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This is the first snowdome we ever made, one for our hometown, with two hippies standing by the fabled
Haight-Ashbury sign during the '67 Summer of Love. (If you remember it, you weren't there.) We especially like the how the tie-dye
explodes out of the meditating woman's head.
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In February 2004, out of the blue, Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered his clerks at City Hall to issue
marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Thirty days later, the courts ordered the City to stop issuing these
licenses. By that time 4,037 couples had wed in an orderly, joyous marriage rave. This is a defining
moment in San Francisco history. This Groovy Globe snowdome commemorates those first 30 days.
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If we made one for "the Grooms," we had to make one for "the Brides!" Our favorite
detail: the hot pink shoe peeking out from the bridal gown of the bride standing.
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The Golden Gate Bridge and the cable car define San Francisco. Rather than create something modern, we
decided to replicate the "look and feel" of souvenirs from an earlier era. The result: this retro-looking
snowdome featuring an old-fashioned cable car and a hand-tinted, vintage postcard of the Golden Gate
Bridge and Bay. We love the guy in the bright orange shirt, hanging onto the runaway cable car for dear life, mouth agape.
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We wince when people say, "Only in California," but maybe they're right on this one: only here could
Arnold Schwarzenegger become the Governor! Our expert in anatomy sculpted Arnold in 3-D. Naturally, we had to put him in hot pink
"girlie man" briefs.
SOLD OUT!
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It was fun to jam almost every iconic image of Seattle into a tiny space: rain, coffee, computers,
Space Needle, skyline and Mt. Rainier. We love how our sculptor made the couple appear to be toasting
each other, and the carefully carved details on the table: laptop, sugar, creamer and doughnuts.
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We called a bunch of touristy places in Seattle and asked: "What do people want in a souvenir of
Seattle?" Over and over, we got the same curt, response: "Orca and ferry." So here they are: orca
and ferry. Our painter and sculptor worked hard to capture the foamy texture and whitish-green color of
the water surrounding the leaping orca. Another tidbit: the ferry's flag is an authentic nautical storm warning.
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A snapshot of the famous stuff found at Seattle's fabled Pike Place Market: fishmongers throwing and
catching fish; the red neon signs stand out against the deep blue Seattle sky.
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The Seattle skyline is one of the grooviest skylines in the world. On a good day from the Puget Sound,
you can see the outlines of the buildings downtown, the Space Needle, and, if you're lucky, Mt. Rainier
in the distance. We attempted to give SEATTLE SKYLINE the look of a hand-tinted, hand-colored vintage postcard.
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It doesn't matter where you are in the world, if someone mentions the Empire State Building in New
York City, you see King Kong hanging off the tower, swatting planes, and saving his girl. This
Groovy Globe snowdome is currently available in two places: at Empire State Building gift shop on the
86th floor or directly from us at Groovy Globes in California.
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110 million people have traveled up to the observatory on the Empire State Building's 86th floor
to see this unparalleled view of Manhattan.
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Snowdomes are designed to be viewed from the
front. Manufacturers paint a solid color (usually
blue) on the back of each dome to hide parts they
don't want us to see such as flat-backed figurines
and blank rear panels. The "Yoda" of our group
suggested that we buck tradition and instead make
the dome totally clear, thus exposing the back panel
on purpose. On this blank space, we decided to
silkscreen a rotating series of haiku poems that
continues the snow motif of Groovy(r) snowdomes.
Why not put art in surprising places? |
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There's a skylight at the top of this heavy-weight box that illuminates the snowdome inside.
The front window of this stackable box is totally clear -- no borders -- so when they're stacked up, they look like
the Hollywood Squares. |
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The back panel features another instance of "art in surprising places:" a hand-painted cameo
that looks like "It's a Small World" meets a classic winter scene. Lovely kitsch, pure and simple.
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