tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5177733968555908652024-02-20T00:06:52.313-08:00Wonder Diva on Etsywonderdivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874413826837408288noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-517773396855590865.post-40044541313232330962011-11-25T10:15:00.001-08:002011-11-25T10:29:43.220-08:00Gift Guide: Stocking Stuffers!<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Look at the fun little things in the shop that would make great stocking stuffers for the vintage fan!</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Really cute little <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/81476431/minature-anodized-tumblers-set-of-5" target="_blank">minature anodized metal shot glasses/tumblers</a> -- pair them with a few mini bottles of Stoli or Jagermeister for a very grown-up stocking stuffer.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">A <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/85770759/westmoreland-smoked-glass-bulldog-with" target="_blank">vintage French Bulldog figurine</a> that would delight the owner of a silly little Frenchie!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/70946667/the-wish-fairy-of-the-sunshine-and" target="_blank">This great little book</a> is only 5.5 x 4.25 inches, and is something that the fan of vintage fairy books would swoon over! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">A bag of primo coffee beans and <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/85472464/vintage-hall-individual-creamers" target="_blank">these little cuties</a> would be be fun for your favorite java addict -- and remember, if they don't use cream, they could use them for Irish Whiskey or Kaluha!</span><br />
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<br />wonderdivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874413826837408288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-517773396855590865.post-31338511579825094962011-11-22T07:00:00.001-08:002011-11-22T09:28:12.777-08:00Holiday Glee at Wonder Diva on Etsy!<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Hate the malls? Afraid of deranged shoppers driving like lunatics around the parking lot? That is what cyber-shopping is for.</b></span></div>
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<b style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/wonderdiva?ref=si_shop" target="_blank">There's a Holiday Glee sale going on in the shop right now -- 15% off all items -- markdowns already taken! </a></b></div>
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<b style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Why decorate with the same stuff that everyone is using? Get some shiny vintage ornaments (like <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/81263280/vintage-feather-tree-christmas-ornaments?ref=you_recently_viewed_this_item" target="_blank">these</a> from a fellow Etsy Vintage Team member!) and put them in <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/85848306/1950s-frosty-treat-one-quart-paper-cups" target="_blank">these darlins.</a> You will be the envy of all of your friends.</b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>wonderdivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874413826837408288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-517773396855590865.post-46668973272166639332011-11-20T08:14:00.001-08:002011-11-20T08:30:49.692-08:00Gift guide: For the gardener, the books of Elizabeth Gordon<strong><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gardeners are never finished with their work, not even in December -- they're already planning next year's garden. A vintage book about flowers and gardens is a great holiday gift, especially when it is bright and fanciful and it is by Elizabeth Gordon. Gordon was an early 20th century children's book author who took the fairy world and the nature world and put them into stories to delight and educate children. She always got the very best illustrators for her books, and they are very valuable little commodities today. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana;">From <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/72588122/loraine-and-the-little-people-1915-first" target="_blank">Loraine and the Little People</a>, by Elizabeth Gordon and illustrated by Penny Ross: </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana;">From <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/65530947/loraine-and-the-little-people-of-spring?ga_search_query=loraine&ga_search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_5375955" target="_blank">Loraine and the Little People of Spring</a> -- illustrations by Ella Dolbear Lee:</span></strong><br />
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<br /><strong><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And the absolute stunner of the group, <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/81817021/the-turned-intos-janet-laura-scott?ga_search_query=janet%2Blaura&ga_search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_5375955" target="_blank">The Turned-Intos</a>, illustrated by the amazing Janet Laura Scott:</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let's not forget the vegetable gardeners -- Gordon wrote <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/69457366/mother-earths-children-penny-ross" target="_blank">Mother Earth's Children</a> and once again Penny Ross illustrated:</span></strong></div>
