“American Dream #5 – Mrs. Clean Lives Here!”
acrylic latex, photocopies, colored pencils on sailcloth
44” x 38”
1999
The Fossen Collection

 

After painting the previous American Dream piece, with its loose style, drips and whatnot, I turned around and began to paint this tighter and more controlled painting. After all, Mrs. Clean lives here – gotta keep it neat.

The main image was from an ad from the classified section of the newspaper. I was checking the Sunday Edition of the Los Angeles Times classified section real estate ads every weekend for potential painting material. Mrs. Clean caught my eye and I enlarged the image on a photocopier, and adhered the house to the sailcloth using a gloss medium. Mrs. Clean’s lawn and the sky was drawn using colored pencils. I love colored pencils!

I also love the big black expanse below the house, partially obscured by the colored pencils. It hints that something dark lurks beneath Mrs. Clean’s tidy facade.

This painting is one of two owned by our friend Shad Fossen. He was a great help in getting us moved from Long Beach to the hi-desert in 2013, and we always remember that and appreciate his help immensely!