Laurie Goes Mod

Were you a little girl in the 60s? Do you remember playing with sweet Liddle Kiddles, blinking Blythe, and Dawn dolls?

If you were, and if you do, then this post is for you...child of the mod, weaned on Keane prints, plastic slipcovers, TV and Tang.

Laurie Meseroll salutes her girlie youth and the starry eyed, big-headed babes of that era in a new group of work.

This was a fun exploration of reminiscence for her…she had talked about painting something like this series since we visited Ro's house with Debbee Thibault last summer.

...here are Laurie’s big eyed, big-headed and oh so “mod” little girls.

And here are some Kolorful Kiddles (thanks Ro for these image)….a few of these cuties are familiar to me too…I had Suki Skediddle, and Sleeping Biddle. So sweet, so tiny; they fit right in your hand and were a world of darling play.

Ro, among many wonderful accumulations and collections, is an avid “Kollector of Kiddles”. When that cabinet door opened Laurie went crazy! She had to smell them, loved the colors, talked about how she and her sister had played with them for days on end in the late 60s…She went on and on…the Kologne Kiddles, the Kola Kiddles…ohhh ahhh.

This work has a sassy, swingy palette and hair colors that are from a galaxy beyond... And so, Laurie Meseroll has revealed her passion for the MOD! While Margaret Keane’s large-eyed waifs might live again today in the brassy “Powder Puff Girls”, I prefer Laurie’s iteration of this brand of ingénue. Her new paintings capture the sweet doe-eyed dolls and playthings so many of us loved as children of that era.

Incidentally, it was just announced in February that Kate Hudson will play Margaret Keane in the movie “Big Eyes”. Filming will begin late 2008. Laurie, you style-setter you… always just one step ahead of the power curve!

xxoo
Jen O’Connor
Earth Angels