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</div>wonderdivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874413826837408288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-517773396855590865.post-92070378389534465142011-11-14T17:40:00.001-08:002011-11-14T17:57:56.277-08:00Gift Guide: Around the house vintage & upcycled<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Do you know someone who loves to decorate with vintage, or just has a touch of it here and there? A nice vintage item is a fun holiday gift.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">For someone who collects old dolls, or maybe wants to keep a garden vibe going in the house over the winter, what would be cuter than this<a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/70929345/shabby-chic-primitive-farmhouse-childs" target="_blank"> one-of-a-kind vintage child's or doll chair?</a> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Maybe they prefer a rustic, woodlands vibe? How cute would an old Steiff stuffed bear look on <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/72349145/rustic-childs-chair-farmhouse-primitive" target="_blank">this little vintage chair?</a> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">I <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/86158745/distressed-shabby-15-in-primitive-doll" target="_blank">painted and distressed a newer Amish furniture style doll chair</a> to make it look like the oldies above. You get the look of old with the stability of new. How cute would this be with a vintage Santa or a snowman on it? </span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Do you know a romantic who wants something retro and dreamy for the walls? How about <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/82046726/sunset-dreams-r-atkinson-fox-1920s-print" target="_blank">a 1920's R. Atkinson Fox print in the original frame?</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://img1.etsystatic.com/il_fullxfull.271855837.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="http://img1.etsystatic.com/il_fullxfull.271855837.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>wonderdivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874413826837408288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-517773396855590865.post-48280316228497295662011-11-11T20:42:00.001-08:002011-11-11T20:59:12.193-08:00Gift guide - Those special books<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you know a book lover or a collector who has everything, there's always a vintage book that they probably don't own. Give them a gift that's rare and beautiful.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">English Bulldog owners who think they have everything... they probably don't have one of the<a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/41140264/blobbs-the-bulldog-g-vernon-stokes-a" target="_blank"> Blobbs books written by G. Vernon Stokes.</a></span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kay Nielsen's work is always a special gift, because it is entrancing. If you know someone who loves Norse mythology,<a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/83468503/kay-nielsen-east-of-the-sun-and-west-of" target="_blank"> this book</a> is perfect. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/85688586/dream-boats-1918-first-edition-dugald" target="_blank">Fauns, fairies, fishes and other pleasant creatures</a>, from Dugald Stewart Walker: </span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>Fans of modern fantasy illustration probably know about the Brothers Hildebrandt. But did they know <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/82174130/brothers-hildebrandt-illustrations-a" target="_blank">they once illustrated a children's book?</a></strong></span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Or find <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/83493477/frankenstein-c-1895-rare-art-nouveau" target="_blank">a classic book with an amazing cover.</a></span></strong></div>
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</div>wonderdivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874413826837408288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-517773396855590865.post-34224112542006666562011-09-01T11:33:00.000-07:002011-09-01T11:37:06.703-07:00Not letting go of summer, not yet...It's late summer and maybe you aren't ready to let go into autumn yet. I'm not especially ready, myself. Even when it's mid-January, you need reminders of summer in the house:<br />
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The bright green of the grass shows up in<a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/79845590/bright-green-enamel-wear-cups-set-of-two"> vintage enameled cups:</a><br />
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The garden produce looks out at you from <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/76636604/tomato-leek-red-pepper-seed-packages">vintage 1920's seed packets</a>:<br />
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Sunflowers nod at you from a <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/80641714/kansas-centennial-sunflower-cup-and">vintage souvenir cup and saucer set</a>:<br />
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And <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/69457366/mother-earths-children-penny-ross">the fairy of wheat harvest is baking bread</a>!<br />
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wonderdivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874413826837408288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-517773396855590865.post-83442798953750086002011-07-19T18:16:00.000-07:002011-07-19T18:16:53.407-07:00Christmas in JulyWhat a lump of my life blogger I have been lately! My excuse: I repainted the kitchen. Twice. I detested the first color and did the entire pea-pickin' thing over and now I'm happy. <br />
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I'm doing the Christmas in July thing over at the Etsy shop, with a whopping 35 items either marked down or with free shipping, many of them with BOTH. What's not to love about that? <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/wonderdiva?section_id=10169415">Go see for yourself.</a>wonderdivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874413826837408288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-517773396855590865.post-67475225957710009172011-06-28T12:46:00.000-07:002011-06-28T12:46:35.352-07:00Declaration of IndependenceSeveral books in my shop have declared independence from the tyranny of shipping costs if they are mailed to U.S. destinations. Search for "free shipping" under <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/wonderdiva?ref=si_shop">my shop</a> and you'll get a listing of all of the little freedom-fighters.<br />
