I am in love with Joan

Seriously.

Circus Ponies

Found these while researching something else- love them! : D

Awesome napkin

My friend posted this image to her facebook, so that's all I know about it. I love the retro design and aquatic sexy lady...  I love the promise of a girl in a fishbowl! : D

Circus horse girls

Was inspired to do a drawing about circus horseback riding girls, and came across some awesome reference pictures I HAD to share...

1908, people! I love it! (From Shorpy.com - great vintage photos )

Following two 1890 posters from http://www.imageenvision.com 

From The Golden Circus by Kathryn Jackson, illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen

(image from flickr )

Bruce Mozert's Underwater Photography

Found this via Boing Boing and Smithsonian; some fantastic 1930s underwater photography by Bruce Mozert to help promote Silver Springs, Florida.

Love the surreal juxtapositions, cute girls/ pin-up qualities, and vintage / retro look.

Tammis Keefe

My friend Sandra posted about this amazing 1950s textile designer, Tammis Keefe, and I found her stuff to be so beautiful and simple! They evoke such a whimsical sense of style, design and color sense.

Here is a fantastic set of her stuff over on flickr- these are just a small sampling of some of her stuff!

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

Vintage Echo Park Postcards, Los Angeles

I found these beautiful postcards at this years Lotus Festival in Echo Park, Los Angeles, showing scenes from the lake in earlier times (caption on back reads "Echo Park in Midwinter").

I like them especially for the colors and for how lush Los Angeles looks in these images.

For more information, visit www.HistoricEchoPark.org