matouenpeluche

Queen Nefertiti + Boudoir

I hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday!

I have been sort of taking it easy/ drawing a lot! Above are two new drawings that are now up and running in my shop. The one on the left is Queen Nefertiti. She's always referred to as the most beautiful woman in the world - I think she is looking suitably gorgeous here with her pet parrot!

The drawing on the left is Boudoir. Some incredibly glamorous gal getting ready for a swish evening out - probably some fabulous restaurant in New York and an exhibition opening at MOMA. That would be my idea of the perfect evening!

Shadow Shot Sunday = Luna Park

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas Day and survived the Christmas feast! I had a traditional Australian lunch of the most divine selection of seafood: scallops, lobster, prawns and salmon. Desert was cognac ice cream and berries: raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and baked peaches in champagne. Goodness me! I think it was the best Christmas lunch I've ever had! 

Anyway, back to the matter at hand, here is my shadow shot submission. It is the top of one of two towers that flank the face of Luna Park in Sydney. They were modelled on New York's Chrysler building.

Shadow Shot Sunday, by the way, is a fabulous meme set up by the gorgeous Tracy of Hey Harriet! Anyone can enter and here are the instructions on how to do so!

Meanwhile, here are more Luna Park shots.

 

Luna Park was opened in 1935 so all the architecture and artwork in the park is very art deco. It has had a checkered fortune over the years but these days it is in very fine form having been meticulously restored quite recently.

My Dad used to take me there quite a bit when I was little so I am very fond of Luna Park - I have a lot of happy memories associated with it. However, these days I am more interested in the historic art deco sculptures and art work in and around Luna Park rather than the amusement rides themselves.

These cartoony paintings below are by the legendary Hoppy Arthur 'Art' Barton.

Next to Luna Park and probably built around the same time, is an olympic sized swimming pool which has recently been refurbished. I was super pleased to see that they had kept all the delightful and quirky decoration around the perimeter of the pool.

They're fun, aren't they?

Hope everyone is having a great holiday - I know I am!

Clyde the cuckoo.

Gosh! Pardon me for the extended blog absence! Last week was the final week of school which got a bit whirlwind-esque to say the least! After school broke up I went to my Dad's for a bit of R 'n' R. However, I'm back home now and it is officially the first day of my two week break!! Yippeee!!

I got back from my Dad's midday today and the first thing I needed to do was draw!!

This young lad above is my drawing of an Australian Golden Bronze Cuckoo. They live along the eastern coast of Australia and a bit over in Perth (which is on the west coast). His name is Clyde by the way.

What really fascinates me about cuckoos is that almost all of them have this distinctive striped chest. I think it makes them look very smart and dapper!

Here's a photo of a real live Golden Bronze Cuckoo taken in Queensland. What a sweetie!

(Image from here )

I have this young chap available in my shop here.

I hope everyone is well and relaxed and I look forward to popping in to check out all the blog action I've missed this past week!

Happy Monday!

Hello Monday! Here are my two weekend drawings. The top one is Hazel and her friend - the "friend" being a butterfly. Nobody knows the butterfly's name except Hazel. They go everywhere together.

The other drawing is actually available in my shop as an original and as a small print! It is a Sydney Seagull merrily flying off to Bondi Beach to try his luck at getting some hot chips from either the locals or unsuspecting tourists.

Hope everyone had a delightful weekend! I managed to get a large twig in my eye which caused me a few hours of anxiousness to say the least! However, all is well now, touch wood, whistle!

King of the castle...

Ah! The sweet, dulcet tones of the melodic Australian Cockatoo! Anybody from Australia and anybody who has been to Sydney and has had the pleasure of listening to a cockatoo will know I am being deeply sarcastic here! The cockatoo's call is the most abrasive, screeching, ghastly sound on the planet and yet they hold a special place in every Aussie's heart. Their name is often shortened to "cocky" and boy are they that! So confident and full of chutzpah! As a matter of fact I'm listening to a lone cocky screeching like a madman in the park down the end of my street right now. Bless!