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Sarah Palin, when asked about these brave little books, said: <br />
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"They who warned uh, wonderdiva that she wasn't gonna be takin' away their right to a new home, uh by ringing those bells, and um, makin' sure as they are riding their horse through Etsy to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be sure and we were going to be free from shipping fees, and we were going to be mailed."wonderdivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874413826837408288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-517773396855590865.post-19142098538951542072011-06-27T14:35:00.000-07:002011-06-27T14:35:43.015-07:00Hallucinations<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b></b></span>In the late 1910's and early 1920's, Donohue Press put out a series of children's books that they called the Peter Rabbit series. These books were notable for their very true-to-original versions of classic tales and were not sanitized for the sake of the tykes. There was a lot of murder and mayhem that would rival a more gruesome episode of "CSI" or "Law and Order: SVU." The art work in the books was not attributed to an artist or artists, but the work was fairly typical of the era and was colorful, cute and anthropomorphic. It's a perversely amusing contrast to all the death threats and killing going on in the stories. <br />
<br />
One particular book has cover art that does not match the interior artwork and was most probably done by another artist, without attribution. But I am convinced that the person who illustrated the cover for <i>The Little Small Red Hen </i>was really loaded when they did this cover:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.252261214.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.252261214.jpg" width="611" /></a></div><br />
That's a pretty realistic depiction of a chicken, save for the apron and those shoes. Look at those tiny little shoes, how did she shove her big old hen feet in them? Was she into foot binding? Those legs make me think of women in sensible shoes who haven't shaved their legs. I can't take my eyes off of them.wonderdivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874413826837408288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-517773396855590865.post-44662378012723711052011-06-10T07:55:00.000-07:002011-06-10T13:03:35.945-07:00Treasury love<a href="http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTUwMTMxNHwzMTQ5MDc0NTY/suddenly-too-late">A beautiful, enigmatic treasury that includes an item from my shop. </a><br />
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<a href="http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTQ0NDI0ODd8MzE2OTk5NTYx/oh-youve-got-green-eyes-oh-youve-got">And a lovely green and blue treasury that include a vintage child's chair that is in my shop. </a>wonderdivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874413826837408288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-517773396855590865.post-87406295148886670442011-06-10T07:34:00.000-07:002011-06-10T07:48:04.310-07:00Friso Henstra is beyond cool<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Earlier this year I found a group of 1960's to 1970's books being sold in a lot; most of them were publications of Parent's Magazine Press, most of them being extremely well-kept. In it was a copy of <i>The Silver Whistle </i>by Jay Williams and illustrated by Friso Henstra. Oh. My. God. I didn't think I'd ever find an illustrator from that era who drew me in the way the Golden Age illustrators do. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Henstra began his career as a cartoonist, but when he illustrated a book for Jay Williams, his career took off. The style he was using in the 1960's and early 1970's is much like the animations that Terry Gilliam of Monty Python did in the same time frame:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.220606400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="315" src="http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.220606400.jpg" width="400" /> </a></td><td style="text-align: center;"></td><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Friso Henstra, from<i> The Silver Whistle</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Terry Gilliam's creations for the opening credits of <i>Monty Python's Flying Circus:</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Tq37WSg9ESg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Let me diverge from Henstra love for a moment to marvel at Gilliam's work and how he is the godfather of steampunk. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> I could spend more time talking about the Williams/Henstra collaboration and other authors who used Henstra as their illustrator, but another blogger has done a much nicer job of putting that information together, so do check out <a href="http://authors-and-illustrators.blogspot.com/search?q=friso">Authors and Illustrators and the entries on Henstra.