Hiroshi Yoshida- Japanese Woodcut

Found this lovely postcard of Hiroshi Yoshida's woodcut "Kameido Bridge" from 1927 from a darling new little shop down in Echo Park (in Los Angeles) named Stories , which carries a wonderful selection of books, postcards, random little gifts, and has a small cafe inside.

Seriously cute little bookshop with a great selection of used and new books- I could have walked away with many armfuls of great reference/inspiration books that I'd just use to post to this blog all day, plus they had such a great selection of collections of short stories and just nice random LA stuff (cute retro dish towels, day of the dead stuff, etc). They do poetry readings and lots of events there too!

http://www.storiesla.com/

Anyway, I couldn't not buy this postcard because it was so beautiful- the colors, art deco architecture in the bridge, and delicate linework are just wonderful! Enjoy!

Hadley Hutton

I found Hadley Hutton's work via A Print a Day blog , and thought her stuff was really amazing. I love her blend of asian aesthetic (Japanese woodblock, floral motifs), nature (birds, plants) and especially her colors.  Her medium of encaustic, gouache, and colored pencil really make the pieces seem shrouded in wispy cotton candy as well.  The pieces are sweet but strong, and I found her stuff really inspiring.

Go check out her website and her Etsy store where she sells prints!

Speaking of Echo Park and Lotuses

This photo delights me to no end- her expression, the vintage quality, and the fact that she's surrounded by giant lotuses is just wonderful!

(from the Herald-Examiner/ Los Angeles Public Library)

Louise Van Nuys is pictured in a canoe holding lotus blossoms in 1936, during a visit to Los Angeles from the East Coast.

from the Baltimore Sun online