Roses for Fishes

The incredible work of Stephen Mackey.  Beautiful!

Tracciamenti

The beautiful illustrative work of Italian Artist Tracciamenti.
Found via The Jealous Curator (one of my favourite blogs).

More here, here and here.

snap!

Viola Farber 1958

Yayoi Kusama 1968

This post is a direct transcription from 

a post by reference library.

Too good not to repeat it.  HaHa!

Hmmm.... 

I'll let you make up your own mind Yayoi

more strange and wonderful images here

A Winter Garden

I've been spending quite a bit of time

...in our beautiful Winter Garden lately.

 I love the way some plants look 

when they've gone to seed. 

Weeds can be so beautiful sometimes, that 

I'm reluctant to pull their roots from the earth 

and make way for flowers. 

Our vegie beds are bare. We were exhausted by 

the Summer harvest and neglected to plant Winter crops. 

We've cleared the debris and turned the soil and I've 

been shelling the dried bean pods I harvested in Summer 

and selecting new heirloom varieties of foodplants.

Now all we have to do is wait a little... until the weather 

turns, and the rays of Spring begin to warm the soil.

This painting is by Audrey Kawasaki. 

So bittersweet. Like a winter garden.

heart

"Alas, when everything flies away the 

outline of the heart goes black"

Hans Christian Andersen

from astrid stampe's picture book, 1853

via the incredible 50 Watts

the butterfly hunter

"Does there not exist a high ridge where 

the mountainside of ‘scientific’ knowledge joins 

the opposite slope of ‘artistic’ imagination?" 

~ Vladimir Nabokov

"My pleasures are the most intense known to man: 

writing and butterfly hunting."

~ Vladimir Nabokov

Images taken from the field journals of Vladimir Nabokov

and found via this post and The New York Public Library.

The Russian Author, best known for his novel ' Lolita ' was 

also a distinguished Entomologist with a particular interest in
Lepidoptera (or moths and butterflies). Parts of his butterfly

collection and other items are kept in the Nabokov Museum.

The Dollhouse #6

'Shell Cottage' 

from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two

Yes! They really built this... it really does exist. Read more here

I would love to have worked on costumes and sets for those films.

clever flowers

The People's Print have been running what look like amazing 

digital floral design workshops at the V&A Museum recently.

Such inspiring work.  Love their designs, and their blog!

All links originally found via 3 sheets

stealing beauty

How beautiful is this lace curtain that Elisabeth's

putting together for her little swedish cottage?

I think I might have to steal this idea away

for some corner window in our house...

perhaps this one? The staircase is beautiful, but 

this corner of the room could use a bit of help.

sleeping with rabbits...

Another beautiful and strange Victorian postcard.

Not another montage, but a studio photograph.

I couldn't resist purchasing this one. It's pinned 

to the inspiration board above my beautiful old deco 

worktable. How I do love these old dream-like images.

Hmmm...

Today we are baking Easter biscuits, watching Easter

movies and philosophising about the holiday...

image found via I've had dreams like that

What do bunnies, a holy spirit, chocolate eggs and little girls 

dancing with giant bugs have to do with Easter?  Who knows! 

I did try to research this image... but I got confused. 

I love this beautiful vintage picture postcard though.

It's so surreal, so dream-like.

I hope everyone's enjoying a most lovely Easter break. xo 

Georges Méliès

I have long been in love with the fantastique work 

of french film pioneer Georges Méliès.

His visions have greatly inspired my work in performance,

my art making, and my creations of costumery and millinery.

A box set of over 170 of Georges Méliès films

is now availiable from Amazon. C'est maqnifique!

Georges Méliès in 3D

We finally went to see Hugo and it was really wonderful.

At first I thought the story was sweet but a little too contrived.

When we came home and I read up on the life of Georges Méliès, 

I found that it was almost as fantastical as Martin Scorsese's film.

I think, indeed, Scorsese's film does the Magician's art justice.

If only Méliès could have seen his dreams brought to life in 3D!

You can view the much referenced A Trip To The Moon here.

The Mad Square

'Half-Caste' Hannah Höch 1924 via

The Mad Square finishes this Sunday. 

'Merz Drawing [Fox]' Kurt Schwitters 1930 via

'Made For The Party' Hannah Höch 1936 via

[Spiral Costume from the Triad Ballet' Karl Grill 1926-27 via

'Metropolis' Heinz Schulz-Neudamm 1926 via

'Love' Hannah Höch 1931 via

'Untitled [Dolls]' László Moholy-Nagy 1926-1927 via

It focusses on Modernity in German Art from 1910-37.

Expressionism. Bauhaus. Dada. Constructivism. New Objectivity. 

Metropolis. And what the National Socialist Party termed Degenerate Art 

and confiscated, stole, burnt or sold abroad.  It's a fascinating show.

Hurry down to the NGV before you miss out!

Sophie Blackall

I love Sophie Blackall's beautiful and quirky illustrations.

'We Shared a Bear Suit' from Sophie's book 

'Missed Connections' available at Amazon

Recently, I stumbled across an article at 'The Inside Source'

with some wonderful photographs of Sophie's home and lovely 

collection of inspirational objects and fantastical curiosities...

To quote the article...

"Blackall's Brooklyn home and studio are a window into her creative process. 

One step inside, and it’s like you’ve been transported into a Harry Potter novel 

or Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.  Blackall’s home, which 

she shares with her two children, is filled with carefully-curated, nearly-ghoulish 

oddities that don’t necessarily creep you out, but just like her illustrations, instead 
bring an odd smile to your face ....  in Blackall’s own words, her dwelling is 
something of a “Victorian Natural History Museum....”  you can view more here

Oh, I love it all! xox

Hey Mickey!

Mickey by Sir Peter Blake 

1930s Dean Rag Book Co. velveteen toys here and here

Cyndi Lauper with Mickey Mouse at Disney World, Florida 

Lucky Boy Sunday (& vintage toys)

Mickey and Minnie at Disneyland 1959

Pop Art by Hannah  (Ms. Rosa's 3rd Grade Class)

I found another great Disney book in an Op shop recently.

It's filled with loads of beautiful colour reproductions and a 

whole chapter on early Disney work entitled 'The Mousetro'.

The book's called The Best of Disney
and it's also available at Amazon.

the images above aren't from the book... 
just a few of my more obscure Mickey favourites

xox