This is my Shadow Shot for this week. Shadow Shot Sunday is a fantastic meme set up by that all round good gal Tracy of Hey Harriet fame! Anybody can enter and here are the instructions on how to do so!

Happy Sunday mes amis!!

Monsieur Verne and the fabulous shop sale!

This is Monsieur Verne and he's here to announce a fabulous 3 for 2 SALE in my shop!

Yes! that's right! Buy any two same sized prints from my shop and get another the same size or smaller absolutely FREE! Just let me know in the notes at check out which one you'd like as your freebie!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!!

The Patron Saint of Humming-birds : new print!

This is The Patron Saint of Humming-Birds. It was another exceptionally warm weekend but I managed to get this lovely lady out onto paper. I have actually been thinking quite a bit about humming-birds and patron Saints e.t.c lately and I'm quite pleased that this is the end result.

In fact I am quite fond of Patron Saints. This is the second one I have drawn so far. The first Patron Saint I drew was The Patron Saint of Rabbits - I made her into a greeting card. Here she is below.

 

(You can find her here)

I am also a big fan of Roberto Rossellini's film about the Franciscan monks and the Patron Saint of animals: Saint Francis of Assisi. It's called The Flowers of St. Francis. There are lots of delightful scenes of Saint Francis with animals - and having them gather round him in rapt attention. If you haven't seen this movie, I strongly suggest you do so as it is truly wonderful. Astonishingly, all the actors in this film are actual monks and non-professional actors. It is very touching and I think it has left a lasting impression on me.

 

(Image from here)

Speaking of flowers, a very delightful aspect of all this warm weather is my Dad's gardenia bushes. They are bursting forth all over the shop! My Dad has two bushes: one has small button hole blossoms that totally cover the bush and the other has enormous blooms that are as big as your hand! Both smell like heaven so I never mind which ones he picks for me. Below are two photos I took of some flowers from the "big" bush. They are a little yellow but they still look all waxy and fit and of course they smell divine!

 

  I hope everyone had a restful and relaxing weekend!

Book covers and illustrations...

So, I have trudged up the hump that is Wednesday and I am at the summit and it's a good view from up here! My hump day was made all the more pleasant and actually thrilling due to Gabbi's posting of my work here! Gabbi's blog is one of the wonders of cyber space as far as I'm concerned so it is an absolute honour to catch her eye! Thank you so much Gabbi!

Meanwhile, I have been perusing all things book and here are a few of the goodies I found...

(Aaron Judah book cover from here)

(Charles Harper illustration from here)

(Charles Harper Illustration from here)

(Flook book cover from here)

Hope everyone's week is behaving itself - and thank you kindly for all the drawing love!!

The Girl Who Loved Birds : new print in shop!

Here is my drawing from the weekend. It's called "The Girl Who Loved Birds". I like the idea of someone tattooing their favourite animal all over their back. I think with me it'd have to be pussy cats...bien sûr!

Happy Monday all - I've actually done the hard slog and am currently relaxing at home - phew! For those of you yet to experience the full blast of Monday-itus: all the best. It'll be over soon take my word for it.

Happy Halloween and congratulations Christopher Lee!

(Images from here)

So, Happy Halloween! Even though we are not huge Halloween people us Australians I have been noticing the celebration getting more popular here every year. And I totally approve! It's a heap of fun and a great excuse to dress up and have a party! We had some interesting characters at school yesterday: Spider man, the devil, and a fairy - but my favourite was a very pretty lady bug.

While surfing the web this morning I saw that the beloved Hammer house of horror Meister himself Christopher Lee (seen above as Dracula) was knighted yesterday. Keith of Coolness is Timeless has a terrific post about him here if you'd like to read more. 

I have also been thoroughly enjoying my Art Nouveau birthday book. Here are some more paintings by artist Fernand Khnopff which I thought were a little on the eerie side and perfect for Halloween today...The painting above is The sphinx or Caresses (1896) and the one below is I lock my door upon myself (1891).

Happy weekend all you lovely people out there!!