Until I was 13, my brother and I shared the 2nd floor of our house. In the earlier years, a reproduction of this painting was on the wall over my bed. I named her “Alice,” and she was my invisible friend.
At the head of the stairs was an extremely gory painting of Custer’s Last Stand. I hated it, but was kinda fascinated by the scalping.
As a young child, what sorts of “art” was on the walls of your room?
My dad is/was a moderately talented amateur artist (and a bit of a nut), so when I was a kid, he went in one weekend when I was at my grandparents and painted the classic “Star Wars” scene of the TIE Fighter shooting at the X-Wing, as shown onthe lunchbox I used to have.
Then, when I was somewhat older and really excited about being in the military, he painted a series of tanks on the walls- I think it was a M60, and 2-3 burning T-62s on opposite walls.
We had a picture of St. Therese de Lisieux. It was one of those pictures where no matter where you were, the eyes were staring at you. Even though her face was sweet, that picture scared the crap out of me. Of course, I couldn’t say anything, because then I would be in danger and targeted by supernatural forces. My numerous childhood fears often trapped me in such conundrums.
We had a Margaret Keane print, or maybe it was just a knockoff of the style, because I can’t find a link to it. It was similar in mood to this one, and showed a little girl holding a doll and looking fearfully at a flying bee. I always considered it nightmare fodder, but after looking at some of Keane’s other work, I see it could have been worse!
I never thought it strange until now, but I had no paintings or posters on my childhood bedroom wall at all that I can remember. Maybe it was due to the family’s Quaker heritage.
My childhood can best be described as Unfortunately Very 1970s, so the piece I remember the most was a framed print of a child’s bedtime prayer, and the art with it was a very folksy, Laura Ingalls/Holly Hobby type “country” girl saying her prayers.
On the horrific side of things, I also had a creepy ass Raggedy Ann painted on a piece of wood. My brother had the matching Raggedy Andy in his room. Not quite like this, but in the same neighborhood.
Yikes. Putting those big-eyed pics in a child’s room practically qualifies as child abuse. Hell, those pictures scared me as an adult. Why not just put thisin your room? :eek:
When I was a kid in 1974-1980, you had these super romantic posters that I was wild about. I don’t know who the artist was, (maybe a David something-Lastname? ) but it was about young women with lacy floaty clothes and straw sunhats on their wide curly hair, that sat in chairs in sunny gardens or romantic windowsills or on swings. Lots of dreamy soft-focus and soft colors. Nothing erotic, just Romance with a big R. Anyone know what I’m talking about?
I accessorized those posters with old framed mirrors and bouquets of dried flowers hanging from the ceiling.
Even earlier, I had this poster of cute animals in a forest. I loved that one. It was somewhat similar to this one, but mine was sweeter and more cheerful and less realistic.
As for the rest of my posters, I think my mom did the same that I do nowadays; she went to the children’s book store and bought (or got for free) posters there. Usually those were posters depicting a character from a recent children’s book. They were usually very nice, a focus for daydreaming, and I liked them.
My uncle Richard liked to paint, and I had two paintings of kittens and one of a vase full of pink roses that he’d done. (I still have the kitten paintings.)
My sister and I shared a bedroom. She’s a redhead and I’m a brunette, and we had the corresponding “Northern Girls” prints, which you could get from Northern toilet paper.
A few years ago, my sister found some in an antique shop, and now my mom has them in her guest bedroom.
My parents put up a random assortment of kid-like posters that came their way. I had a Sport Goofy poster, and one of cartoon rocketships, and a weird modern interpretation of the Unicorn In Captivity tapestry. I had all of the McDonalds E. T. posters eventually too. I wish I’d kept those.
Later in childhood I acquired a nice Minnie and Mickey print, and a print of a lop-eared rabbit.