The Daily Planet

2004-2005 update
Hey there, sorry our website hasn't been updated lately. Our baby girl,
Ruby Elvis Rose Laster is 9 months old now and she is keeping us busy. We are currently babysafing our house/gallery/museum /studio which is a daunting task! But we have been doing all kinds of stuff all along, baby in tow! We'll try to fill you in!

We did a lot of shows last year while she was in the oven, including a
gallery show at Fleur Fine Art in Chicago (all large scale Elvis art, one 7
foot by 7 foot!,) we also went to Houston's artcar parade for the first
time, and made it into Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations television show on PBS on that event! In june of 2004, we had a piece," There is only one King" included in a traveling show called Coming Home which opened the University of Memphis. That weekend we got to have dinner at Elvis Presley's former home on Audobon dr., guests of it's current owners, memphis music historians,Mike freeman and Cindy Hazen in Memphis!Don't want to go into a long ghost story but suffice it to say Elvis's spirit was in the house! And maybe the ghost of his monkey Jimbo.

We also attended Louisville's Kentucky Artcar Parade and Folk Fest in
Atlanta. In September we had a gallery show at Nature Visionary art gallery
in Charlottesville Virginia. We also got two Elvis Art pieces accepted into
the Bill Clinton Presidential Library, one of which was featured in the
Little Rock Arkansas paper article on it's opening. All went well, but the
missus spent the last 2 and a half months of the pregnancy on bedrest and
with gestational diabetes. Whew and that was rough with the hubby having to bring home the (soy)bacon, and fry it up in the pan...but all came out well
and the baby was born perfect and already famous.

Since her birth we have continued to travel and do shows after the initial
newborn stage. She has been to 12 states already...ky.,tn, ga., al., ak., nc., fl., ok., nm., tx., la., ms.! The highlights so far this year include new years bluegrass show at the ryman auditorium in nashville with Big Chief and Swamprose. we got backstage passes and Little Miss Ruby Elvis Rose got to hang out with the bands and put her feet in little red shoes on the stage of the old Grand Old Opry House, where Elvis Hank and Patsy stood!!

Our first art show as a new family was the Fearrington Folk Art Show in
North Carolina.We also showed at Big Chief's Pow Wow in Florida,and
Riverfest in Columbus, Ga., where Ruby assisted us in her first Recycled Art
Project workshop and saw her first Elvis Tribute show! This spring we also
took Ruby to Howard Finster's Paradise Gardens in Georgia...More about that below!

In May we traveled to the southwest in our newly created artcar,
LasterBlaster's Holy Rollin Rock-it, on it's first voyage as an artcar! Same
great theme as our former artcar, LasterBlaster's Rockin Holy Roller but
even more convoluted! Spaceage Kentucky hillbillies spread the musical
gospel of love and soulfood throughout the galaxy,in their combination
spaceship/haywagon, with musical greats such as Elvis, Hank, Loretta And
James Brown!, And now featuring Miss Ruby Elvis Rose, world's smallest
female Elvis!. We took it to Houston's artcar parade and Yardfest in
Albuquerque. In Houston we gave a gallery presentation at the Artery on
recycled art, and stayed with a really sweet family.We attended most of the
Orange Show Center for Visionary Art's artcar events and Ruby was a big star in her first parade.People came up cause they thought she was actually a doll! We traveled from Houston on the low road to New Mexico coming within a mile of Old Mexico. We made a nice stopover in Truth or Consequences New Mexico where we stayed at a hotsprings hostel on the banks of the Rio Grande and bathed in the same waters as Geronimo.(we also tinkled where Johnny Depp did in rural Texas! ) Albuquerque New Mexico was good to us as usual. made new friends, visited old friends, and had a swell art showing. Yardfest is always a fun time and people really come out and support the arts.

This summer we attended a Day in the Country at the Kentucky Folk Art
Center, and Athfest in Athens Georgia. Also, the Coming Home art show
traveled to New York City where it was the inaugural exhibit of the new
Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA). And our piece was pictured full color in the
New York Times! We also had art featured in Florida with Jeanine Taylor Folk Art.

