Artwork copyright Peggy Hitchcock. Photo courtesy of the artist, 1985.

Our Children Have Coke and Crayons, 1983

Peggy Hitchcock
(American, born 1951)

Location: Mount Stuart Elementary, Ellensburg

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Our Children Have Coke and Crayons is an enamel painting by artist Peggy Hitchcock. Describing the themes in this piece, she notes, “The Coke, tricycle and crayons are touchstones for my childhood memories. Simultaneously, they serve as cultural watermarks. Madison Avenue campaigns jubilantly ‘Coke’s the Real Thing.’ The press reports a deadly drought. We don’t listen; after all, our children have Coke and crayons. Wisdom remains elusive.”

Hitchcock created the imagery by applying the colorful enamel using stencils and screen prints. She melted the enamel in layers onto a steel sheet under 1500 degrees. She sourced the screen-printed imagery from newspaper illustrations, pen doodles, and an engraving by sixteenth century artist Jan Vredeman de Vries.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Ellensburg School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Northwest artist Peggy Hitchcock creates paintings and wall sculptures that explore pattern and form. In most of her artworks, she uses silkscreened and photocopied images based on books, magazines, and other media. She has a library of hundreds of screens that reference history, decorative patterns, the natural world, and much more. Hitchcock explains that part of the beauty of art is that it is "language for our eyes." She grew up in Ohio and has lived and worked in Seattle since the early 1980s.