In a stroke of serendipity, I managed to make my way to the @pentictonartgallery to see the first Canadian exhibition of @bobross_thejoyofpainting, Bob Ross: Happy Little Accidents. Of the 32 paintings featured from the PBS show, all but one were the third ‘book versions’ which Bob created for his instructional publications (the ‘first version’ was the one which Bob worked off of on the show to create the second ‘TV version’, the one you saw him create on the Joy of Painting, and the third ‘book version’ was a cleaned-up variation which he used for his accompanying books). But the pièces de résistance was the final two works in the exhibit, the ‘TV version’ of Wilderness Day, the final painting Bob did on the Joy of Painting before his untimely death, and Alaskan Northern Lights, a pre-TV fame painting consisting of an oil on black velvet mounted inside a copper gold pan, which Bob created in the 1970s when he was still stationed at Eielson Air Force base in Fairbanks. I wish the exhibit was more comprehensive and not held during covid, but it is a nice little taste before I make the trek to see the real collection at the Smithsonian. #bobross #bobrosshappylittleaccidents #pentictonartgallery (at Penticton Art Gallery) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDavgyGhI3D/?igshid=wryfhbaxxw52