</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Read it and get hooked! </span>wonderdivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874413826837408288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-517773396855590865.post-22827629302977376202011-06-08T04:41:00.000-07:002011-06-08T04:44:01.592-07:00Of Birds and Blue and Vintage Green<a href="http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4deee65278ac6d9173662d85/of-birds-and-blue-and-vintage-green#4def5d2a92c08eefb1e8358e"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A lovely treasury featuring a book from my shop</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It reminds me of a baby bluejay that fell out of the nest that was in a tree in my front yard during a storm last year. We pulled down a deserted robin's nest that was in a spot in the back yard and put it in a cedar tree in the front yard, and put baby bird in it. His parents cared for him until he was able to take wing and leave the nest. I got a photo of him the last morning that he was in the nest:</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicagSG2tYo4_pFWWB_iUcADGnfzNUbUmgkqstzpyo81G2XNGFUZsz6xgR1b6dBpoMNLeSyWBOdRP_xac-lMMLwyubq0ZOYygcvGJiWdk-bf1QDjNycAMYO0KNyn3enFe6raQgHtJ0_3bQj/s1600/008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicagSG2tYo4_pFWWB_iUcADGnfzNUbUmgkqstzpyo81G2XNGFUZsz6xgR1b6dBpoMNLeSyWBOdRP_xac-lMMLwyubq0ZOYygcvGJiWdk-bf1QDjNycAMYO0KNyn3enFe6raQgHtJ0_3bQj/s640/008.JPG" t8="true" width="640px" /></a></div>wonderdivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874413826837408288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-517773396855590865.post-49411076691613964312011-06-06T10:28:00.000-07:002011-06-07T12:49:09.918-07:00Maginel<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Maginel Wright Enright Barney was born Margaret Ellen Wright, but her mother created "Maginel" as a conjunction of Maggie Nell. And maybe "Maggie-Nell" is how they pronounced Maginel, although I prefer to pronounce it more like the word magic, as in "MAJ-inel." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.179737199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">What a gene pool. Her older brother was Frank Lloyd Wright, and we all know what he did for a good share of his life. (Built lots of buildings, chased lots of women.) Frank was 14 years older than Maginel, and a lifelong collector of Japanese prints. It would seem that looking at her older brother's collection certainly had an influence on her work. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.179737199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.179737199.jpg" width="459" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From "Flower Fairies, c. 1915</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Maginel's rendering of plants and flowers has always been, to me, more interesting, nuanced and technically superb than her illustration of human beings. However, since she was often illustrating fairies and children for children's books, the work was going to be simpler and stylized. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I've also been intrigued by her use of large color fields in illustrations:</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.177789152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.177789152.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From When Little Thoughts Go Rhyming, c. 1916</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There's a lot of mathematical precision in the way she divided and composed each illustration -- and I think it created an order and serenity in her work. I've never read any scholarship regarding how much other artists working at the same time influenced her work, nor do I know anyone has taken the time to look into it. However, it would make sense that she was looking at a lot of contemporary, cutting-edge artwork -- it wasn't like the Wright family were cultural slouches. And my primary reason for speculating about her influences are the incredibly intense illustrations for <i>Honey Bear</i>, c. 1923.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.238554434.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.238554434.jpg" width="640" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The author Tom Wolfe, who says that <i>Honey Bear</i> made him want to be a writer before he could read, called Maginel an artist is the "japanais vienna secessionist" style, which in Tom Wolfe-ese, means Japanese influenced art nouveau. And most of the time, that was true. But to my eyes, her work in <i>Honey Bear</i> looks like Matisse in his Fauvism period:</span><br />
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</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.coolschool.k12.or.us/courses/119900/graphics/markhardon/woman_in_a_purple_coat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.coolschool.k12.or.us/courses/119900/graphics/markhardon/woman_in_a_purple_coat.jpg" width="504" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And since Fauvism came from the term <i>les Fauves</i>, which means "the wild beasts" and <i>Honey Bear</i> was about a wild beast in a forest, I think doing Fauvist illustrations was absolutely perfect. Maybe that wasn't what Maginel was up to, but it's my theory and I'm sticking with it. </span><br />
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</div>wonderdivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874413826837408288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-517773396855590865.post-90974143059471905302010-11-22T18:55:00.000-08:002010-11-23T08:07:23.823-08:00Tom Lamb and John VassosI've never associated storybook illustration with industrial design, but the 20th century had two individuals who were great successes in both fields.<br />
