Remembering Ed Mell
and a field trip to Yosemite with photographer friends
Sharing a beautiful tribute below which was written by Luster Kaboom in memory of Ed Mell, who was supportive of so many local artists.
Before that though, here are two of my own Ed Mell memories. Through his paintings, Ed Mell shaped my perceptions of Arizona before I moved there after college. I remember standing in the middle of the street dumbfounded during my first summer monsoon season, looking up at the sky and realizing for the first time that the towering thunderhead clouds in Ed’s paintings had not come from his imagination - they were real and masterfully interpreted on his canvases.
Back in the 1990s I was selected for an artist residency at Yosemite National Park to work on historic photographic processes (bromoil, gum bichromate and cyanotype). The residency coordinator encouraged me to split up my month long residency so I could be at the park for two weeks in the spring and two weeks in the fall, which allowed me to experience the park at its finest without the mobs of tourists.
The residency included a spacious cabin so I invited any interested artist friends to join me for the fourth residency week to enjoy some collaborative time together. Kenny Richardson, Bob and Francie Rink and David Phillips took me up on my invitation and Kenny brought Ed along for his first visit to Yosemite.
Those of you who are photographers or plein air painters can appreciate how special it was for us to move through the park at a snail’s pace, free to contemplate a single place for an hour (or three), talking and admiring the changing light as we took our photos.
I remember we gathered up every table and chair in the cabin to make a huge banquet table for a group dinner one night, and we invited the coordinator of the artist residency program along with her husband who was a local judge. The crazy storytelling, laughter and food were epic as all of these people from different walks of life intersected for this one evening.
Ed had met my mom at this dinner and afterward asked me to bring her to his studio for a visit the next time she came to Arizona. We did so and he kindly gave my mom a signed copy of his book which she still treasures. I’ll pull it out tonight so we can enjoy it together when I read her Luster Kaboom’s tribute.
FROM LUSTER KABOOM:
For whatever freak of nature event that caused Ed Mell from being omitted from this year's departed list is completely beyond my comprehension. I drew a portrait of him in the off chance that he could be included, but sadly it was not the case so I will just put it here to celebrate and honor him. I had wanted to draw him since hearing of his passing. It was such a shock to hear. You always think people like him will be around forever.
One can hardly romanticize the beauty of any Arizona landscape without one of Ed’s beautiful compositions coming to mind. As a child, his were the first paintings I recognized and remembered in my grandfather’s AZ highways, on the wall in my neighbor’s house, and even in the Taco Bell down the street from my house. I am sure so many people from my generation have the same experience. He was everywhere! The angular way he simplified the complex forms of nature made the desert suddenly become modern and sexy. His style has never looked dated and no one has even come close to epitomizing the grandeur of the Arizona panorama.
When I became an adult I finally met Ed Mell, it was such a thrill and I only wish I could have told my grandfather who loved his work and was always telling me about artists and illustrators he knew of. Bob Boze Bell, one of those illustrators, turns out was a very good friend of Ed Mell. He had written of Ed after he passed away telling of some of the many stories he had with Ed. I encourage you to google it. It’s such a good read. He also shared a photo of a National Lampoon cover Ed did early in his career for an advertising agency when he was pursuing an art career in New York. This cover was an image of Minnie mouse topless and got National Lampoon their first lawsuit from Disney. If you watch the trailer from the National Lampoon movie you will see the scene where the Editor comes in and yells at Will Forte, flashing the Ed’s cover for the punchline. Drew from Ash Ave. Comics showed it to me and I was flabbergasted!
Years ago, I would work with Colin Chillag creating giant weird paintings of a humorous and tasteless nature. Colin and I thought they were funny, but they were often crass and of terrible taste including jokes that probably have not aged well! Ed would always come to our shows and he was always so supportive of what we were doing. It was such a huge boost of confidence to hear about his interest and support but it confused me how such a classy guy like Ed would be interested in lowbrow art. After seeing the National Lampoon cover, I realized Ed had a similar sense of humor. I also found out from Kenny who worked with Ed, that Ed’s brother Frank Mell was an underground cartoonist. I had found a sticker in a box of comics Kenny gave me of Frank’s and I was so confused about it because it had a Mell signature on the bottom. Kenny told me it was Frank’s and not one of Ed’s. I googled some of Frank’s work and it is so cool, very fitting in the gritty style of the underground cartoonists of the 60’s. I guess Frank was a huge artistic influence on younger brother Ed.
Another great memory of Ed was once when Justin Ison and I went to hang out with Kenny at Ed’s studio. There were always such cool things to see, Paintings, prints and sculptures by Ed as well as all the weird things he had collected over the years. Ed had these old dioramas on his wall that must have been from the 1930’s. They looked like miniature versions of the displays at a natural history museum. They are so rad. At one point Ed comes out and Kenny tells him we were about to go to lunch and we would be back later. Ed asked if he could join us and me and Justin both looked at each other like Whoa! We are going to lunch with ED MELL! It was such a thrill for us after growing up thinking he was the best artist in Arizona. Ed told us stories and we talked about art. He was such a cool guy, his big toothy smile and down to earth, friendly demeanor. Justin and I still marvel at how cool that day was.
I wish I could think of other things to say about Ed but hopefully some other people can chime in and share about their experiences with him. He was an ARIZONA ICON, but not just in AZ but all over the world.
I want to include, too, that his son Carson Mell is one of my favorite writers. His books are so fucking funny and his work in TV and Film is so impressive. It’s always a treat to indulge in his latest projects. Check out Tarantula on YouTube, it’s so weird!