basics after which I went off on my own with a total new determination.  ” I was gonna play guitar if it killed me”.

Three years later I now have a band, own 17 Luna instruments as well as several others, teach people how to appreciate and play music, and my band mate and myself are playing and writing musical compositions. My favorite style of playing is rhythm backed with melody. I love finger-styling and experimenting with new concepts and ideas.

My love for Luna Guitars also brought me close to Luna Guitars Company, and I volunteered to assist in running the Luna Forum Page.  I’ve made many friends in Luna Guitars and feel blessed to be a part of the Luna Tribe.

Please drop by the forum and introduce yourself.

Edward Sott (Senior Moderator Luna Guitars Forum),

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Vicki Genfan Talks about Songwriting

Songwriting is, more often than not, intensely personal in content. Songs can be born from personal experiences or emotions that you may not even be aware of but that spring from a deep place in yourself.

Songwriting is, always, a personal process. Each player has a unique way of getting from conception to creation of a completed piece, and every song evolves in it’s own way and time.

In the video “Live From Bay 6″, Luna artist Vicki Genfan performs three songs and speaks about her own process.

Vicki has created two classes especially for Luna owners at Luna University
She has also developed two instructional classes with Truefire, Acoustic Rhythm Guitar Survival Guide and 3-D Acoustic Guitar

Prefer to have personalized one-on-one instruction with Vicki? (Yes…it’s really possible!!!!) Check out her classroom on Truefire’s Guitar Sherpa page, your guide to guitar nirvana! Seriously, do yourself a favor and investigate this opportunity to study with one of the finest players on the planet. It’s incredibly affordable and comes with all kinds of perks plus a “Good Karma” guarantee!

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