This fabulous original large format pin-up painting by Harry Ekman appeared as a Shaw Barton calendar in 1962, with the title “I Don’t Go Too Far In Any Direction!” Our patriotically dressed curvy co-ed appears to be indulging in that summer’s latest dance craze, swiveling her hips to the year’s biggest musical hits which included “The Twist” by Chubby Checkers and “Twistin’ The Night Away” by Sam Cooke. She is dancing on a compass seemingly to assure the American public that while indeed she may like Rock & Roll, it has not caused her to lose her moral compass.
This painting was reproduced as figure 323 in The Great American Pin-Up by Charles G. Martignette and Louis K. Meisel (Taschen, 1996), and on page 617 of The Art of Pin Up by Dian Hanson (Taschen, 2014). The painting is accompanied by a complete spiral bound 12 page 1962 calendar featuring the image as the month of January, along with other assorted published examples.