ARTS

Detroit artist who's gone viral for 'Golden Girls,' 'Frasier' paintings holds exhibition

Duante Beddingfield
Detroit Free Press

It’s a question for the ages, really — one that spans beyond gender and age: Are you a Dorothy, a Rose, a Blanche or a Sophia?

Whichever your answer may be, there’ll be something to make you smile at the aptly titled “Thank You for Being a Friend” exhibition opening Friday night at Articipate in Berkley. Detroit-based artist Liz Frankland, a diehard "Golden Girls” fan, has accumulated a broad and devoted online following for her witty paintings of scenes from the timeless NBC sitcom. More than 7,000 pop culture devotees have joined her Instagram to keep up with her depictions of iconic moments from classic films and television shows.

Paintings and prints from her collection will be on display at the exhibition.

A painting by Detroiter Liz Frankland depicts a famous "Golden Girls" scene in which Betty White's Rose sings as the ladies stuff a batch of chickens.

Frankland, 50, a fine artist by trade, cites John Singer Sargent as her favorite painter.

“In 2018 or something, I was lying on the couch watching ‘Golden Girls’ one night, like I always do before bed,” she said, “and it was just so comforting. Hearing the opening credits and the transition music… it’s like, ‘Wow, this is home.’ It feels so familiar. And it occurred to me, ‘Why don’t I just paint some of this the way I would paint anything else?’ And that’s how it started. It felt like a natural progression.”

What began as a whim kicked into high gear in 2021, when Frankland challenged herself to complete a painting every day for 100 days.

“For some of those, I ended up doing ‘Golden Girls’ scenes,” she said, “and it got popular on Instagram, which I’m so grateful for. Suddenly, I had a lot of requests, so I started a wait list for people, and I said, ‘Send me an e-mail, and let me know if there’s a particular scene you have in mind, and what size,’ and I just work through them as I go."

“I’ve met so many great people through Instagram, e-mailing back and forth. And their stories— oh my gosh. You know, ‘I watched this with my grandma,’ or, ‘I went through a depression and the show got me through it,’ so many stories. And you just realize, wow, this is really cool. I’ve never encountered a more kind and wonderful fanbase than with ‘Golden Girls’ — everybody is so respectful and fun and supportive. So that’s why I’ve kept doing them. I continue rotating them through other, original things I’m painting, but I keep coming back.”

During 2022, Frankland even began expanding into pieces inspired by long-running NBC sitcom “Frasier” (which just began shooting a revival series this month with original star Kelsey Grammer), classic films and random vintage pop culture kitsch. Scenes depicting Lucille Ball, Bette Davis (as Margo Channing in “All About Eve”), and various moments from Alfred Hitchcock films are dotted among the sitcom panels on her Instagram page.

A painting by Detroit native Liz Frankland depicts a scene from long-running NBC comedy "Frasier" with a bird clenched onto actor David Hyde Pierce's head.

Many of them will be visible in some form at the Articipate show. One, for instance, depicts a famous moment when the Golden Girls are stuffing chickens and Betty White's Rose leads them through a work song.

And which Golden Girl does Frankland identify with most?

“I really, really love Blanche,” she said. “She just makes me laugh so hard. And I think she was maybe a little bit underrated at the time because Sophia is so hilarious and Bea (Arthur, who played Dorothy) is just the queen and she’s unmatched with her expressions and one-liners. And then, everyone loves Betty White as Rose. But I think Blanche was kind of the glue.

“My daughter and I will talk to each other in Blanche imitations,” she confessed with a laugh.

A graduate of Detroit's College for Creative Studies, Frankland has shown her work at dozens of locations around Michigan and continues to teach oil and acrylic painting at Articipate.

In the meantime, she has no plan to stop the “Golden Girls” and pop paintings anytime soon.

“These things bring me comfort and bring me back to a place where I feel happy,” she said, “and it makes me so happy that it does that for others, too.”

You can follow the artist on Instagram and Facebook @LizFranklandArt.

Thank You for Being a Friend

Articipate, 3833 12 Mile Road, Berkley

Opening Feb. 10, 6 p.m., runs through April 14

articipate.us

Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@freepress.com.