Original 8×10 Birchwood
Don Clawleone
The boss of the family. He doesn’t scuttle — he conducts business sideways.
Fine Art With Claws
Hand-painted Freedom Crabs by Frank Giovingo Jr. Original oil crab paintings on rugged 8×10 birchwood panels — made first to live on the wall, glow in the room, and carry a message of freedom. The travel part is the extra mischief.
Original Oil on 8×10 Birchwood • Freedom Art
Freedom Crab Project
These are paintings first. Each Freedom Crab is an original oil painting on a cradled birchwood panel — not canvas, not a poster, not a souvenir pretending to be art.
The crab became the messenger because it fit the job: tough shell, sideways intelligence, New Orleans humor, and just enough attitude to carry a serious idea without standing at attention. The message is freedom — the kind protected and passed forward by the World War II generation. The piece belongs on the wall. If the road calls, the rugged build lets it travel, get photographed, mark a place in time, and come home with the story still shining.
8×10 birchwood, oil paint, and a glossy epoxy finish that locks the color in like a lens.
Countdown to America's 250th Birthday
The Freedom Crab Project celebrates 250 years of American freedom through original oil paintings inspired by the spirit of the World War II generation.
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America’s 250th • Freedom • Liberation
Freedom Is the Light Behind the Paint
The Freedom Crab Project is a celebration of original art and inherited liberty: bright, tough, New Orleans-born paintings carrying gratitude for the freedom protected by the World War II generation.
America’s 250th anniversary is the launch tide. The crabs begin on walls, then some move through the world as small messengers of freedom, humor, memory, and place.
The idea has weight, but the crab keeps it moving. Serious purpose, smooth delivery, no stiff parade shoes required.
250 Years of
American
Freedom
American
Freedom
A Long Game, Painted One Crab at a Time
The Freedom Crab Project begins around America’s 250th anniversary, but it is built as a long-running body of work — not a one-week fireworks table.
Frank Giovingo has painted crabs for more than 17 years. The new part is the mission: giving the crab a public role as original art that can carry freedom, memory, humor, and human connection into the room.
Each painting starts as art to be admired. Over time, some will travel, some will stay home, some will become stories, and some will simply own the wall quietly like they paid rent.
This project is meant to grow beyond one moment. It starts with Frank, but the spirit can be handed forward to future artists who understand that freedom makes creativity possible.
Start With the Wall
A Freedom Crab is created to be lived with: seen across the room, caught by the light, and enjoyed as original art. The road is available later if the crab starts acting restless.
Wall First
Art First
Oil on birchwood gives the crab a body, a glow, and a little backbone. It is made to hang with presence, not whisper from the corner.
Road Ready
Purpose Built
The rugged finish means the painting is not fragile theater. It can stay home and be admired, or step into the world when the story needs a witness.
The wall is the harbor. The road is the rumor.
Request a Freedom Crab
Each crab is created one at a time. You are not choosing from a shelf of copies. You are requesting an original Freedom Crab painting to be created by Frank — its own name, its own story, its own character, and its own place in the family.
Every finished crab is different. Old-master oil painting technique, rugged birchwood, crypto technology, and permanent blockchain documentation come together so the art, story, and history do not drift away.
Original Commission Request
$95
Original birchwood crab. Request a finished Freedom Crab painted for you — built as fine art first, with a name, story, and character of its own.
Documented Travel-Ready Crab
$125
Epoxy travel-ready crab. The same original art, sealed tougher and ready for photos, claimed territory, and permanent NFT passport documentation on the blockchain.
Send a request. Frank creates the crab. The crab earns the name. The blockchain keeps the record.
Art, Technology, and a Permanent Trail
A Freedom Crab is not picked from a catalog. It is requested, created, named, documented, and released into the project as a one-of-one character.
Each crab brings together old-master painting technique, rugged birchwood craft, American freedom history, and modern crypto technology. When officially minted, its NFT passport permanently connects the painting, its name, its story, and its place in the Freedom Crab family.
The painting comes first. The technology protects the trail. The story gives the crab its claws.
War Map
Check out the War Map. It shows where Freedom Crabs have claimed territory, where the story has already landed, and which crabs are out there making moves.
The map is the living trail of the project: claimed places, submitted photos, named crabs, and little moments where original art stepped out of the room and left a mark.
The painting comes first. The War Map is where the crab proves it has been somewhere.
Claimed Territory
Where the Crabs Leave Tracks
Some crabs stay proud on the wall. Some get photographed in the wild. The War Map keeps the trail visible without making the crab talk too much — which is good, because he would.
Original Art, Built With Backbone
A Freedom Crab is not delicate decoration. It is an original oil painting on birchwood with a rugged body and a clear finish that helps the color hold its ground.
Hang It
Made to Be Admired
Hang it at home, at the camp, in the office, or anywhere the room could use color, humor, and a little freedom-minded nerve.
Claim It
Ready When the Story Moves
The travel idea is not a gimmick. It is a second life for the painting — a chance to carry the message into daylight, take the photograph, and return with proof.
