Back in olden days she went by the name of Becky Lamphier and she was friends with my sister. She lived in a local housing division called "Willowood" which was fancier than where we lived.
Now she's a Danielson and she lives and works in Mt. Vernon, Iowa churning out curious works of art from paintings to sculptures. She sells her work on eBay (gungerbean is her account name) to an international audience, including a guy in France who must own dozens of her pieces by now. Most every piece has a story and often times it's based on Becky's own observations while out and about here in Eastern Iowa. For this blog I'm going to focus on the paintings and other hanging objects that I have by Becky. Her reworking and re-imagining of found objects as well as her sock sculptures deserve a blog of their own!
The first piece of Becky's art I received was this one:
This is a tribute to the late Johnny Cash. My sister bought me this for Christmas several years ago, even though she had already spent way too much money on me already, but knew I would love it. She's right, I do love it, and it kick started my love affair with Becky's unique and skewed style. Becky used acrylics on a canvas board and added a frame to this 8" x 11" masterpiece.My favorite Danielson piece is another that my sister got for me for Christmas. This was a specially commissioned piece, inspired by a photo of Superfro and me during our trip to Bali.
One afternoon we spent getting dolled up in traditional Balinese wedding gear, complete with *heavy* make-up. The background of the painting is peppered with other things from out trip: the cat that hung out at our villa and ate part of my birthday cake, and the monkey who stole a package of batteries from a store and was chased by the shopkeeper with a slingshot. This painting was also done in acrylics and is on a thick piece of wood.
This next piece was originally a large cork board that Becky painted over. The story behind it is that the guy on the right is an excellent bullshitter and the guy on the left is an excellent listener. The small pictures in the background correspond with tall tales the bullshitter has spun, which are painted around the frame. Superfro and I got this piece from eBay.
Some of the better tales include; #6 "Had a bad case of the drip last year"
If you see a picture and want to know the story behind it, let me know!
Another eBay piece, this is a recycled mirror in a wooden frame. Around the edge Becky has painted exampled of almost every feeling one could have about themselves while looking in the mirror. I know the mirror looks dirty, but it's actually because it's dozens of years old. Get over it.
A while back I asked Becky to paint something for my friends Matt & Molli who are savvy art collectors. I thought that they would appreciate Becky's style. I gave her the price range I had in mind and this is what she came up with, it's called "I Made It Just For You" and is painted on the door of an old cupboard.
Technically, it's not a piece that Superfro and I own but I think it's an excellent example of Becky's range and her ability to create non-human characters and give them personality. If you ever visit Matt & Molli in Denver you can see this painting on display in their guest room.This last "flat" piece is another one from eBay and frankly, I have no idea what is going on in it or what Becky's thoughts about it were. Her eBay auctions often have very good descriptions about the pieces, explaining her thoughts and inspiration. The meaning behind this one is lost in cyberspace. It's another large piece, done with acrylics on canvas with a beveled edge.
My favorite parts of this piece are the turnip on the baby's highchair, the pills and the pot cooking on the stove.I've got a whole blogs worth of other, non-hanging pieces of art by Becky that I will share at another time. It includes a deranged cookie jar and some of Superfro's favorite snacks!
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