Alfred and Edith

Posted by on Apr 26, 2012 Our wonderful friends have recently let us borrow their precious collection of Alfred Hitchcock films. We’re making our way through them and loving every minute of it. Please don’t ask me to nominate a favourite film. Whenever I see the name Edith Head in the titles, I know to expect fabulous costumes. I had a scout around and found these wonderful sketches by Edith Head for Grace...
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The Peony Pavilion

Posted by on Mar 13, 2012 This week I am looking forward to the National Ballet of China’s Melbourne performance of The Peony Pavilion.  This story of transcendent love set in the last days of the Song Dynasty is often compared to Romeo and Juliette. There’s gardens, dreams, death, exhumation, resurrection, imprisonment and of course eventual happiness. A classic of Chinese literature, it was written by...
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Roald Dahl stamps

Posted by on Mar 7, 2012 From the UK’s Royal Mail come these fun stamps featuring the original Roald Dahl children’s characters – as illustrated by his friend Quentin Blake. I just love Charlie and his golden...
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Paris versus New York

Posted by on Feb 8, 2012 Vahram Muratyan is a graphic designer who has made a name for himself with his blog (and now book) Paris vs. New York –  a playful visual comparison between the two cities. It’s cute and clever and made me smile. Have a look here for more of his great prints and the newly-released...
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Mt Buffalo poster

Posted by on Feb 5, 2012 This weekend we are heading to the hills: Bright in Victoria to be precise. There’s something very calming about being in the mountains for me. However this won’t be the case for Peter, who will be riding his bicycle up some of those same hills in the 2012 Alpine Classic. Mt Buffalo is one of my favourite alpine areas in Australia. It has lovely big chunky boulders – as you can see...
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In a nut-shell

Posted by on Jan 23, 2012 Many of my picture books when I was a kid were stories of princesses, gnomes, fairies and forests. I knew that the word of Peter Rabbit and The Famous Five just was not mine. I loved Milly Molly Mandy, but she lived in a cottage with a thatched roof – and I wasn’t really sure what that meant. But I was devoted to May Gibbs’ beautiful illustrations of Sugglepot and Cuddlepie, the...
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Visualizing a Plenitude Economy

Posted by on Jan 5, 2012 Here’s such a great use of illustration in this five minute video from the Centre for a New American Dream. If only illustration was really this quick and easy to do! Nonetheless, it’s a really nice presentation. The video is narrated by economist and bestselling author Juliet Schor, based on her book Plenitude: The New Economics of True...
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