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Tom Lamb (1896-1988) was a children's book illustrator who illustrated for books, Good Housekeeping and did a line of children's illustrations called Kiddyland that was put on textiles. And he was also an industrial designer who specialized in handles. Yes, handles -- he was very into making handles functional, and worked on everything from luggage to cutlery. But my favorite Tom Lamb creation is the whimsical book<i> </i>"Bing-O" that was published by Volland. Bing-O was a swastika-wearing monkey who goes on a journey of discovery and returns home a hero. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.128247794.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" ox="true" src="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.128247794.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Bing-O, wearing his swastika</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table> "Bing-O" was printed prior to the rise of the Nazi empire, although Hitler had already co-opted the ancient and sacred symbol of the swastika. But I like to think that Lamb, being a brilliant and erudite man, somehow ran across a story of the monkey-headed Hindu god Hanuman and it provoked an idea for a book. In India, the swastika is an auspicious symbol of good fortune that represents the wheel of life.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hinduworship.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/lord-hanuman2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="http://www.hinduworship.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/lord-hanuman2.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hanuman</span><br />
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</span><br />
<div align="left"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table> Yeah, I know it's a stretch, but I like it as a theory.<br />
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The other industrial designer/illustrator was a genius. Not that Tom Lamb wasn't extraordinary, but he wasn't John Vassos (1898-1985.) Vassos designed everything from subway turnstiles to accordions, cutlery, microscopes and probably most noteworthy, TV/radio/record player cabinetry. His work was very art deco<br />
in nature -- spare, graphic and beautiful. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.prins.net/radios/boomerang1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://www.prins.net/radios/boomerang1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Vassos-designed radio</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Vassos most certainly didn't do graphic arts for children's books -- he did illustrations for his own books like "Contempo" and "Phobia" that were dark and a bit chilling, yet visually stunning. Some of his most famous work is for Oscar Wilde works like "Harlot's House," "The Ballad of Reading Gaol, " and "Salome." His work from "Salome" is perhaps his best-known. Aubrey Beardsely did some pretty kick-ass illustrators for that play, but I honestly like what Vassos did better. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.148736291.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" ox="true" src="http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.148736291.jpg" width="457" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Vassos illustration for Oscar Wilde's "Salome"</span></td></tr>
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Perhaps Lamb and Vassos are proof that over-specializing is overrated.wonderdivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874413826837408288noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-517773396855590865.post-61569961356775401322010-11-19T11:02:00.000-08:002011-06-10T12:18:33.524-07:00Dugald Stewart WalkerDugald Stewart Walker (1883-1937) was an art nouveau era illustrator whose work was largely published in children's books. The man's style was very singular and when left to his own devices, a bit close to obsessive-compulsive. As artists like to say, he could "make a lot of marks on the page." Those drawings were fun to look at, albeit a bit overwhelming to the eye. I mean,<i> holy crap</i>:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.173329734.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" ox="true" src="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.173329734.jpg" width="458" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_l8i8meblfT1qaqxnoo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0RYTHV9YYQ4W5Q3HQMG2&Expires=1290278741&Signature=PsS8WmZgcdyA%2FdJ7Vt%2F0RE4UPzU%3D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's a lot to look at. I had to size it up just so you could look at it adequately and it's <b>still</b> not big enough. But when someone (like an editor or an author) got him to chill out and not be so ornate, he could also do stunning work. Such as: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.151739586.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" ox="true" src="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.151739586.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><br />
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I think some of his nicest works are for Padraic Colum's books, such as this work for <i>The Boy Who Knew What Birds Said</i>:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.97123794.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" ox="true" src="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.97123794.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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Dugie (as I like to call him) was bit of a strange dude. Here's something he wrote for the introduction to a book that he illustrated:<br />
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<i>I have never been anywhere except Richmond, Virginia, and New York, because I have always been told that only grown-up people were allowed to travel. But the good East Wind and the kindly Moon have taken me on rapturous journeys high above the world to get an enchanted view of things. In this book I have put some of my discoveries, but if you are looking here for real likeness of the things that any one could see if he were grown up, you had better close the covers now. You cannot expect me to draw an exact picture of the North Pole or of a Chinese lady's feet or of a sea-cucumber. But if you are interested in what the East Wind or the Father Stork or the Moon told me, then look with my eyes and you will not mind very much if the courtiers in the ogre's court, or the dock leaves in the Garden of Paradise, are not just as a grown-up person thinks they should be. After all is said and done, what the young ones say about it is the all-important matter.