John Bain North Shore Oahu Artist Hawaiiana Gallery Showing a Signed 25 x 18 Original Poster Announcing the La Pietra Hawaii School For Girls 1977 Celebration called Ye Olde World Pleasure Faire Concert Event Poster With Map by Len Piper.

    1977 Event Poster by John Bain
    1977 Event Map by Len Piper
  To Be Sold Together (Updated 02/11/2024)

John Bain, a beloved and well-known North Shore kamaaina ("local") on the island of Oahu passed away in June 2016. He has been memorialized in a number of ways, including two very appreciated online posts here and here. Several comments and remembrances are posted there.

I discovered the Nanci Hersh posts about John Bain, and several news items from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in the 70s and 80s, while trying to discover more about the artist whose event poster I found in my storage unit while cleaning it out after 10 years of ignoring it.

My connection to John was not in person. It is amazing that we never bumped into each other since we were both often in the same neighborhoods surfing of visiting during the years 1973 to 1986. I left Hawaii in 1986. I took very few things with me. Many of those items ended up in storage in Seattle. In October 2023, while emptying that storage unit, I discovered items I had not remembered at all. They had somehow followed me around from Hawaii, to Canada, to Seattle, to Wichita, and then back to Seattle.

The images shown below are from photographs taken of a stunning pen and watercolor piece that John did for an event at the La Pietra Hawaii School for Girls in 1977 called "Ye Olde World Pleasure Faire." It just so happened that I lived just three blocks away from the school, on Diamond Head, during 1972 to 1977. I was aware of the event and attended it, but never saw any posters the size of the one depicted here. In 1984 I bought it and some other items at a Rick Ralston (Crazy Shirts) auction benefiting Hawaii Historic Foundation.

In addition, the purchase at the auction included a guide map to the Pleasure Faire drawn by Len Piper, another well-known creator in Honolulu during the 70s and 80s. Len, among other things, put on many shows using life-size marionettes and was the official Santa Claus for Ala Moana Shopping Center for several years.

Both items are 25" x 18". The map is double-sided and has a preliminary sketch on the back side. It appears that this was a working and final sketch. Len Piper's signature (not original) appears right-hand corner near the scroll sign.

Both Posters Are Offered for Sale as a Single Item.

Before putting these art pieces up for sale or auction, I have attempted to contact those who might have a closer connection to John than a general audience. Before Christmas, 2023, I contacted the head of the La Pietra School for Girls to offer these posters to them first. They declined. As of 02/11/2024 no one has contacted me.

I left comments at the blogs memorializing John, one as recent as December 22, 2023. Both of the comments were posted with replies from Nanci Hersh. Thank you Nancy for posting and replying!

I have offered these posters to those who posted comments at Nanci's memorials to John, who knew John, or Len Piper, or are renaissance faire devotees. However, I cannot hold off from selling to a general online audience for very long. I am moving back to the mainland in late February 2024, and, if John and Len's art is not sold by then, I will be putting them back in storage on the mainland.

If you are interested in purchasing these stunning and historically important pieces by John and Len, please contact me soon. Feel free to make an offer. Asking price is $2,100. Transfer of ownership and funds can be done through escrow.com, allowing for a safe transaction. Contact ronsterling at ronsterling dot com.

More Photographs Further Below,

Frontside (Backside is blank)

Close-up of signature reveals it is original - not a print

Front of map poster
(Len Piper printed signature right side of La Pietra Scroll Sign)

Backside of map poster shows a Len Piper draft
This piece appears to be two-sided with the draft on one side
and the final on the other side for the purposes of presentation display and archiving.

Thank You for Visiting!

Best wishes! Ron Sterling

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