Friday, May 31, 2013

Inside Our Home

.








Whilst eagerly awaiting for Dana's "Modernist Nest Reveal",
I decided to reveal my own, since our place is 
reasonably clean in anticipation of visitors tomorrow.






















































































































































































































































And finally, this is my photo of me in my downstairs studio.
It was published in the latest edition of

The Journal of Australian Ceramics.




















Practising iPad Painting

.



(iPad Mini, Procreate App, my fingers)






































Thursday, May 30, 2013

Library

.
























Audubon's Aviary

.







Today I received my order of the book:

Audubon's Aviary: The Original Watercolors for The Birds of America
by Roberta Olson (Author), The New-York Historical Society (Author), Marjorie Shelley (Contributor)
ISBN 0847834832 Skira Rizzoli



Amazon:


"A national treasure is celebrated in this landmark publication. The Birds of America is a 
monumental classic, but it has never been explored like this before. This important new volume 
presents all the dazzling watercolors that Audubon painted for these monumental engravings. 
We are familiar with the prints engraved by Robert Havell Jr., but Audubon’s Aviary illuminates 
the original masterpieces that were created by Audubon himself and tells the story behind their 
creation with fresh insights and engaging quotes from his writings. These powerful paintings—all 
newly photographed using state-of-the-art techniques—possess a startling immediacy, vibrancy, 
and fluidity that link natural history, art, and a respect for the environment. These watercolors 
transmit Audubon’s devotion to his craft with their inscriptions and layers of media wrought with 
a miniaturist’s attention to detail and their revolutionary compositions, which for the first time in 
history depicted all the birds life-size. Audubon is considered America’s first great watercolorist, 
introducing innovative approaches developed over a lifetime of study. Even judged alongside 
today’s technology, his dramatic tableaux remain some of the most spectacular natural history 
documents and visually arresting works of art ever produced."



What a magnificent publication it is, too!

A couple of days ago I blogged about designer Josef Frank 


and now browsing the Audubon book I saw some similarities in his bird paintings 
and Frank's textile designs:






John James Audubon (1785-1851)
.











John James Audubon
Carolina Parakeet
(Conuropsis carolinensis),
Study for Havell pl. 26, ca. 1825. Watercolor, graphite, pastel, gouache,
and black ink with scraping and selective glazing on paper,
laid on card; 29 3/4 x 21 1/4 in.
Courtesy of the New York Historical Society.

.










Josef Frank, Toucans, 1930s
.










 John James Audubon
Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythrophthalmus),
Study for Havell pl. 32, 1822. Watercolor, graphite, pastel, gouache,
and black ink with scratching out and touches of glazing on paper,
laid on card; 24 3/16 x 19 7/16 in.
Courtesy of the New York Historical Society.

.










Josef Frank, Nippon, 1943-45
.










Josef Frank (1885-1967)
.


.















Adolfina

.























Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Today's Walk - Palm Beach, Ocean Views

.




























































































































































Breaking News - Marimekko Design Metsänväki a Copy

.









Marimekko design Metsänväki
.




This 2007 Marimekko textile design 'Metsänväki' (above) by Kristina Isola 
(daughter of the legendary Maija Isola) has been exposed as a copy of a 1960's 
painting 'Rats on a journey' by a Ukranian folk artist Maria Primatšenko
(1908–1997):







Maria Primatšenko, Rats on a journey, 1960s
.








Apparently Kristina Isola has just admitted the copying, and apologized.









Books by Ridou Ridou