matouenpeluche

The Soloist

The Soloist.

 

Happy new week! It's a very short week this week as we started work here today on Wednesday...and even that's finished! Gosh!

Anyway, this is The Soloist. He is inspired by my Dad's cat Harry who likes to exercise his vocal chords of an evening in the echo-y back hall of the house. I always imagine he thinks he's Pavarotti or José Carreras and he sees before him an orchestra with a conductor and an appreciative audience. *Ahem* Unfortunately, all Harry sees is either my head or Dad's head sticking out of the lounge room door yelling "Harry!" He always looks so shocked when we yell back at him - he really is away with the fairies when he's going for it! 

In other news, I was lucky enough to snare a curator's spot on the terrific Australian on line market place Made It! Here's the link here to my small "gallery".

I hope everyone has a super week ahead!

Easter / ANZAC Day

Happy Easter! I know it's possibly not the right day to say that but I've been having a mini blog break and I think I missed the correct day to wish everyone that. This photo incidentally is one I took in the National Gallery of Victoria when I was down in Melbourne in December last year. Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the artist or much about the work but I thought he was kind of cute all the same! 

It's Easter Monday but also ANZAC day here in Australia. ANZAC Day (25th April) is a day when we remember the soldiers that have fought for Australia. We actually have a few memorials to the ANZACS (the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps). There's a handsome suspension bridge which was built about 15 years ago called the ANZAC bridge:

 
There's also the El Alamein Fountain which is just up the road from where I live:

I have blogged about this gorgeous fountain before here if you'd like to read up some more about it.

I hope everyone is having a good time relaxing this long weekend and that nobody has OD-ed on chocolate Easter eggs! :0)

ANZAC Bridge photos from here. El Alamein photo from here.

Miu Miu

We have a very glam new shopping arcade/ mall in the centre of the city which has recently opened. It has floors of streaky white marble, gleaming chrome fittings and bright white panels of light. On some floors the walls and floor are black marble and there is black and white padded leather sofas and armchairs to flop on after a hard day of retail. It really is something! I've been meaning to go in there with a camera but I'm not quite sure how to shoot it to tell you the truth. Hmmmm...I'll have to do some experiments.

Anyway, it is actually only partially open. The stores that are as yet to be launched have enormous floor to ceiling billboards on front of them displaying the clothes etc of the shop behind. One of these shops is Miu Miu. I was quite taken with the photos of their latest campaign that they have on the front of their yet to be opened store:

I like the strong primary colours and the wax work like models. Love that red background! Oh, and I quite like the clothes too - I think they look like fun to wear. What do you think?

Hope everyone is well and having a terrific week so far!

Aristo-kitten

Aristo-kitten

Happy Monday! This is Teddy who is a blue blooded aristo-kitten. Someday he will be an aristo-cat. He is actually Peggy's nephew. I think you can see the similarity there. Anyway, he loves caviar (bien sur!), yo-yos and playing hide and seek with aunt Peggy when she comes to visit. All in all, I think you could say he is a good little kitten.

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. I got a lot done this weekend which I'm very pleased about. I cleaned the house, threw out some things that desperately needed throwing out and did a heap of laundry. It's good to have a day of doing that sort of thing, isn't it?

I hope everyone has a super week - it's a shorty here in Sydney with Friday being a holiday for Easter (Good Friday). *sound of gleeful clapping of hands* :0)

Nice weather for (mandarin) ducks

...and very large carpy looking things. It's very, very wet here in Sydney! So wet that if you step out with an umbrella it really doesn't help very much and you get drenched anyway. But it's stopped for the moment and I am dry and happy being indoors.

The photo above is from South Korea. How beautiful is that mandarin duck? While we're on the bird theme, here's another beauty all the way from very close to where I grew up in fact: Dee Why/ Collaroy.

This is one of eight penguin chicks released at Long Reef beach by Taronga Zoo staff this week. I used to go for walks along this beach with my Dad after school but I was never lucky enough to see any penguins. We saw plenty of crabs, seagulls, rabbits and hang gliders though!

I hope everyone is having a terrific weekend!

Images from here.

London

All the hyper reportage about Kate and Wills has brought about a serious case of London-itis in me. I'm not one of those people that are mad about the royals (although I wish them both all the happiness in the world) but rather mad about London! I've been there three times and it's always been an absolutely awesome adventure.

The first time I went, I was lucky enough to go as a young girl with my parents. I was a wide eyed, Doc Martin wearing, dreadlocked rebel and I made a bee line for The King's Road. The second time I went was after uni and it was for several months. I went by myself and met some terrific fellow lone adventurers from every corner of the globe. I remember being lucky enough to see a three hour Carlos Santana concert at Wembley Stadium which totally blew my socks off. The third time I went, I went with my Dad and we had a rollicking good time and explored what felt like every nook and cranny of that big beautiful city. *sigh* Well I feel that wonderful city is due another visit!

