Jerry Garcia shirt, “Painted Mandolin”…

I recently had the honor of being asked to do some merch work for the Jerry Garcia Estate. They were looking to fill out and revitalize their merch line and contacted myself and a couple other artists with the idea of using Jerry’s songs and lyrics to create new art. I luckily was given the task to translate the song “Rubin & Cherise” which holds some weight in the Leunig family. I’ve been a fan of the dead for a while but growing up my sister was a big deadhead and her and her husband were all about this song, naming their 1st son Rubin. You get the idea…

The song takes place during New Orleans carnival and is about a seducer, Rubin, with his painted Mandolin. Cherise dances for him while trying to keep his eyes off other ladies, … romantic right?

The concept took a couple different turns but once locking in on doing the “mask” idea and testing a couple different version, the final look just kinda come into fruition.

The shirt along with some other new designs are available in the Jerry Garcia Store.