On another front , there is exciting news concerning Rev. Howard Finster's
beloved art environment, Paradise Gardens. Earlier this year the property
was turned over entirely to the non-profit organization of which we are
board members. And the board is currently making a proposal to major
foundations for funding to restore it. We are also accepting any and all
offers of assistance.So many people have had an interest in helping over the
years but couldn't as the art environment was in private family control.
Well...now it's entirely in the hands of the non-profit and in dire need of
immediate help. all those interested may contact us...

Currently, we are working hard on art in preparation for Kentucky Artcar
weekend at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft in Louisville, Folk Fest in
Atlanta, a gallery show at the Artbox in San Clemente, California in August,
a gallery showing at Jeanine Taylor in Florida, and other fall shows.
Additionally we are working up a new series of designs for T-shirts for the
Japanese market, and negotiating an artshow in Osaka.

So as you can see we are busy! None of this really reveals just how much is
all about the baby, or what an experience and adventure it has been! She is
the center of everything and we do all of this around her! It has been quite
a juggle, but so far going well. We appreciate all the gifts and support we
got bringing her into the world. She is the light of our life and we are
totally obsessed with her every move! She has such a sweet and funny
personality...smiling from birth! she provides all the inspiration and
motivation for our art and life!

2003 Update
Well 2003 is history as they say, and it was another biggun for us. It began at the Cinderblock Gallery in Louisville Kentucky,in January with our solo show, "Saints and Sinners", we had us a big time,with both an opening show and closing party in February. Our closing was on Lisa Marie Presley's birthday, so we celebrated with an all Elvis Kareoke singin!

In April we attended RiverFest in Columbus Georgia where we showed our art and put on one of our Recycled Art Project collaborative workshops,( which was interrupted by a thunderstorm/tornado!)...we survived, but our workshop tent did not! We had a fun time in spite of it all and did alot of good projects with the kids.

Our whole spring was REALLY busy as we organized 2003's Howard Finster Fest in Paradise Gardens, which was held in May. We had great bunch of artists, gobs of fabulous music, and in spite of yet of yet another torrential thunderstorm, it was not a washout.... A few tents were, but the artists kept up good spirits about it,with Howard's spirit amongst us. We held a beautiful Sunday Mornin Service in the Gardens too. We also completed a group WHOHADADA project , a lifesize plastic cow painted for Atlanta's Cow Parade, which was auctioned for charity, for a fine price in July.

In June we attended A Day in the Country, in Eastern Kentucky, and also visited Cecil Ison's fabulous Baby Doll Forest visionary art environment up in the mountains, and had a swell time with him and his family.

In July, we went to Floyd, Virginia for a show at Presidio Arts at the Mill,and took our ArtCar contingent, which included Bucketman's Bucket Truck, and Chris Hubbard's Heaven and Hell Car as well as our LasterBlaster's Rockin Holy Roller to the Ol Time Music Jamboree at the downtown Floyd Country Store which really stirred it up! From there we spent a few days in the mountains of Virginia painting and the went on to Baltimore for the American Visionary Art Museum's ArtCar event, as well as the Baltimore Artscape Festival (the country's biggest free fest).

In August, we went to the Kentucky ArtCar Weekend in Louisville, put on by the Kentucky Museum of Art and Design.We also went to Folk Fest in Atlanta Georgia with America Oh Yes Gallery, where we had a fun and successful show, getting to see so many of our art friends in one place.

Labor Day Weekend we headed to Memphis to the Center for Southern Folklore's Memphis Music and Heritage Festival, where we got to show art amongst the sounds of our Memphis music heroes!Rockabilly, gospel and blues! We headed on to Albuquerque New Mexico in September for Steve White's Yard Fest...., the greatest little folk art show in the southwest. Steve's a great artist and a great guy and his show is just plain FUN! And the folks in New Mexico really hospitable, and LAID BACK. We got to experience New Mexico Time... everything is only twenty minutes away, "you'll see"...nobody wears a watch, "no problem", neither do we. We headed on up to Santa Fe at the invitation of the International Museum of Folk Art, where they got some work from us for their gallery. We hit Memphis on the way back to Kentucky and did the Cooper Young Fest. It Rained AGAIN, but we held out...Got to meet the folks who live in Elvis's old house on Audobon Drive and they invited us to come over for a barbeque next time we're in Memphis. Luckily we also met Elvis's butcher and traded him art for a case of ribs! Hows that for serendipity? Elvis always fixes us up. Of course we went to Graceland the next day, and loaded up on cheap souvenirs.

