Derek Tall’s Rogues Gallery of the Weird
Posted By Jake's Party Planner on November 13, 2011
The humble artist in his snappy thrift scored leather britches!
Yesterday was stormy dark and gray perfect for a night stay in and curl up by the fire with the family. But no at about 4:00 the family decided to get dressed and make our way over the Astoria Megler bridge to Lunar Boy Gallery because Derek Tall was going to be there with his Rogues Gallery of Jake inspired prints. It was worth the trip as you can see here the pieces are fantastic and really tell the story of the 5th Annual Jake the Alligator Man 75th Birthday Party. It tickles me no end that Derek was so inspired by this event that he created these masterpieces and then ironically was invited to show them at my favorite gallery. Derek and Nina Nightshade his gorgeous talented bride were big part of the Jake event this year Nina performed at the Bachelor party and co hosted the Bride of Jake Pinup Contest and Derek paraded the the Birthday cake through town on the back of Frank then Frank went on to win the Jake’s Choice Award. This dynamic duo own Cherry Redd in Salem if you find your self down south on I5 I suggest you check them out.
Ta Da! It's Monica with her self Monica Midnight 2011 Bride of Jake.
Did I mention we picked up the Bride of Jake on our way she was unable to drive because earlier in the day she was getting her own masterpiece put on her foot by another outstanding artist Bob Roughton from Lucky Dog Tattoo Seaside in Seaside.
Bride of Jake 2011 Monica Midnight's Tootsie!
I figured I would also add to this post a interesting story Derek sent to me about Frank the Truck winner of Jake’s Choice 2011 Art takes many forms and Frank the truck is proof of that he is a true piece of art in his own right.
Frank parading the cake through town
Frank's Tesla Coils! Who does this to their truck?!?!
Take a look at more photos of Frank lit up HERE!
Some of the inner details of Frank
The Story of Frank as told by Derek Frank’s Handler
To have a good take on Frankenstein’s monster you need some electricity of course! The first project was the Jacob’s ladder hood ornament. A 12/60 sign transformer, inverter and a few other pieces make this creation sing! Just like the old 50′s monster movies, the ladder will strike a plasma spark and climb to the top with the classic “Bzzaaaap!” It even runs when I’m driving, the smell of ozone fills the cab, its awesome! Just don’t touch it, ask Chris Hiltz; he was dancing around for half an hour after he got a little to close to the insulators….
The ladder is cool but Frank demanded more, as luck would have it I found a guy that was even more “mad scientist” than I was in Salem! Shannon Weinhold (Klasdja Intelligent Innovations) understands the engineering behind some of Teslas creations and together we were able to fabricate the 5 foot high V twin Tesla Coils. I won’t bore you with details on their construction, but these baby’s kick out about 500,000 volts! The electricity will reach out from the globes toward each other and with sufficient power the “tentacles” will connect, giving you one hell of a light show. I haven’t collected everything I need to make it work only off Frank yet (I need to cheat and plug it into the wall) but we’ll get there soon. There’s enough power to
light up a florescent tube at 10 feet away; be careful with your Iphone too, it will start to fry it if it gets too close! Actually while we were dialing in the coils we set one of them on fire! Its not an illusion, this is the real thing baby!
Hmmm, who else to mention. Patrick “El Volo” Anderson did the pinstriping on the hood and fenders. I designed the “Frank’s spare parts” sign but Brian “Big Daddy” Newsom was the artist who airbrushed it onto Frank. I painted the Frankenstein girls inside the cab (you can see why I had someone else paint the doors) and soon Yugean stickers will be mass producing those ladies on stickers for sale nationally. Some of the stickers on the inside of Frank are my designs too (all of this sticker talk is just me bragging about my art; sorry for that)
So to wrap it up, I had this crazy vision to create “Frank the Truck” and I had a ton of help from a bunch of great folks who donated cool swag and put in their time and energy into helping me create a one of a kind “monster”. I’ve just noticed that someone tagged me as Frank’s “handler”, which seems very appropriate to me as Frank has taken on a life of his own……kind of like a story I read a while ago…..
FRANK
Derek is a true, multi-talented genius and his baby Frank is an awesome creation. Derek has been blessed with many talents and an extremely creative mind. Go see his show and check out his store, Cherry Redd. You are in for a treat!
Awww, shucks guys! Thanks!