Fine art is the home base. The travel is the spark. When a crab is photographed in a place, the moment holds still long enough to leave a mark.
Don Clawleone Claimed First
The first claimed territory belongs to Don Clawleone — the original Freedom Crab. He is the boss crab, the first crab on the map, and the standard by which all future crabs are measured.
Owners can stay private. The crab name, city, landmark, water, beach, porch, dock, or country can be shared. The crab takes the bow; the human can remain mysterious.
Example Traveler
Captain Clawumbus
Captain Clawumbus started in New Orleans, claimed a porch in River Ridge, survived a beach trip in Destin, and is now trying to become the first Freedom Crab photographed underwater with the real crabs.
How It Works
The Crab Gets the Credit
We can list the crab name, the city, the landmark, the water, the beach, or the country. The owner does not need to be named. The crab carries the flag, the story, and the territory.
Official crab passports matter. The blockchain/NFT passport is the mark that ties each crab back to the Freedom Crab purpose — collectible art with a freedom message, backed by a growing family of characters.
Prime Movers: Observe the Sprinters
Some crabs become Sprinters. They are still paintings first — but every now and then one gets carried into the world, photographed in a real place, and caught in a moment that becomes part of the map.
The Prime Movers section features those traveling crabs: the ones already on the move, leaving quiet little messages on marked territory. A photograph freezes the landing. The crab gets the credit. The place gets remembered. Nobody has to make a speech; the crab already handled it.
The Archive of Crab Evidence
Every traveling crab leaves evidence. The passport trail records the photographs, landings, names, and small moments where art stepped out of the room and touched the map.
Some crabs may never travel, and that is perfectly honorable. Others become Sprinters. When they do, the passport trail keeps the story from drifting off with the tide.
Instagram Travel Log
See Where the Crabs Have Crawled
Follow the official Freedom Crab Instagram for travel photos, crab missions, claimed territory, and the growing map of where these rugged little freedom carriers have been.
Follow @freedomcrab504 on Instagram Follow Freedom Crab on Facebook
Official Passport
Official Crab Passport Collection
This is the official passport link for the crabs — a place to view the digital collection tied to the project and the July 4th freedom mission.
View the Official Crab PassportsBring your crab somewhere worth remembering. Snap the picture, send the place, and let that crab earn another stamp in the Freedom Crab passport trail.
Fine Art, Built to Travel
Every Freedom Crab is an original painting by Frank Giovingo, created with the patience and layering of the Old Master technique — then sealed to be rugged, waterproof, luminous, and ready for the road.
This is a real 8x10 cradled birchwood panel, not a loose piece of wood and not a thin craft board. The cradled construction gives the painting a boxed, gallery-style body with strength, depth, and presence. Hang it on your wall as fine art — and if you want to, take it with you. The crab was built to travel.
The epoxy surface dries clear and glossy, like a protective glass lens poured over the painting. It locks the color in, deepens the shadows, brightens the highlights, and gives the crab a wet luminous glow. It is waterproof and rugged enough for beaches, boats, camps, road trips, and photo missions. Bring it diving if you want. Let it claim the territory.
The promise: it is fine art with a rugged body — glossy, waterproof, durable, luminous, and ready to crawl wherever freedom lives. If it gets scratched over time, send it back to us and we will refurbish it for free.
The Idea, Plain and Simple
A Freedom Crab is not just a painting. It is a small traveling character with a name, a story, and a place in a growing record.
1. Contact Us Email gustothelab@gmail.com and tell us you are interested in getting a Freedom Crab.
2. See What Is Available We will show you the crabs currently available, including their names, stories, finish, and personality.
3. Find the Right Crab We will help match you with the crab that feels right for your wall, camp, office, suitcase, or next adventure.
4. Ask About Custom Sizes The classic Freedom Crabs are 8x10 cradled birchwood originals, but artist Frank Giovingo can paint other sizes by request.
2. Take It SomewherePorch, camp, beach, bar, battlefield, backyard, or suitcase adventure.
3. Send the PictureLet the crab claim territory with a photo and short story.
4. Build the MapEvery claimed place becomes part of the Freedom Crab trail.
Freedom, Art & Territory
The effort is possible because of freedom. Art is the expression. The crab is the messenger.
A Freedom Crab is meant to encapsulate that spirit in a tough, funny, luminous little character. It carries New Orleans attitude, Sicilian grit, and gratitude for the World War II generation that helped save us from tyranny, fascism, occupation, and oppression. Its playful mission is simple: crawl into the world, own the room, and claim a little territory for freedom wherever it lands.
Inspired by the Generation That Freed the World
The Freedom Crab Project is inspired by the men and women of World War II — especially those who gave their lives so the rest of us could live free.
That generation helped save the world from tyranny, fascism, occupation, and oppression. They carried the burden so future generations could inherit liberty, creativity, and the right to express themselves.
These crabs are our small, joyful way of carrying that message forward. We want them to crawl all over the world — into homes, camps, offices, museums, beaches, battlefields, cities, and landmarks — spreading the spirit of freedom and liberation wherever they go.
