I love to look at the commercial art and graphics of the Mid Century era.  In this current age of photography and computer generated design, we forget that hand drawn art was such a part of the everyday scene.  As an artist it is disappointing that there are now so few outlets for creative painting.  I wish Mad Men had a sequel more about the art department and the art scene at that time.

Here is a link to a terrific site with some examples of album covers from the Mid Twentieth Century.  Clever design, very little photography.

 http://www.midcenturia.com/2011/09/mid-century-album-covers-ii.html

The dogs have it this week!  I started putting dogs and cats in my paintings to soften the sometimes harsh lines of Modern design.  They give a sense of real people and families living in the Space Age.  I don't do dog portraits, or any commission painting, but I get lots of requests for breeds that people are interested in seeing in the modern settings.  No better salesman on Earth than a cute pet. 

Feel free to contact me if you have a special breed that you would like to see in a painting.

FREDERICK WEINBERG

Frederick Weinberg has long been one of my favorite Mid Century artists.  His works embody the style of the era.  I'm privileged to own one of his better known pieces, "Jitterbug"  which hangs over my fireplace.  He was also a champion of mass produced art, or product art, which helped to make great design available to the average person.

His work inspired one of my own paintings,    WEINBERG OVERTURE  which is available in my Limited Edition Print collection.

One of my favorite episodes of Mad Men is the one where Campbell is returning a dip and chip dish he and Trudi got as a wedding gift so that he can use the refund to buy a rifle.  He has to explain "dip" to the guys in the office because thy have never heard of it.

Dip was invented in the early 1950s.  California Dip, sometimes also called Onion Soup Dip, was used in advertising by the Lipton Company, although they do not claim to have invented it.  The first Dip and Chip dish set was issued in 1953.

California dip is a two ingredient recipe, the sour cream and the onion soup mix.  Here is another two ingredient dip, a little more updated.  I got this recipe from a friend in California.

                                                  Kimchi Dip

                             1 pint jar of Kimchi
                             4 bars cream cheese
Blend the ingredient in the food processor.  Thin with milk if needed.  Serve with chips or baguet slices.

Well, the pink VW Beetle is a big hit!  The fans of PINK are already bidding.  A sunny day in the mid century, a ride in a convertible, what could be better?

When I was a little girl, we went to the Syracuse airport to pick up my Dad from a business trip and saw a woman with her hair dyed pink in a beehive hairdo and on a leash she had a white Standard Poodle dyed pink.  I have always associated poodles with the MCM era and love to include them in my paintings.

I grew up doing a lot of needlework.  My Mom liked sewing and needle crafts and I learned from her.  My favorite is knitting, but I also do cross stitch and needlepoint.  I've been interpreting some of my mid century designs and paintings into cross stitch charts and am offering them as INSTANT DOWNLOADS in my second Etsy store, Eccentric Avenue, by Linda Tillman.  Here's a link: Eccentic Avenue on Etsy   The shop also has some modern graphic downloads.  I'll be adding more items as I have them read.  Here are a couple of my Tiki Sign paintings that I have made into cross stitch charts.

 Tiki is a fun and interesting aspect of Mid Century culture.  It seems to correspond with Hawaiian statehood and the post war travel boom.  The growing middle class of the 1950's was hooked on good time and fun in the sun.  Trader Vic's is probably the best know of the era's lounges and is still a big attraction in Beverly Hills.  Decorating home bars and patios in Tiki style is popular today.