1994 CALIFORNIA LICENSE

Plate, vintage, $8.

Hey, did you know that back in 1994 the renowned painter Wayne Thiebaud was tapped to create a design for a special California license plate, with the proceeds of the sale of the plate going to fund arts education programs throughout the state? You know what else came out in 1994? A funky little jam called “Fantastic Voyage.” No, not that “Fantastic Voyage;” this “Fantastic Voyage,” the video for which involves a magical party car and ends with a shot of a license plate, the only piece of the car to remain when the party was over. 

What do these tenuous, mildly intriguing connections add up to? Hell if I know, but since there aren’t nearly enough Wayne Thiebaud/Coolio mashups in the world, I feel like I’m contributing in some way.

Mannequin

Well, hell. The plan, such as I had one, was that the text of the Penny Saver entry that I drew would be the title of the work. Unfortunately, I can't find the entry for this one among my admittedly unorganized stack of Penny Saver mailers (you know, there were supposed to be three stacks: the unread Penny savers, the ones that were marked for future drawings, and the finished--you know what? This is way too boring. Let's move on.). And, man, this ad was a peach. Some amazing weirdo was selling an all-chrome, full-figured, blue-eyed mannequin. An evocative description, at the very least. I wish I could remember the price. I'm not giving up on finding that entry, mind you; if it turns up in the stack(s) it'll find its way here as well.

OK, so let's go through all the rest of the business that needs to be addressed. I am aware (and have been for some time) that they are no longer mailing out physical copies of the Penny Saver. But I've held on to quite a few of them, and so the project can and will continue. For now. It will end one day--I am working with a limited resource--but I honestly don't know how long it'll take before that stack is exhausted. Or before I am exhausted.

Next thing: it's been a year plus since I've posted any work, but the work does gets done. And eventually it gets posted. Time moves forward down a million unconnected corridors, and we're not privy to all its paths. Some chrome mannequins languish in obscurity for what feels like a lifetime (or a year and two months) before the world is introduced to their blue-eyed fabulousness.