2015 Small Works Invitational

New group show opening this coming Friday, November 6, 2015 at the Ober Anderson Gallery in Kirkwood, MO, a suburb of the Greater St Louis, MO. Many thanks to Lisa Ober for this unique invitation and the opportunity to show my artwork in the Mid-West for the first time.  The exhibition includes some very talented artists, several I have been acquainted with through this Blog or Facebook. These would include Lisa Ober, Joyce K. Jenson, John Salozzo and Carrie Waller.  

Having a Ball with Little Miss Sunshine

Acrylic on gessoed masonite, 7 x 5''

Painting #234, 2015

While my son Jean-Luc, now 20 was in kindergarten, he introduced me to the series of book known as Mr. Men and Little Miss, or to us in French as Monsieur, Madame. 

These children books were introduced to the world in 1971 by British author and illustrator Roger Hargreaves. The first book he wrote was called Mr. Tickles. It was inspired when his young son Adam asked him what a tickle looked like. He would go on to produce a total of 46 booklets for the Mr. Men series. In 1981, the Little Miss series followed suit with another 33 humorous books that are also about universal human emotions and morality. In 1988, the world would mourn the loss of Hargreaves who died quite young at the age of 53 following a series of stokes. His son Adam (born 1964), took over the empire his father had created and after some rigorous training, was able to continue to publish new offerings. The popularity of the books was an instant hit spawning a BBC animated series for Mr. Men in 1974 and for Little Miss in 1983. The sales of the books has reach a staggering 100 millions, sold in 28 countries and translated in more than 10 languages.

Click:  Here and Here for some nice interviews and video demos with his son Adam Hargreaves.

The rights to the characters has been sold twice. Since 2011, they are currently owned by Sanrio, the same company that owns Hello Kitty. 

The four-time Oscar nominated film, ''Little Miss Sunshine'' starring Abigail Breslin in the title role is not related to this book. 

Mason jars or canning jars has been incorporated in the composition of many of my painting for their beauty and also as symbolism for preserving things, whether memories or objects. The Ball Corporation, originally Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Co. has been in business since 1880. Last year I purchased a box of 6 blue tinted Ball Mason jars issued to commemorate 100 years of American Heritage (1912-1915). The one used in this painting is a vintage model that came with the zinc lid.

To be exhibited in the 2015 Small Works Invitational at the 

Ober Anderson Gallery

101A West Argonne Drive, 

Kirkwood, Missouri

(St Louis, MO)

Exhibition Dates: November 6-December 31, 2015 

Public Reception: November 20, 2015

-SOLD