The Beginning:
I guess you could say it started with the Ramones; not only punk rock but our company now known as Black Crow Arts or BCA. I am the owner of the company but its more like an artist studio that happened to become functional art for sale. I didnt have to sell my soul to the devil to do it but I have been influenced by people and bands that may have or maybe they just snuck up into ole Beelzebub's basement and stole his licks.
Rewind:
My Ramones vinyl melts on my heater that I had bought in a LP boutique store in Seattle Washington. I had recently lost my wallet and needed another. Why trash my Ramones album when I could just make something out of it..but what? I always liked mixed media and I had always like destroying my artwork. Sometimes in destroying one or several things and combining the components one could come out with
something completely unique and original; a philosphy I learned early on from the punk rock ethos. I thought it would be pretty neat if I could make a wallet from my album and so the Record Wallet was born in 2006 with a Rocket To Russia LP. I used a portion of the front cover for the front of the wallet and portion of the vinyl for the back. The first wallets were super cool and my friends started to ask to purchase them and then small boutique shops started to find out about my work and also started buying and requested custom orders and BCA was born.
Rewind Further:
I was more or less a traveling gypsy going from place to place after the age of 18. I had been an artist my whole life and grew up around music in Pennsylvania. I found myself in several places including Yosemite Valley, Santa Barbara, Lake Tahoe, Dana Point, San Clemente, Seattle, and Long Beach California. In Kings Beach North Lake Tahoe I worked in a local mountain music shop. I painted Merle (shop owner)a portrait of Robert Johnson and Merle gave me a job. Merles Music was the name. Merle taught me how to repair, build and finish guitars. I grew up playing guitar and was influenced by bands like the Wailing Wailers, Doors, Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Sex Pistols, Leadbelly, Robert Johnson, and too many others to list.
My neighbors were family and Eppy was a producer and his wife Linda Creed Epstein was a song writer. Stephen (aka. Eppy) Epstein worked with several bands including War. Lyricist Linda Creed teamed with composer/producer Tom Bell to author a series of hits forever linked to the lush and seductive Philly soul sound of the early 1970's. Linda wrote music for bands and artist such as The Stylistics, Spinners, Prince, Johnny Gill, Dusty Springfield, George Benson, and Whitney Houston. (Linda Creed Foundation)
I studied art at numerous of schools/colleges during my earlier years including Art Honors in high school, the Sierra Nevada College in Lake Tahoe and the Art Institute of Southern California now know as the Laguna College of Art & Design. Areas of study were focused on sculpture, graphic design, art history, music, guitar, drawing, painting, airbrush, printmaking, pottery, stained glass, silk-screening, and photography.
Fast Forward:
My neighbors were family and Eppy was a producer and his wife Linda Creed Epstein was a song writer. Stephen (aka. Eppy) Epstein worked with several bands including War. Lyricist Linda Creed teamed with composer/producer Tom Bell to author a series of hits forever linked to the lush and seductive Philly soul sound of the early 1970's. Linda wrote music for bands and artist such as The Stylistics, Spinners, Prince, Johnny Gill, Dusty Springfield, George Benson, and Whitney Houston. (Linda Creed Foundation)
I studied art at numerous of schools/colleges during my earlier years including Art Honors in high school, the Sierra Nevada College in Lake Tahoe and the Art Institute of Southern California now know as the Laguna College of Art & Design. Areas of study were focused on sculpture, graphic design, art history, music, guitar, drawing, painting, airbrush, printmaking, pottery, stained glass, silk-screening, and photography.
Fast Forward:
Somewhere along the line, after teaching guitar for 12 years, my influences kept crashing into each other and eventually gave way to the Record Wallet, Sk8 Wallet and the Guitar & Bass Belt Buckle Collection. Exposure from featured articles in Playboy Magazine, GQ Magazine, Guitar Player, Vintage Guitar, Skunk and numerous online sites have helped spread the word about BCA helping to establish our name and work. Thank you!
"Measure Twice Cut Once"
"Measure Twice Cut Once"
Welcome to BCA and enjoy!
If you like what you see and would like more info you can visit our online store at www.blackcrowarts.com or contact me at 562-552-1567.
~ David Ryan
