WHILE I WAS PLAYING with countless themes in search of a new look for Rather Rare Records over the past few weeks, I posted a page with a note of apology and explanation for all to see. To make the post eye-catching, I found this killer painting by Michael Sowa titled “Frohe Ostern” (“Happy Easter”), and used it as the page’s featured image.
I really like the painting and miss seeing it here, so I’m posting it again right here on this otherwise pointless page that has nothing to do with collecting rather rare records.
But it is a fun painting!
Michael Sowa is a German artist known mainly for his whimsical and surreal paintings, which often feature animals. A book of his paintings titled Sowa’s Ark – An Enchanted Bestiary was published in 1996. He has also illustrated several children’s books and albums.
He gained new followers for his work on the 2001 film Amélie (also known as Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain, or The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain) where art on building walls comes to life.
Sowa contributes illustrations to the satirical German magazine, Titanic, and contributes to several well-known periodicals, most notably the December 2, 2002 issue of The New Yorker.
PS: The title of this page is a reference to Elvis Presley’s reworking off the lyrics to Hound Dog where Elvis sings, “You ain’t never caught a rabbit and you ain’t no friend of mine.” Nothing like this appears in Jerry Steiber and Mike Stoller’s original song for Big Mama Thornton.
