Comments on: Sterling Sturtevant (1922-1962)

by: Amy Sterling Casil

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 14:12:44 +0100

My mother died of pancreatic cancer three months after I was born. I was unaware until recently that she had been sick for 2-3 years before that. Her cancer was linked to the use of early acrylic paints. There have been articles in ArtForum that a much higher percentage of artists who used these paints contracted pancreatic cancer than “average” or “normal.”

She was also a member of the California Watercolor school and friends with Rex Brandt, Phil Dike and Millard Sheets. I received and declined the Millard Sheets scholarship to Claremont Graduate School, which is how I learned this. My favorite art teacher in Claremont, who knew my mother, is the one who gave the the ArtForum articles about the link to pancreas cancer.

by: the theorist

Sat, 10 Dec 2005 16:15:34 +0000

How’d she die (couldn’t find info on Google)? 40’s awfully young.

by: lloyd

Mon, 05 Dec 2005 21:46:34 +0000

hey Amid have you seen this cartoon already it’s an educational short done by the John Sutherland Prod. this cartoon was art directed by Maurice Noble..well maybe you’ve seen this already but here’s the link anyway http://www.archive.org/details/ItsEvery1954

by: Serapio

Mon, 05 Dec 2005 03:08:53 +0000

Hi Amid. This blog is so cool. I don’t know if you’ve seen this site. But I think you’d be interested in this and add to your blog: http://www.theimaginaryworld.com/rayart.html

by: Eric

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 11:36:46 +0000

Interesting. Those little guys on the model sheet are really fun! It’s a perfect size for a desktop background, too.

by: lloyd

Thu, 01 Dec 2005 17:18:08 +0000

that’s so very interesting amid..i bet there’re a lot more interesting facts you’ve gathered up in your upcoming book..i’m not from the states so the cover price will certainly change but it’ll be worth the extra bucks..

by: Amid

Thu, 01 Dec 2005 04:39:32 +0000

She started at Disney around ‘47-48 so it was well after the strike. She had been attending Chouinard and I believe it was Don Graham who recommended her for the Disney job. I don’t know much about her work there, other than her doing story sketches on the Pluto short BONE BANDIT. Couldn’t have been there more than a couple years before moving to UPA.

Also, while Sturtevant was the most well known of the bunch, there were other woman designers including Dolores Cannata, Bernyce Rankin, and Charleen Peterson. There was also Michi Kataoka, who was a color stylist at UPA in the early-50s (see GERALD MCBOING BOING’S SYMPHONY in an earlier post), and Shirley Silvey and Rosemary O’Connor who were layout artists, so in general, there were a lot more women in creative positions than there had been in the decades prior.

by: lloyd

Wed, 30 Nov 2005 16:33:24 +0000

and i thought Mary Blair was the only famous female artist during those days. I didn’t know any other famous female other than Mary and June..Amid, did she had a long career at disney i haven’t heard anything about her on certain disney sites, was she part of the 1940’s strike as well? anyhoo, i think i’ll try to find that out for myself but thanks for this very noteworthy tidbit of animation info amid..kudos!!!