matouenpeluche

Renée Perle : Jacques Henri Lartigue

(All images above from here)

The lovely Romanian model Renée Perle was photographer and painter Jacques Henri Lartigue's (1894 – 1986) muse and girlfriend. Although Lartigue is most famously known for hs photos of racing cars at the French Grand prix, the photos of Perle are classics of their time. Isn't she lovely?

Here are some more of Lartigue's photos. Incidentally, did you know that Wes Anderson is a huge Lartigue fan and has paid homage to him in his films Rushmore and The Life Acquatic with Steve Zissou (the protrait of Lord Mandrake in the movie is based on a photo of Lartigue). 

(Image from here)

(Image from here)

(Image from here)

Hump Day pick me up!

(Life Magazine 1922 from here.)

(Andre Kertesz 1928 from here)

(Montparnesse Station Train wreck from here)

(Lee Friedlander Revolving doors from here)

Ok, well these images are a little unrelated but I kinda like them all the same!

Happy Hump Day folks!

P.S. Thank you everyone for all your lovely comments and enthusiasm for my drawings - it's very encouraging!!

Irish Eyes and Poppy part 1 and 2.

Here are the three drawings I worked on over the weekend. Above is Irish Eyes. I just thought she looked incredibly Irish for some reason. Maybe it's her green eyes and the pretty green collar on her blouse?

...and here are two gals - actually the same gal Poppy. She's a bit more stylised than I would normally draw but I am pleased with how she turned out. The one on the left is Poppy at the Ball 2 and the right Poppy at the Ball 1. I loved how in the roaring 20s there were plenty of feathers and pretty headdresses. It seems the only time we can wear a feather in our hair these days is at the races!

 

All three are now in my shop!!

P.S. I now have a SALE section in my shop!

Hope everyone had a terrific weekend!

What I've been up to...

Above is a drawing I did of two sisters over the weekend. It's called Sisters II because I already have a Sisters I as you may or may not recall. I've actually realised that I have a thing for drawing two gals together and that I have well over five "two gals together" prints in my shop now! I think I like the idea of sisters or best friends, compadres if you like. ...and these two gals are in my shop!

 

Also on the weekend, I went to The Museum of Sydney to check out the Martin Sharp retrospective exhibition. Sharp is a famous Sydney pop artist but more on him later - he deserves an entire post to himself - I'm thinking later in the week with any chance! However, I went to the shop at the museum and found some choice Sydney Harbour Bridge painting and lithograph postcards! Yippee because I collect postcards and images from the '30s of the bridge! Here above Sydney Bridge Celebrations 1932 by Adrian Feint, a front cover illustration of The Sydney Mail 1930 by 'F.W' and Building the Bridge by Ralph Emmerson Curtis 1933.

...and I've been thoroughly enjoying wearing the two delightfully pretty rings by Christina of Etsy shop Down and Out Chic (this is her gorgeous blog) seen here above on the right being modelled by Clyde that naughty rabbit. On the left Clyde is modelling a sweet pair of earrings handmade by Gabbi of beautiful blog Felinofelice! I feel very lucky indeed to have these in my earring collection - thank you so much Gabbi!

Hope everyone is having a lovely week!

Ladies and Gentlemen we have a winner...

Yes! We have a winner to the Rose competition and it is David of Art Deco Buildings! Congratulations David! Thank you to everyone who entered!

Meanwhile, Happy Monday and here is a George Barbier to sooth the soul...it's called The Purchase and it can be found here.

On the street where I live + Shadow Shot Sunday

This is my Shadow Shot Sunday photo of one of my favourite streets in Sydney and I feel very lucky indeed to live just around the corner from it. It's called Macleay Street and it runs from Kings Cross down to Potts Point where it turns into Wylde Street and then curves down the hill past the naval vessels moored at Woolloomoolloo/ Garden Island and Russell Crowe's house!! True!

Shadow Shot Sunday is a terrific meme set up by all round good guy Tracy of Hey Harriet fame! Anyone can enter...here are the instructions on how to do so!

...and here are some more shots along this pretty street...

A Day at the Races

In Australia we have a major sporting event coming up soon. It's called The Melbourne Cup. This is the 3 minute horse race which famously "stops the nation". Literally. If you happen to be walking the streets of any city in Australia whilst the race is on you will feel like an extra out of Omega Man as you'll be entirely alone. Everyone else in indoors with their hats on eyes glued to the screen clutching their horse betting slips to their breast. It's on every year on the first Tuesday of November.

...and everyone has to wear a hat. I mean everyone. So, as you can imagine the shops here are full to the brim (sorry) with hats. Which leads me to my latest drawing: A Day at the Races! This lovely young thing wearing part fascinator part retro '40s glam hat is now in my shop! You can find her HERE.

Bianca

This is Bianca. She's a new drawing I finished on the weekend.

Bianca's a mega stylish gal and she adores a pussy bow as she feels it brings a touch of glamour to the most formal attire. I tend to agree with her. I think the 1930s were the golden age of pussy bows. Below is a young Joan Crawford in two 1930s Hollywood studio shots. She's working the pussy bow to her advantage me thinks!

 

(Both images from Decades of Fashion: The Hulton Getty Picture Collection.)

Bianca is now in my shop here as a small print. Don't forget if you can't find the image you want in the size you'd like just email me - I'm happy to print my images  in either large (8 " X 11.5" = A4) or small (4" X 6" = 10cm X 15cm).

Happy Monday everyone!!

Happy weekend + Art Deco cards.

First of all: three cheers for the weekend and congratulations to everybody who made it!! Sometimes it feels like quite an achievement, doesn't it? I've had the week off however, so I can't say my week was anything other than highly enjoyable!!

At this time of year I have quite a few birthdays to buy for and birthdays mean cards. Cards! So difficult! They are either cloyingly sentimental or too cool for school or just plain boring. Fortunately, I found these stylish beauties whilst rummaging around in my favourite card shop the other day. They are a new set taken from the covers of a New York magazine published in the 1920s and 1930s called "Asia". All the covers were done by Frank McIntosh and they are super Deco. I love this panther above. My boyfriend says he looks like a piece of beautiful machinery.

Unfortunately, I can't really find much info about "Asia" magazine or Frank McIntosh other than it was a magazine that looked at reportage about ASian countries. The cards are published by a company from the Netherlands called Catch Publishing which you can find here.

Speaking of pussy cats, I am totally in love with the snow leopard cover boy for the new Mac operating system of the same name.

Hello sailor!!

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Gorgeous George and Gabbi!

Firstly, Gabbi - that wonderous blogger and super sweet fellow human being and cat owner has an interview with me and a GIVEAWAY of my artwork too. I would hot foot it over to her blog post haste as it's a terrific excuse to be entranced by her wonderful flaire with all things blog - really and truly! I think everyoone will agree with me on that point!

...and I think it's about time we had a bit more Goerge Barbier love...the man was exceedingly prolific to say the least, no?

Happy hump Day my friends! P.S. I heard a rumour that 9/09/09 was the official cat free internet day!!! I choose not to believe such scuttlebut!

From top: Le Grand Decolletage, The Tango, Surprise, Au Revoir and Costume de Bain.

Here are my previous two posts about gorgeous George: here and here.

Here is a very fine gallery (which is where these images are from) of his work and other pochoir artists and here is an interesting article about him!