Lisa Frank Food Art
Any female in her mid to late 20s will tell you that her most valued piece of property in the '90s was her Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper. Girls of this era donned notebooks with multicolored tigers, kept their tests in unicorn-adorned folders, and snuggled with their "candy" puppies before bed. The rainbow colors would draw them in and before they knew it, they were lost in the big eyes of a rainbow-colored seal.
Click here to see some of Lisa Frank's Famous Food Art
In 2012, Urban Outfitters bought Lisa Frank's vintage stock and the very private artist agreed to do a promotional video. Filmmakers Scott Ross and Karl Beyer met the real Lisa Frank at her headquarters in Tucson, Ariz., and though the artist declined to appear on camera, the video gives Lisa Frank fans a window into her world, which is more colorful than you can imagine.
Not only does her office feature obscenely (read: amazing) large statues of her characters, she also has a fireproof vault where she keeps a copy of every product ever made. When Frank takes the crew into the vault, she begins unearthing art drawn before the age of computers; tons of original, vibrant, airbrushed masterpieces that celebrate all the things she loves the most. And one of those things just so happens to be food.
"I was always obsessed with candy," Frank confesses. "And color."
We may have been too wrapped up in the colorful unicorns and painting pandas to notice before, but Lisa Frank really does have a love of food. Sometimes obviously, sometimes subtly, her characters are often seen chowing down on bright sundaes or dancing in a sea of candy. We also share Frank's passion for candy (and all things food), so we invite you to take a trip down memory lane to see some of Lisa Frank's most fun food artwork.