</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_l437z5tQAH1qaqxnoo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0RYTHV9YYQ4W5Q3HQMG2&Expires=1290281590&Signature=c%2BOvVFx9WwvriPFifTWnVRx8tfc%3D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div>He must have been a rather eccentric Southern gentleman. And it's probably not cool to speculate about the sexual orientation of the dead, but people do it about Abe Lincoln all the time, so I guess I'll say something about Dugald Stewart Walker. And I was rather amazed to see that<a href="http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2010/03/19/dugald-stewart-walker-revisited/"> a vintage illustration expert had the same notion as I do: </a> <i> </i>a lot of his illustrations seem to say "gay" to me. He liked to work naked male butts into the act whenever he could:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I would venture that Hermes should go to the gym and do some lunges and squats to lift his butt.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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To say I'm gay-friendly is an understatement, so this observation is hardly pejorative. In fact, I'm sure the life of a gay gentleman in Virginia in the early 20th century was less than easy to live, and it leads me to understand how the flights of fancy that he described above may have come about. When the only choice was to be in the closet and you're a creative, imaginative soul, you might stay at home and imagine what the East Wind is saying to you. It's quite poignant when you consider it in that manner. But who knows if that is true -- it's some of my historical fiction.<br />
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In the next day or two I'll put up some photos of my prized Dugald Stewart Walker possessions that are very special to me and talk about him a bit more.<br />
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</div>wonderdivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874413826837408288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-517773396855590865.post-80060111968440339852010-11-18T19:08:00.000-08:002010-11-23T05:01:14.272-08:00Dora MaarMy avatar on both Etsy and Blogspot is not me, it is Dora Maar. Dora was an artist and photographer and Picasso's girlfriend and muse. I think Dora was stunning; I've read a couple of bios of Picasso (great artist, total ass!) and I always rather liked poor beautiful tortured Dora. She was in her late 20's and he was in his mid-50's when they met. As the story goes, she was in a bar/cafe late at night, playing a very odd game with herself and was trying to rapidly stab a knife between her spread-out fingers. She was wearing lightweight gloves, but of course missed now and then, and was bleeding on the table. Old Pablo found this 1930's version of self-mutilation to be a real turn-on, plus Dora was pretty hot, so he asked for one of her bloody gloves as a keepsake (how perfectly darling of him.) That did not bode well for the happiness of the relationship, you know. He drove her crazy (although she well was on her way to crazy all on her own,) but their relationship is what really broke her. <br />
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But she was gorgeous, and a brilliant photographer in her own right, and I love the iconic photographs that Man Ray took of her. She was also Picasso's muse and favorite subject for the five or so years that they were a couple.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_SUBGzd1BG60/SpzCpyEt3uI/AAAAAAADy8Y/Oxryp2Hwf2Y/Picasso,+Dora+Maar,+1937.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_SUBGzd1BG60/SpzCpyEt3uI/AAAAAAADy8Y/Oxryp2Hwf2Y/Picasso,+Dora+Maar,+1937.jpg" width="259" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Portrait of Dora Maar, by Picasso</td></tr>
</tbody></table>wonderdivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874413826837408288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-517773396855590865.post-28850180603364528842010-11-18T12:35:00.000-08:002010-11-18T12:35:24.538-08:00A noob blogI decided to fire up a chatty Etsy shop blog over here on Blogspot, because my shop blog on Tumblr is all about visuals. And I love that about Tumblr, but I also like to write -- as anyone who looks at my item descriptions well knows. The downside to having more items in my Etsy shop is that I don't take the time to be goofy and creative in my item descriptions the way I did a year or so ago. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/transaction/19307930">Here</a> is a listing where I was having big giant fun, and <a href="http://www.etsy.com/transaction/21877721">here</a> is another one that is a nod to David Sedaris. That crazy little man makes me laugh really hard. <br />
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I have no idea how I became so obsessed with illustrated books from the early-to-mid 20th century. They just found me. I have my favorites and I have my own collection, but because I'm always looking for and finding great books, I buy them and end up selling them. I consider vintage book collecting to be a form of historic preservation; they are rare little things because children loved them to death, threw them around and destroyed them, scrawled all over them, or they just got tossed out with Granny's other belongings. <br />
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They feel like magic to me when I hold them in my hand, and I have an Etsy shop so they can find their way into the hands of people who want a little magic in their lives. I'm going to do posts in the next few days about some of my favorite illustrators, why I love them, and expound upon my weird little theories (all entirely unsubstantiated) about them. It will be a little bit like reading historical fiction. wonderdivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874413826837408288noreply@blogger.com0