I’ve always been an avid reader (although, having just written that sentence, I realise that I don’t think I’ve ever used the word ‘avid’ in conjunction with anything else. Avid dancer? No. Avid chef? No. Avid dog-walker? Definitely not. Avid reader: yes). When I was growing up, my absolute favourite books to read were anything…
Category: Illustrators
Christmas Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker
When I was little, I loved the Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker. I had a little book that was an alphabet drawn by her: one fairy for each letter and a little poem to go with it. I adored looking at the pictures and would spend hours copying the pictures of the beautiful little…
Little April Showers
Source What a washout this month has been so far! Snow, hail, rain, thunder, lightening – yesterday and today, I’ve had washing out for twenty minutes only to have to whip it in as the heavens open. Source Fortunately, we now have the wood burning stove installed and, thanks to my Dad’s obsession with finding…
Best & Co Holiday and Travel Fashion Adverts: 1958
As we appear to be experiencing what is now becoming the customary January cold snap, why not dream of warmer climates by admiring these adverts from 1958? Featuring the cruise collection by Best & Co, these adverts show off some of the best of New York fashion from 1958; on a background of stylish, mid-century…
Coby Whitmore – Mother Is a Movie Queen
I picked this up from the Post Office depot yesterday morning. Found on a fuzzy photograph on Ebay in America and costing me the grand total of seven dollars… it’s one of the stand-out images from Lifestyle Illustrations of the ’60s and I’m just a little bit excited about having my own copy. ‘Mother is a…
Vintage Illustrations: Pleasant Fieldmouse’s Halloween Party
It’s a spectacularly rainy day here in Devon, so we decided to take a trip to Totnes. Unfortunately, the pickings were fairly slim in the town’s charity shops. However, we did find this little gem and after some deliberation (and yummy veggie food at the Willow cafe), I decided to buy it: I got thoroughly…
SM Kriminalroman Book Cover Art
When we were in Germany the last time, we visited this amazing fleamarket in Cologne (I think it was Cologne… it could have been somewhere else…); anyway, it was amazing – bit more expensive but had a fantastic array of mid century design, 60s objects and just generally some impressive looking stuff for us to…
Gerry Fancett: Romantic Illustrations
Before I bring on the beautiful images, I should tell you I’ve really struggled to find any information on Gerry Fancett. I just can’t believe that an artist, a fantastic illustrator, who was so prolific and created such beautiful images can disappear from the public consciousness with half a century. It seems a little strange…
Fairy Tale Illustrations
One of my favourite finds from yesterday was this: This book was published by Hamlyn in 1971. The cover illustrations are by Ron Stenberg. All of the old classic fairy tales are here: Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, The Fisherman’s Wife… I remember all of them from my childhood. What drew me to the…
Illustrations: Joe De Mers
Joe De Mers (1910-1988) was an American production artist who spent most of the 1930s working at Warner Brothers, creating production art, before moving onto illustration. In New York, he found massive success with the Charles E. Cooper studio, where he became one of their star artists. His work has appeared in Woman’s Own and Woman…
Between Friends: Ben Ostrick
As many of you will know, as well as an obsession for West German Pottery, my love of illustration from the ’50s and ’60s is growing. Although I’ve not featured anything on here for a while, I’m still madly in love with my collection of vintage women’s magazines and read them frequently. Today I felt…
West German Pottery Illustrators
The field of West German Pottery is ever-expanding. Now it seems that the vibrancy and vividity of the glazes, forms and colours are inspiring people far more talented than me to create some beautiful artwork. Elisandra’s Illustrations: Germany based illustrator Elisandra has created some fantastic digital artwork, based on the West German designs. Her blog,…
Little Owl Ski 