In October we attended Kentuck Art Festival in Alabama, and luckily they put our booth next to a stage showing hillbilly plays and playing Elvis Music nonstop!So we had our MOJO workin. In October we also had artwork featured in a show in Paris France, at the Art's Factory called "American Outsider Artists". Also two of our Elvis art pieces were selected to be included in the permanent collection at the Bill Clinton Presidential Library. (And our work apparently made the Little Rock paper. Still trying to wrangle a copy!)

In November we were part of a show at Nature Visionary Gallery in Charlottesville Virginia called "Southern Folk", which is up til February 2004.We also traveled to Orlando Florida to the House of Blues "Where Art Meets the Soul" show and spent some time at the House of the Mouse, and this time we got some of his cheese. Spent a great restorative couple days at the Garden of the YaYaYa on the way home with Big Chief and Swamp Rose, and got
to see the open ocean for the first time in a long time. Had ourselves a footwashing and saw a great vision.

December we sent artwork to Cinderblock's $20 art show in Louisville and worked on a commission for the Art Director of Smithsonian Magazine. Mostly in December we had the dysfunctional family flu, and luckily we lived through that. We spent a quiet Christmas at home by ourselves and a a joyous New Years Eve with our friends Blind John Spivey and his wife Doris singin the Gospel Blues....and looking forward to a Happy New Year in 2004.

2002 update
We have had a lifechanging last few months but are looking forward to the upcoming year. The death of our friend Howard Finster in October was a major turningpoint for us. We have decided to "get on the alter", as Howard did and devote our lives wholeheartedly to our ministry of art. We have been edging toward this slowly but never made the true 100% commitment of faith that God will provide if we just will let go of attachments that hold us back--i.e. jobs taken to earn money but don't feed our souls. In December on what would have been Howard's 85th birthday, there was a beautiful memorial held for him in Paradise Gardens with music, speakers, and a lovely film by David and Susan Fetcho. It was shot of Howard this last year and he said it was his last message to the world. Howard got the last word and it did alot to provide friends and family with closure and also to inspire us all to carry his mission of spreading the message of love forward. We are actively working with Paradise Gardens nonprofit organization to seek funding to restore Paradise Gardens for generations to continue to enjoy and learn about Howard and so many other things. The World's Folk Art Chapel is in dire need of immediate repair and would literally be a treasure trove of art and history if reopened to the public. If you can help us let us know.

On a personal level, our first work of faith after making our committment to the artworld was to create an artcar to spread our message. We covered our van with art and words. It's called Lasterblasters' Rockin Holy Roller. It was created by the two of us in just five days--and just in time to attend the Kentucky Artcar Weekend! It was in conjunction with a show we were in at the Ky Art and Craft Gallery called Kentucky Folk Art for the 21st Century. we had a great time and made many new friends. Driving an artcar makes life fun and interesting everywhere you go...
Earlier this year we were in a show at the Gallerie Michel Gillet in Paris France called Elvis Glorious Elvis. Also we have another show that we are included in that will be traveling the next couple of years called The Great American Spirit--all Ky artists with art in response to the 9/1/1 tragedy. It will be going to the Kentucky Art and Craft Gallery in Louisville this summer and then on the road....

This year we'll be doing quite a few fairs and events which we have listed later on this webpage. We are especially excited about new places.. We'll be a part of TAG gallery's Hillbilly Culture show in Nashvile opening June 22nd, we are going to go to The American Visionary Art Museum's artcar event in Baltimore and we will be traveling to Deer Island Maine, and Pittsburg Pa. to do Recycled Art Project workshops.

so-that ought to keep y'all pretty up to date. let us know if there is anything we can do for you or if you would like to be a part of any of these events.

