September 24, 2015

September 24, 2015

I have loved Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (the books) since childhood.  And I love some hard and surrealistic rock.  So doing ‘White Rabbit’ by Jefferson Airplane was an easy choice. (I did own The Surrealistic Pillow album.)  However I did the painting in the book sense rather than the Grace Slick sense.  But I put in all the elements mentioned in the song.  The white rabbit is prominent with a lovely herringbone jacket.  The caterpillar is on the mushroom with his hookah and smoke billowing around.  Alice is in the 3-inch stage, peeking over the mushroom.  In the background you can see the chessboard, the White Knight and the Red Queen.  Here is where Grace made a mistake.  The Red Queen in the book is the chess queen.  Grace meant the Queen of Hearts (“off with her head”), not the Red Queen.  But using the Queen of Hearts in the lyrics would have messed up the rhythm so it is OK.  I have a nod to the surrealistic with the large flowers.  And if you peek around the left edge of the canvas, you will see the dormouse in the sugar bowl. ( I don’t think that he ever said “Feed your head.”)  Perhaps I should have gone more surrealistic, but that is not in vogue these days.  And there is a possibility that someone might want to buy The White Rabbit for a child’s or grandchild’s room.  It is a bright and colorful image.  Come to the show at the Hoogland Center for the Arts.  It runs from opening night on October 17 through December 3.  Hope to see you.