Timing is everything in life. I was working my shift at the gallery when a customer from Texas came in, a person that likes Pez dispensers. So strong is her love of the lowly Pez dispenser that she had this tattoo on her side.
Naturally we had a lively discussion, and I learned the history of this little candy dispenser, which is actually very interesting. First made in Austria, it was a simple mint dispensing container, no feet, no head, just 1 mint at a time, made so that only 1 was touched at a time. The idea was, eat this mint, don't smoke that cigarette. Possibly the first anti-smoking campaign. The name came from the German word for peppermint - pfeffermintz.
Given my alteration of the current dispensers, they are of no value to a Pez collector. Now an art collector, maybe. Smile with me on this as I present "The Creature from the Black Lagoon".
Or the mermaid, another creature of water.
In October I will be a featured artist with a new show titled "Cautionary Tales". This piece is for the show, titled "The Tiger's Eye", from a story written by L. Frank Baum, the author of "The Wizard of Oz". This story was put to paper in 1905 (a jungle fairytale), but not published until 1965. At the time it was written, it was considered too frightening for little children. The key element of the tale is a magician who is forced to become the eye for a tiger cub, born without his left eye. In his forced captivity, he lives in hate which transfers to the beast he inhabits. As the story continues, he is the eye for a boy and a deer, and in each case he makes them wicked with his hate.
My opening reception is Saturday, October 1st, from 1 to 5 at Art A La Carte Gallery in Occoquan.
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