September 11, 2001
Well just like everybody in America, our lives were forever changed by the events of this day. We had alot of initial grief not only for the victims and families but also for all of humanity, as we knew it was an event loaded with potential to beget more violence in a larger war. We were glad to see that people in their pain awoke to their spiritual nature and began to reach out to each other. it seems that because of this we, like many people began to reevaluate our lives. the future being so uncertain has caused us to live life even more fully in the moment, appreciating the small and wonderful gifts of God in our world, and being more fully expressive of our feelings. we personally have been intensely praying for peace, as that is the message of our Lord Christ. we hope people realize that, when they say God Bless America, for God will only bless us when we keep love and compassion in our hearts, no matter what injury or insult has befallen us. that is what faith is about--remaining true to God and keeping peace in our hearts in spite of the suffering it may bring. that is following the example of Christ. We pray for our troops that they may not have to take life or have their lives taken senselessly. We pray for the innocent people in Afganistan who are suffering. we pray for the people of America that innocent lives need not be lost in an invisible battlefield. And also that people around the world will begin to place their spiritual life above their material gains when making all decisions. that is the only way our world is saved in spite of all this--one beautiful moment and one soul at a time.

2001
well we had a fun and eventful year, and wanted to let you all know the highlights. April we went to Riverfest in Columbus Georgia. It was great seeing all our our ol pals after a long winter and as a special bonus--James Brown played at the Festival! Wow he's still got it . Kept us pumped up til Finster Fest. That was a great time too. In beautiful Paradise Gardens with the Daddy of Folk Art! In June we did our first Day in the Country in Happy Gizzard Holler Kentucky. It's put on by Minnie Atkins at her home with help from the church. It's way back in the hollers of Eastern Kentucky and most of the artists are local. But they took us in like old friends. And we couldn't believe after the trouble it took to find the place ourselves that they brought in tour buses. People came from Wisconsin and California and all over. Pretty neat and the art was awesome! In July we went to Hurricane Mills (Loretta Lynn's Ranch ) and saw her in concert. If you've never been there, we highly recommend it. Run by her and her family and it is really homespun and friendly. Like Graceland only country and Loretta is livin there! we met her daughter Patsy and her son Ernie and they took a painting to Loretta to be autographed for us. Very nice of them fer sure. in July we also got a great opportunity. The Coca Cola Corporation in Atlanta had us come and put on an all day Recycled art Project for them, at the downtown Atlanta YMCA. We made art, musical instruments and a mural too. It was a big day! We hope to continue the project with Coca Cola's help--and big thanks to Mart Martin for his support. the next day we went to Dog Day Festival in Atlanta and set up with the art, made friends with someone who recognized the art from graffiti we left at Graceland! and the next day after went to Paradise Gardens and saw Howard Finster and also our friend Steve from California, who was there making a film with friends. we had a great day of fellowship with them and said a few words in their film! In August we went to see Dwight Yoakam in Nashville--Hillbilly Deluxe and went to Folk Fest in Atlanta. We got to see and meet so many people there! We had a great time meeting some collectors from France for the first time--Pascal and Zsa Zsa. they bought some Elvis art last year from other galleries and tell us it is now in the Musee Internationale des Arts Modeste in Sete France ( museum of modest arts--something like folk art) they were a blast--we talked rockabilly and Elvis in rough translations and made a few "faux pas" that made us all laugh--don't say anything about cats in broken french! Then Mike gave Pascal his shoes--old American tradition after embarassing faux pas don't ya know! In the fall we were working on a project to do some fixer upper construction work for Howard and Beverly Finster in Paradise Gardens in late October---topping that off with Recycled Art and a Revival on the last Saturday and Sunday in October, there in Paradise Gardens too, but then dear ol Howard passed away one week before our scheduled projects. We have every intention to keep these going in his honor. We need helpers, with all of this. We'll be rescheduling these in the future. Please contact us if you need information about keeping Howard's dreams alive