matouenpeluche

Love Letter to New York

Classic shots of New York from the '40s to the '60s courtesy of Life magazine.

Collection

Something else I found in my ignored cupboard (see original post here): my collection of book marks. The avid collector strikes again!

These are a real find! I used to get these at Glebe Books when there was just the one store up by the church. I wonder if they still have them? I never used them as book marks. I used them to decorate various bare bedroom walls I was living in at the time. I have many more too, but these are the nicest.

Georges Lepape

George Lepape (1887 - 1971) is best known for his exquisite illustrations for revolutionary fashion designer Paul Poiret. However, he also created divine illustrations for fashion houses such as Worth, Lanvin, Paquin, Doucet and Beer . In addition to his fashion commissions, he  drew the very first Vogue cover and his illustrations for Harper's Bazaar, Gazette du Bon Ton and Vanity Fair are still loved and admired today. 

This first image of his from a Vogue cover in the 20s is perhaps my all time favourite!

Happy Friday!

Images from here and here.

Happy New Year!

Not quite but very, very close! Can you believe it's almost 2012? What are your plans for this evening? I shall be having a glamorous duck curry cooked by my boyfriend and some pink champagne! There are two sets of fireworks here in Sydney: the nine o'clock set and then the big midnight show stoppers. I hear that this year's crackers are being stage managed by international glam designer Marc Newson, so I'll definitely be trying to catch a bit of that!

 

I'd also like to wish everyone a heartfelt Happy New Year! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog in 2011! I'd also like to thank all the wonderful people who have popped into my shop and bought prints this year too! Here's to a fabulous 2012! XOXO's

Image from here.

Art Deco Beauties

  
Not at all related to Christmas but....I just love the way the Art Deco artists were not afraid of grey. In fact they seemed positively drawn to it and used grey to highlight something in an electric blue or red. Very lovely! Happy week to everyone!

All images from The Fashion Spot and Obvious Mag.

Bits and pieces

Caught Napping

This is Lionel and he's been caught napping. In the garden. I think it's pretty funny when you surprise a cat sleeping and say something like "Hello!" and they wake up with such a start and look at you like you're from another planet. A bit like us really when we've been woken up abruptly. Anyway, Lionel is awake now so no doubt he'll be up for some tickles and cuddles or a bit of food even.

I've also put two new 4" X 6" (10cm X 15cm) originals in my shop. I have a little flapper gal and a little party bear.

 

Here's to a fab week ahead!

Goodbye Ken Russell

I was saddened to hear that the grand old man of British cinema, Ken Russell, had passed away this week. I have seen most of his films and enjoyed them immensely. My favourites are the great composers series he did for the BBC such as Elgar, Strauss and Delius, "Lair of the White Worm" (absolutely hilarious!) and the documentary he made about his own life which stared his little son (so sweet!). Bits of The Who's "Tommy" were also pretty terrific but my all time, hands down favourite Ken Russell film is the musical "The Boy Friend". Have you seen it? It's set in the 1920s and tells the story of the stage production of a musical by an English theatre troupe. It is very, very funny, beautifully acted and exquisite to look at. Think Georges Barbier meets Busby Berkeley via swinging sixties London! Twiggy, its star, is ravishing as are the costumes and sets. There is a a very good review of it here.

I was lucky enough to actually see Ken Russell being interviewed on the stage at the State Theatre many moons ago as part of the Sydney Film Festival. It was an absolute honour to hear him speak and answer questions. He was totally naughty, disobedient and hilarious!

Goodbye to a great British artist.

Top image from here and the others from Le Cinema Dreams.

Art Deco Afternoons and The Great Gatsby

Art Deco Afternoons

This is Doris and Rita spending an afternoon together reading in the library. Doris has just finished her book whilst Rita is still going on hers. Doris' book was F. Scott Fitzgerald's This side of Paradise while Rita is halfway through The Great Gatsby.

Speaking of The Great Gatsby, did you know that Baz "Moulin Rouge" Luhrmann's production of The Great Gatsby is being filmed in Sydney as we speak (*ahem* write)? It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan in the lead roles of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan and Toby Maguire co-stars as Nick Carraway. Below are some shots of the cast and crew on location a couple of weeks ago. In the first photo Leo and Toby are in casual dress driving around in a red car while in the second photo you can see Toby Maguire and Leo in costume sitting in a spiffy looking yellow automobile.

I'm keeping my wits about me when I trot around town as think it's entirely possible I might bump into Leo himself one of these days!

Here are some more photos of the cast and crew on set.

I trust everyone's week is progressing in an orderly manner!

Both photos from here.  

 

Art Deco collectables

So, I have been busy adding to my originals section in my shop and am pleased to announce that I have lots of lovely original Flapper girls. They are collectable and affordable original pieces. They are from top to bottom, left to right: Flapper in Fur, Noir Flapper, Summer Days, Red Top Hat, Racing car Rita, Blue Mink and Flapper in Emeralds. They are all a cute 4" X 6" or 10cm X 15cm and drawn on 300gsm acid free Saunders Waterford & Bockingford art paper in charcoal and pastel. I had a ball drawing them - it was fun imagining what sorts of lives each of them had!

You will see that a festive robin, also an original, has sneaked in the bottom there even though I told him it was a girls only party. He is Party Boy (and his girlfriend Party Girl you can find in the shop!). P.S. There is still the 4 for 3 print sale in my shop too.

Art Deco New Yorkers

If you wanted to examine the history of 20th Century design and illustration styles you could do worse than browse through a selection of New Yorker covers. These ones here are mostly from 1925. They are super Art Deco are they not? They are also a lot of fun and they make me smile just looking at them! You can find more from this site here---> Cover Browser.