RARE " Psychedelic Artist " Stanley Mouse Hand Signed 5X7 Postcard PAAS
Item History & Price
Reference Number: Avaluer:30287238 | Industry: Music |
Object Type: Record | Original/Reproduction: Original |
StanleyGeorge Miller (born October 10, 1940), better known as Mouse and Stanley Mouse, isan American artist, notable for his 1960s psychedelic rock concert poster designs... for the Grateful Dead and Journey albums cover art as well as many others. Bornin Fresno, California, Miller grew up in Detroit, Michigan. He was given the nickname Mouse asa ninth grader. He was expelled from Mackenzie High School(Michigan) in 1956 for mischievously repainting the facadeat The Box, a popular restaurant across the street from Mackenzie.[2] Following his junior year at nearby Cooley High School, Mousecompleted his formal education at Detroit's Society of Arts and Crafts. By1958, Mouse had become fascinated by the Weirdo Hot Rod art movement thathad begun in California a decade earlier. Having developed skills usingan airbrush he began painting T-shirts at custom car shows. There he met and worked with Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, the leading exponent of WeirdoHot Rod art. Mouse was also strongly influenced by the art of Rick Griffin, with whom he would later collaborate on postersand album covers. In 1959, Mouse and his family founded Mouse Studios, a mail-order company, which sold his products. In 1964, hewas invited to help in the design of Monogram automobilemodel kits using the "monster" cartoon characters he had developed tocompete with Roth's "Rat Fink" character. In 1965, Mousetravelled to San Francisco, California witha group of art school friends. Settling initially in Oakland, Mouse met Alton Kelley. Kelley, a self-taught artist, had recentlyarrived from Virginia City, Nevada, where he had joined a group of hippies who called themselves the Red Dog Saloon gang.Upon arrival in San Francisco Kelley and other veterans of the gang renamedthemselves The Family Dog, and began producing rock music dances. In 1966, when Chet Helms assumed leadership of the group and beganpromoting the dances at the Avalon Ballroom, Mouse and Kelley began workingtogether to produce posters for the events. Later the pair also producedposters for promoter Bill Graham and forother events in the psychedelic community. In 1967, Mouse collaborated withartists Kelley, Rick Griffin, Victor Moscoso and Wes Wilson to create the Berkeley Bonaparte DistributionAgency.[3] Mouse and Kelley also worked together as leadartists at Mouse Studios and The Monster Company, producing album cover art for the bands Journey and Grateful Dead. The Monster Company also developed a profitableline of T-shirts, utilizing the four color process for silk screening. Thepsychedelic posters Mouse and Kelley produced were heavily influenced by Art Nouveau graphics, particularly the works of Alphonse Mucha and Edmund Joseph Sullivan.Material associated with psychedelics, such as Zig-Zag rolling papers, were also referenced. Producing postersadvertising for such musical groups as Big Brotherand the Holding Company, Quicksilver MessengerService, and Grateful Dead led to meeting the musicians and makingcontacts that were later to prove fruitful.