matouenpeluche

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.

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.

Umberto Brunelleschi

Umberto Brunelleschi (June 21, 1879 - February 16, 1949) was an Italian artist who studied in Florence and then moved to Paris in 1900. He worked as an illustrator and costume designer for all the deluxe magazines and productions of that era. After serving in the army during World Wat I, Brunelleschi returned to Paris and continued to draw and design for productions such as the Folies Bergère in Paris, La Scala in Milan and theatres in New York and London.

Isn't he wonderful? I had to share! He's a bit more flamboyant and fun than Georges Barbier (who I have posted about previously here). I think this is partly due to his Italian heritage!



 

All images from here, here and here.

Happy Friday + Etienne Drian

 

Happy Friday! We made it!

 

These drawings are by French artist Etienne Drian (1885 - 1961) which was the pseudonym for Adrien Etienne (I think - it was pretty tricky finding info on him I have to admit!).  His work appeared in many fashionable French magazines like Gazette Du Bon Ton and Femina during the early part of the 20th Century. He also worked with fashion designers like Paul Poirot and was an accomplished theatre designer and interior decorator.

I like them immensely! They are less stylised and Art Deco-esque than Georges Barbier but just as stylish and charming.

 

Here's to a wonderful weekend full of rest, relaxation and recharging of batteries!

Images from here.

Goodbye 2009....and hello (almost) 2010!

Goodbye dear 2009! You were good to me 2009 and I had a wonderful time!

Today I plan to take it easy at home here (and draw! Surprise!) and avoid the crazy revellers. My suburb gets pretty nutty on New Year's Eve so I'll be lying low for most of the day but I most certainly intend to go down the road to see the crackers at 9:00pm and again at 12:00pm. I'm going to try and take some photos too!

Hope everyone has a wonderful evening. Thank you for all your gorgeous blogs which I love keeping up with and thank you for the comments and visits to my blog in 2009!!

Happy New Year (almost!) and see you in 2010!

(Both images from here)

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.

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!

Happy Friday and three top blogs!

 

Happy Friday everyone! Here is an encore from Georges Barbier. You may recall I did a post on him before but I feel he's so lovely I coudn't resist revisiting him!

Also, it was very remiss of me not to mention this before but the gorgeous high priestess of blogs, Gabbi of Felinofelice did a piece on my work earlier in the week. Her blog is all kinds of beautiful at once! ...and the lovely Christina, who owns the chatty and incredibly entertaining blog Down and Out Chic, has also a piece about my work as part of her tour of her art collection! And! A fabulous blogger I've met recently: the jet setting fashionista Miriam of Bjorn Borg : Insider's Journal has also included me in her list of blogs she likes!! Goodness me! All three blogs will have you totally mesmerized by their content, style and chutzpah!

Have a super lovely weekend all: Southern Hemisphere people try to keep warm and dry while the Northern Hemisphere people keep cool and relaxed! O.K. now back to Georges... 

 

 

George Barbier - master illustrator

Georges Barbier (1882 - 1932): master French illustrator of the early 1900s. Not much is known about the actual man himself but he was a prolific artist who began his career illustrating for fashion magazines. The interesting thing was that he actually drew his girls in his own designs not those of the couturiers of the day. So he became a fashion designer through his illustrations first. Later he was asked to design theatre and ballet costumes.

Barbier lead a group of artists from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Art). Vogue nicknamed this group "The Knights of the Bracelet" because of their fashionable dress sense. He also designed jewellery, wallpaper and glass ware.

Both Barbier and Erte even designed costumes for Hollywood movies in the 1920s.

He was influenced by Indian miniatures, antique vases and that other master illustrator: Aubrey Beardsley. His exquisite art deco pochoirs perfectly capture the roaring twenties and the jazz era.

I think his work is particularly appealing because of his subtle use of colour and of course his compositions are very pretty. I'm particularly fond of his outdoor scenes.

You can find more Barbier pochoirs here and more information about him here.