This is London Circa 1966 courtesy of my treasure trove of National Geograghics. 

A rainy night in Piccadilly Circus with an insert of some Rockers ("a teen-age motorcycle set"). Left: The Birmingham Symphony Orchestra plays for an audience at London's Kenwood Lakeside.

London Zoo's elephants in Regent's Park and launching yachts in Kensington Gardens Round Pool.

Seated on a shooting stick rather than doing a complicated dance move, a visitor views paintings at the Royal Academy. A World War I veteran and a young family looking at modern sculpture at the Tate Gallery.

Piccadilly Circus with the statue that everyone thinks of as Eros, the winged Greek god of love but which is actually the Angel of Christian Charity. It's a pretty fantastic photo that one actually. I wouldn't mind it as a poster!

Happy Thursday too by the way - it's down hill all the way from here folks! :0)

Famous musicians + their dogs

I always think portraits of people with their pets are the best portraits you can get. The pet seems to bring out an inner loveliness in the person I find. Flavorwire has a nice round up of 10 famous musicians with their dogs here which I've added to and subtracted from in this post.

Top: Paul McCartney and his English sheep dog Martha, Doris Day and Mrs. Mike, Robert Plant and Strider, Elvis Presley and Foxhugh.

Top: George Harrison and his sausage dog, Billie Holiday and Mister, The Beatles and assorted pooches (Paul McCartney with Martha again) and Johnny Cash and his dogs Hell and Redemption.  

Happy Wednesday all! I hope your week has been going swimmingly so far!

Top three photos via, George Harrison via, Billie Holiday via, The Beatles via, Johnny Cash via. 

Abigail Brown

Tweet tweet! Happy Tuesday! These smart looking birdies are made by designer/ maker and illustrator Abigail Brown. She specialises in these fab birdies that she lovingly handmakes out of personally selected cloth. This is her shop here--> Abigail Brown. You can also find her birdies here at Theshop floorproject. Aren't they sweet!

The Owl and the Pussycat

  The Owl and the Pussycat

The Owl and the Pussycat is my drawing from the weekend and rather than me saying anything at this point I thought it more appropriate to give you the original poem by Edward Lear who is one of my heros!

 

I

The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea

    In a beautiful pea green boat,

     They took some honey, and plenty of money,

    Wrapped up in a five pound note.

The Owl looked up to the stars above,

    And sang to a small guitar,

'O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,

      What a beautiful Pussy you are,

  You are,

  You are!

What a beautiful Pussy you are!'

 

II

Pussy said to the Owl, 'You elegant fowl!

    How charmingly sweet you sing!

     O let us be married! too long we have tarried:

    But what shall we do for a ring?'

They sailed away, for a year and a day,

    To the land where the Bong-tree grows

And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood

    With a ring at the end of his nose,

His nose,

His nose,

With a ring at the end of his nose.

 

III

'Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling

    Your ring?' Said the Piggy, 'I will.'

So they took it away, and were married next day

    By the Turkey who lives on the hill.

They dined on mince, and slices of quince,

    Which they ate with a runcible spoon;

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,

    They danced by the light of the moon,

     The moon,

     The moon,

They danced by the light of the moon.

 

Edith Head

Edith Head (1897 - 1981) was the legendary American costume designer for film stars such as Elizabeth Taylor (A Place in the Sun, Elephant Walk), Grace Kelly (Rear Window, To Catch a Thief) and Audrey Hepburn (Roman Holiday, Sabrina and Funny Face) to name but a few.

Did you also know that Edith Head:

1. was nominated for 35 Oscars and won 8 for costume design - the most won by any woman.
2. was a petite 5' 1½" (1.56 m)
3. completed a BA in Letters and Science with honors in French at Berkeley University in 1919.
4. completed an MA in Romance languages at Stanford University in 1920.
5. was a French teacher at the Hollywood School for Girls during the 1920s.
6. was hired as a costume sketch artist by Paramont Pictures in 1924 despite not having any formal art design training or costume design experience.

 

I thought that was interesting that she started out as a language teacher. She had apparently always been interested in the film industry and even possibly tried out as an actress during the 1920s at some stage.

Here are two quotes I rather like from her:

"I have yet to see one completely unspoiled star, except for Lassie."

"You can lead a horse to water and you can even make it drink, but you can't make actresses wear what they don't want to wear."

 

...and I hope everyone has a super weekend!

Images from here.