"1969", 12x12, oil on panel, the 60's, Vietnam war, High school, hippy, Beatles, SS 396 Chevelle Super Sport, memories, Seventeen

 "1969", 12x12, oil on panel

Today is Independence Day, 2024. A long way off from 1969.

I painted this about ten years ago, and I took it out today because I was feeling  really nostalgic for the good old days. So I touched it up a little, but not too much.

I had found an old picture of myself the summer that I graduated high school, which was..... ummmmm....you guessed it- 1969!

 I was wearing a tie-dyed shirt, white culotte shorts and moccasins and sitting atop the SS 396 Super Sport Chevelle of my future husband, along with two friends, Dave and Ruth.

Those summer days were carefree and high school was over. We were Feelin' Groovy.

I was seventeen and although I know the beautiful and sad song "At Seventeen", by Janis Ian, with my long blonde hair I preferred the slapstick lyrics of Lady Godiva, by British rock group, Peter and Gordon.

Things weren't all that rosy back then, though. Just like today, there was political turbulence and war. Teenage girls like myself worried that our boyfriends would soon be drafted and sent off to war, and college campuses held protests across the country, just as we see now in a totally different war.

Life goes on. Those who did drugs experimented with Marijuana, hashish and LSD. The braver souls tried mescaline. The fearful ones drank cough syrup. Yup. We were crazy, but we loved getting together in coffee houses and talking civilly about life, war, religion and the future.

I don't know what drugs people are doing now, but I suspect they are much more dangerous, and much easier to get. I hope I'm wrong.

Those students protesting the war joined groups like Students for a Democratic Society, or took off for Haight Ashbury wearing flowers in their hair. While I was part of neither of those groups, I embroidered flowers on my bell bottom jeans and wore bells around my neck.

We favored the Beatles, The Stones, Simon and Garfunkel, Dylan and Joni Mitchell. The music of today can't come close to the genius of those musicians. 

Yes, the times they were a-changing.

I had fun painting this originally, and I even enjoyed making a few revisions today. While the times were turbulent for many reasons in 1969, they were much simpler than today. No cell phones, computers, or IA. No Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat. Jeez, we were dinosaurs! 

But if you look at the smiles on our faces from the photo below, you can tell we were happy kids. Looking forward to a bright future.

If this post made you feel old, I am sorry. Painting this made me feel happy and I wouldn't change being a teen in the 60's for anything.

Memories can make you feel young again. Or old. It's our choice how we look at it.

Here's my shameless reference photo. Yeah it was a little blurry. But it still brought  back those happy days.

This painting is available. Send me an email message at maryannejacobsen@aol.com, if interested.

Thanks for going down memory lane with me today.