matouenpeluche

Happy Friday!

My goodness! Friday already! All I can say is: PHEW! Is it just me or does everything speed up around Christmas? May be it's just me!

These drawings here are by one of my favourite cartoonists: B. Kliban. He is best known for his endearing plump cats that get up to all sorts of mischief like sitting in hot tubs whilst playing with a rubber ducky or doing a spot of yoga. However, he was also a fine illustrator and seriously fond of his pussy cats: Norton Nitty, Burton Rustle and another one whose name escapes me.

While I am too big to lie on the telly like this guy above I'll be doing plenty of what he's doing, i.e. relaxing, this weekend!

(All images from "Never eat anything bigger than your head", "The biggest Tongue in Tunisia" etc which you can buy here)

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!

Bonjour le weekend!

(Image from here)

Oh Happy Friday! Here's a classic cat drawing by Théophile Alexandre Steinlen called "Horrible fin d'un poisson rouge". Sometimes I feel like this harassed goldfish (but without the ghastly ending!) during the week at work and sometimes I feel like the cat. Perhaps in reality I'm the bowl - certainly by Friday I feel a little "cracked" and in need of some serious R'n'R!

I have been quite busy this week and haven't visited as many blogs as I would've liked to - so I'm sorry I've been a bit 'absent'. I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone in cyber land this weekend! 

Meanwhile, here's some more gorgeous Steinlen Art Nouveau loveliness! 

(Image from here)

(Image from here)

Charlotte = new print!

This is Charlotte and she loves to dance. The tango is her favourite but she's also quite partial to the fox trot, the charleston and the flamenco. She has been known to inspire the odd choreographer too and several dances have been thought up with her specifically in mind. You may recall "The Charlotte" which was incredibly popular last summer.

However, it is her dream to one day star in a Busby Berkeley musical...

(Image from here)

(Image from here)

...and I can't blame her for that!

Happy Monday all - and yes, the weather has settled down from yesterday's scorching 41.5 degrees Celsius (= 107 Fahrenheit) to a very reasonable 20 degrees Celsius (ahhhhh....much better!).

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)

Martin Sharp

This is Sydney artist and legend Martin Sharp circa 1970. I went to a terrific retrospective exhibition of his work at the Museum of Sydney last week.

Martin Sharp, born (1942) and raised in Sydney, is seen as Australia's number one pop artist. He is best known internationally as the album cover artist for Cream's Wheel's of Fire, the exploding Jimi Hendrix painting and the Mr Tambourine Man Bob Dylan portrait.

 

(Top two images from Art and Australia Vol.47 Spring 2009)

(Disraeli Gears LP Cover from here)

He also co-wrote songs with Eric Clapton, published scandalous (for the 60s) magazines, restored and renovated Sydney's Luna Park, was friend and collaborator of (Tip Toe Through the Tulips) Tiny Tim, designer and artist for beautiful Sydney event posters in the 70s and 80s and a whole heap of other things! Actually, the exhibition itself is a real 4D experience with all his posters and knick knacks displayed in the one huge room. I've decided to go back sometime soon and properly photograph it.

 

(Top: Babylon the great is fallen, fallen. Revelations 18 v2. 2000 - 2006 from the Spring Historic Houses magazine. Bottom three images are postcards from the exhibition: The Sydney Opera House is ten 1983, Tiny Tim, The Chameleon 1982 and Eternity, Haymarket! 1977)

  Martin Sharp was a hero of mine when I was a young cartoonist and illustrator in Sydney so this exhibition was a real treat for me to go to. His posters like the one above of Sydney's Haymarket particularly remind me of my youth and memories of Sydney at that time.

Hope everyone is having/ will have a fabulous weekend!

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!!

Lucky me!

Natalia is an extremely talented full time jeweller who I had the good fortune to meet earlier in the year on Etsy.

Natalia lives in Adelaide, Australia and owns the most amazing shop - Realisation Creations. It's like Aladdin's cave! This divine piece to the left is called "Eventide" and consists of vintage opalised glass, a cubic zirconia and a sterling silver chain. Her pieces are timeless and pretty but they also have that extra something special that make them stand out from the crowd.

Anyway, lucky me as I actually won a gift voucher from her shop!! I really couldn't believe my luck! Here is my rabbit Clyde modelling the two pieces I picked out for myself. Thank you so much again Natalia!

The earrings on the left are called Punctuation and are in vintage pink glass and sterling silver. The earrings on the right are called Take a bow and are gleaming purple amethyst.

The best bit though is that you too could have the opportunity to win a gift voucher from Natalia's shop by visiting her beautiful blog and entering the giveaway she has there!

...and earlier in the year I won a cape-let pattern PDF from Chrisy (thank you so much Chrisy!) whose shop Artdecadence is a unique mix of her own objects d'art! She also has a charming blog that engages the mind, the heart and the soul. Her blog is called Sophismpress. Both are very much something to explore. This piece on the left is called Anatomical print with thread. It's on vintage paper and is embellished with black thread. Perhaps it's the perfect Halloween present?

...and another hump day draws to a close. It was as hot as anything today in Sydney but now there is a gale howling outside my window and it has chilled down considerably.

Thank you also to everyone for all the Bianca love - especially to the lovely Gabbi who has Bianca as one of her LOVES this week. Thank you so much sweetie!! XX

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!!

Birthday Books (part II)

 

Here are another couple of books I got for my birthday. The image above is from Dali: The Impresario of Surrealism by Jean-Louis Gaillemin. Again it is a compact book full of his work and terrific photos of Dali at various stages during his life. It's great seeing all his work together - he really was the prolific genius in my opinion. There's also plenty of biographical info about him too from cradle to grave so to speak.

To the left is the cover and the painting on the right is one of Dali's with the impossibly wonderful title: Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bumblebee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening, 1944.

The next book I am very much looking forward to reading. It's called Me Cheeta The Autobiography and it's by James Lever.

You remember seeing those old black and white Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies on TV in the wee hours of Sunday morning? No? Well a whole bunch of Tarzan movies were made in the 1930s and 1940s in Hollywood and the Cheeta of those films wrote this book (ahem). Anyway, it's supposed to be utterly hilarious and a gripping read! I'll let you know! The image on the Left is the book's cover and the one on the right is a painting by Cheeta called Study in Purple and Turquoise #6: 'Water'(2001).

I trust everyone is having a lovely restful and relaxing weekend!

P.S. The lovely Christina of Down and Out Chic is having a fabulous giveaway of Diana's (City Lights) photography! I suggest you hot foot it over there to enter!! Just think...you could win this gorgeous "Couch" print!