A Little Bit of "Mad Men" in My House

(The above artwork is by New York-based artist, Dyna Moe)

Here is her website: http://www.nobodyssweetheart.com/

When "Mad Men" first debuted on AMC in 2007, I didn't watch it. There was a part of me that felt the depiction of the early 60s was "too modern." Moreover, the notion of following the tales of a married, cocksure ad man with a scotch and girl addiction was depressing. However, after my TiVo recorded a few episodes in my "TiVo Suggestions" file, I found myself not only watching them, I was entranced! The interior design, the clothing, and the complex nature of the characters made me love this show! In a sense, I became a "Mad Men" junkie!

Speaking of interior design, I was recently watching a "Season 2" episode of "Mad Men" and I saw this:

This is a screen-shot of Pete and Trudy Campbell's Manhattan apartment. I ADORE the art on the wall! The three canvases look like a bas-relief or woodcuts.

Inspired by these pieces (along with the artwork by Ms. Moe), I decided to create my own depiction using three separate 12x24" canvases coated with acrylic paint.

Before I began my paint/color scheme, I made two stencils with sketch paper and scotch tape. Stencils are a good way to ensure uniformity and accuracy:

Then, I painted the canvases with pale pink and a faux fishnet design using a darker, mid-tone pink. When the paint was dry, I traced the outline of the stencil(s) onto each canvas with lead pencil. I outlined the shapes with a Sharpie Paint Pen in Black and filled them out with black gloss acrylic paint. To finish, I accented the three shapes with white acrylic.

Here is the final look:

And here's the overall creation in my foyer hallway:

Atomic Era Cat Painting Inspired by Straight Talking Mama's Broken Cat Vase

Recently, the lovely Fiona from Straight Talking Mama blog, did a post detailing the heartbreak she felt when her 60 year old cat vase (as pictured above) broke when a huge wind caused it to crash to the floor.

http://straighttalkingmama.blogspot.com/2011/02/dont-you-just-hate-it-when.html

When I read her story, I felt her loss. What a shame to lose such a precious mid-century piece!  I hope Fiona can find another cat vase just like the one she had.

Because I am a "crazy cat lady"  and an avid vintage enthusiast, I decided to tap into my creativity and do a painting inspired by Fiona's broken kitty vase. I used acrylic colors of espresso, white, and pink.

I also added two starbursts and applied a thin layer of pink glitter over the pink swirls:

 And, here is the painting hanging above my white bookshelf in my upstairs foyer hall:

 I like the way the painting turned out but I hope Fiona does not mind I basically did a copy of her cat! I guess since the cat is broken and not able to be fixed, I hope my finished piece can properly honor its memory!