Vintage Deco Bridge Tallies

I found these amazing vintage art deco bridge tallies featuring all sorts of cute girsl and flapperes from the 1920s on flickr. I love the super cute designs and colors- such eye candy!  I really dig the art deco designs and the use of bright candy colors with this vaguely pin-up sort of feel.

From the flickr set: "They are diecut--cut along the edges. They have a score area on the opposite side--used for the game of bridge but during 1920s and 1930s - it was all the rage, apparently." 
 
Flickr set- http://www.flickr.com/photos/picture-perfect-designs-jewelry/sets/72157613269398023/
(many thanks to flickr user finsby for uploading all these!!)

Audrey Kawasaki

I think I have to officially thank my friend Arvin for turning me on to Audrey's work, although I had seen it before, it was going to get a print at her Thinkspace opening a few months ago that I got to see a full show of her work in person and up close.

As I've been painting more and more recently, and thinking about where I want to take my own art, I've been studying her style a lot more, and admiring her sense of color and the soft erotic nature of her female forms. I also love the way she works in animals into her pieces- it's very intimate and emotional in a very subtle but strong way.


http://www.audrey-kawasaki.com

 

 

 

Camilla d'Errico

I've had a slow burning fascination with Camilla d'Errico's work- when I first saw her work profiled on Boing Boing, then in person at G1988 at the Crazy for Cult show, I liked it, but the more I see of her stuff, and the more I look at it, the more I really start to appreciate it more and more.

I really like her subject matter of juxtaposing girls and animals, her sugary-sweet color palette (strong but sweet and delicate at the same time), and the way the girls eyes pop out of the canvases is so arresting.

These are some of my favorite works of her, and some sampling of some of her beautiful color palettes. Check our her website (which has her blog, online store, and a bunch of links) here-

http://www.camilladerrico.com

 

  

 


 

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 )

Kay Nielsen

Kay Nielsen is another Golden Age Illustrator who did gorgeous fairy tale illustrations in the first part of the 20th century.

I love his drawings for a lot of the same reasons that I like Dulac (content, colors, and Art Nouveau style), but Nielsen brings in a slightly more Asian aesthetic- he was apparently influenced by Japanese woodprints and Hiroshige.

Asifa-Hollywood archives has some great scans of a variety of his work
Twelve Dancing Princesses
East of the Sun West of the Moon
Hansel and Gretel

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.

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