The crab is tough, scrappy, funny, and bright. It carries gratitude for those who fought before us, and it claims a little territory for freedom every place it lands.
Availability & Custom Sizes
The 8x10 cradled birchwood originals are the classic Freedom Crabs — the ones built to travel, glow, and crawl into the world.
Email us at gustothelab@gmail.com and we will let you know what is currently available. We can send photos, names, short stories, and details so you can choose the crab that feels right for you.
Frank Giovingo can also paint larger or custom sizes by request. The 8x10 Freedom Crab is the signature format, but the artist is not limited to one size. If you want something special for a wall, camp, office, collection, or gift, contact us and we will talk through what can be created.
Sample Crabs
These are sample crabs. They show the spirit of the project. When you claim a crab, it is yours — unique, named, storied, and ready to crawl.
Original 8×10 Birchwood
Lakeview Lorenzo
Claims he protects the lakefront, but mostly he watches the ice chest and judges the seasoning.
Original 8×10 Birchwood
Bayou Benny
Left New Orleans once and complained the whole time nobody knew how to boil anything.
Original 8×10 Birchwood
Magazine Street Marlo
Looks polished, talks tough, and still asks his aunt where the good gravy is.
Original 8×10 Birchwood
Gentilly Giuseppe
Keeps saying he knows a guy. Nobody knows what guy, but somehow things get handled.
Original 8×10 Birchwood
Pontchartrain Paulie
Wants to see the world, but first he needs a snack, a ride, and probably a nap.
Original 8×10 Birchwood
Vieux Carré Vito
Says every corner is his corner, especially if there’s brass music and red beans nearby.
Original 8×10 Birchwood
Neutral Ground Nicky
Refuses to pick a side unless one side has better crawfish.
Crab of the Week
Bayou Belle
Bayou Belle has claimed territory, carries an official Freedom Crab passport, and has earned her place on the War Map. For now she is resting like a princess in Sarasota while planning her next adventure.
Why Freedom Crab?
For more than 17 years I have painted crabs, and Freedom Crab is the natural evolution of that work — giving the art a purpose beyond the canvas and sending it out into the world with a message of freedom, creativity, and connection.
Freedom Crab is my way of carrying that torch forward through art. The paintings are fun, but the purpose is serious: preserve memory, celebrate freedom, and let creativity become a small vehicle for something larger.
Freedom is not free. History matters. Art can keep the story alive.
New Orleans, Sicilian Backbone, and a Traveling Spirit
This project is as New Orleans as gumbo, a streetcar ride, and a Sunday afternoon under an oak tree — with a little Sicilian backbone from artist Contact Us
The goal is to let these crabs crawl all over the world: backyards, bars, beaches, museums, porches, parade routes, the Grand Canyon, the pyramids, and one day Normandy Beach.
My real dream is simple — get one Freedom Crab onto the beaches of Normandy. Everywhere else it crawls is lagniappe.
Claimed Territory
Once a crab is claimed, it belongs to the person who claims it. What we post publicly is claimed territory: the place, the picture, and the short story of where the crab crawled.
First Claimed Territory
River Ridge, Louisiana
ZIP Code: 70123
The first Freedom Crab has claimed River Ridge, Louisiana — the place where this project was born. Others will follow shortly.
Built Tough Like the Crab Itself
Original Art
Each piece is an original hand-painted 8×10 crab painting on cradled birchwood. It is fine art first — but it is not fragile. It is rugged, waterproof, and built like the crab itself: tough enough for walls, camps, water, road trips, diving photos, and real adventures.
Waterproof & Refurbishable
The epoxy finish dries hard, glossy, waterproof, and protective. It glows wherever it goes, like a clear lens over the color. If the adventure leaves scratches over time, send it back and we will refurbish it for free.
Certificate, Provenance, and NFT Record
Each Freedom Crab can have a matching identity record: name, story, image, certificate ID, owner history, and digital proof of authenticity.
The NFT is not the soul of the project. The soul is the painting and the story. The digital record simply helps prove that the story belongs to the real crab.
What This Site Is Trying To Do
This site is intentionally simple: understand the idea quickly, meet the sample crabs, see the first claimed territory, then decide whether you want your own rugged waterproof Freedom Crab to hang, travel, photograph, and pass into the story.
The project is not only about collecting art. It is about carrying a message, making memories, claiming territory, and giving people a small reason to go somewhere and bring back a story.
Get Your Own Freedom Crab
Kindly inquire about getting your own Freedom Crab — a small original painting with a name, a story, and a mission to crawl.
Once you claim it, it is yours. Hang it on your wall, take it somewhere, bring it near the water, take it diving, photograph it, and let it claim territory. Sometimes a little crab in your suitcase is all the excuse you need to finally take the trip.
A Crab Is Looking For A Wall
Start simple. Ask what is available. The crab can behave on the wall first. Travel can be discussed later, preferably before it books anything.
🦀 Ask About a Crab