Sixties Nostalgia

" Tina's Dream " detail from an oil at Ian Russell fine art, www.IanRussellArt.com

"Blue Mood", a street in Clarkdale .

Of late, I've been thinking a lot about the times when I grew up, which was the early to mid-sixties. " Mad Men" trendiness aside, I'm not sure exactly why.

A fun way to satisfy the yearnings has been to paint a series of works with cars from the era as subject, placed in appropriate settings.The first one in the series was a Chevy Impala, which I placed in my driveway at the time. ( Apropos...always my dream car).

Living here, in Arizona, it's not hard to find subjects that fit this whim.

Many of the streets in Clarkdale are right from out of the 1950's, replete with vehicles that are still being driven. It's quite refreshing to be in a place where the corner gas station is still as it was, with attendants whoactually pump gas, and a " ding-ding " air hose. ( I did get depressed recently after I rode across the hose on my bike, and it went ding-ding; something that did not happen when I was a kid riding my bike on the hoses; I guess I'm lucky that the station didn't explode under my adult weight.)

Homes that were built in the early 20th century have been left intact, and there are no convenience stores, nor a Burger King on the corner. Of course, now and then I do need my fix of Target or Kohl's, and to stock up on enough cereal for six months and a gross of tissue boxes at Sam's, just like everyone else.

I do feel fortunate that live near a little town that's like a snapshot from the mid-century. All across the US are pockets where time has stood still. Sometimes you have to look, but they are there.

Must be a boomer thing.