Longtime followers of our blog will know that we love the art of Charley Harper. This one, entitle “Octoberama” is one of our favourites! He was very prolific and his work can be found as originals artworks, prints, books, calendars, stationery, mouse mats… the list goes on & on… all of which can be bought from either the Charley Harper estate website or Amazon UK or USA.
We did a recent post about owls, but forgot to include the illustration below – a charcoal & wash study of barn owls by John Busby.
However, it’s given us the opportunity to blog about this collection of magazines from which the illustration was taken.
They’re vintage 1970s RSPB magazines that we picked them up in a local charity shop – 20 or 30 of them in total.
We’re very fond of birds and see numerous species on our dog walks, but it was the magazine covers that were of initial interest…
…with their varied & striking artwork.
Artists featured in this post include Keith Shackleton, John Paige, Eric Ennion, Kenneth Waterfield, Robert Greenhalf, John Busby, Jean Young, Michael Warren, Ian Willis, Ken Wood, Fulco Pratesi, Philip Rickman and Robert Gillmor.
Some of the work has a real period style – and the magazines are very frame-able as the title & date are kept very restrained.
Inside there are lots of bird related features, stories and advertisements of course… and even more artworks!
It’s virtually impossible to pick an absolute favourite, but it might well be the paper collage below…
…a great spotted woodpecker by John Paige dating from 1973.
We holidayed in North Norfolk over the summer and these woodcuts & silkscreen take us back to that lovely corner of the world.
We’ll be keeping an eye out for some more of these vintage issues.
The modern editions have high-tech photographic covers, with attention grabbing banners & adverts. That’s OK of course – but we think these earlier copies are actually more interesting – and far more charming.
These are the big eyes of our latest owl – in this case a pottery money box.
They never stay with us long as these feathered friends are consistently popular in our shop.
Whether in the form of money boxes, mugs, pot stands, textile prints, pictures or book illustrations.
We’ve blogged a fair few times about the great illustrator, Kenneth Townsend. He designed the cutest owl as part of his Menagerie series – apparently the owl was his favourite animal!
Another wonderful illustrator with a thing for owls was Celestino Piatti who once said, “You can draw an owl a thousand times, and never find out its secret”.
image credit: Fishink
We’ve had a quick trawl on the web for some more owls – here are some favourites:
image credit: Vintage Kids’ Books my Kid Loves
Wise Ol’ Canister, Orange: £118 – Anthropologie
Happy owl open edition print by Matte Stephens: $35 – Etsy
image credit: mmmcrafts
image credit: Shailesh Chavda
We’ve reached the end of the alphabet… and ‘Z’ is for zoo. Our virtual zoo is full of animals beautifully interpreted in pottery, glass, textiles, book illustrations and more. All our animals are well looked after… and there’s no entrance fee!!
Shaker Abecedarius illustration
List of animals in the Shaker Abecedarius
Vintage 1960s 'Beefeater' steak plates by Washington Pottery
'Life of St Martin' illustrated by Emile Probst, 1966
Vintage 1960s 'Acapulco' chopping board by Villeroy & Boch
'Acapulco' chopping board detail
Vintage 1970s Danish pottery plaque
Illustration from 'This is London' by Miroslav Sasek, 1959
Illustration from 'This is Edinburgh' by Miroslav Sasek, 1961
Detail from a vintage 1950s Cadbury biscuit tin
Vintage 1950s pottery giraffe produced by Lomonosov of the USSR
Illustration by Dean Mitchell from 'Folk Tales of the World, Australia', 1965
Little felt elephant made in Nepal
Vintage 1960s/70s pottery owl plaque
Vintage 1960s Danish teak mouse
Tiger print by Walasse Ting
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In our last blog we were musing over the influence of nature on artists & designers. Also how nature has been interpreted in book illustrations etc. We randomly began with ‘fish’ as a sub-theme, we’re going to continue, equally randomly, with ‘birds’.
1960s Irish linen tea towel
kitchen storage jar
The items featured are again predominantly vintage finds from the 1950s, 60s & 70s. They include artworks, books and domestic wares.
1960s Wedgewood glass birds
Check out the fantastic bird series produced for Iittala by the Finnish glass designer, Oiva Toikka started in 1973. They’re still being made today having amassed a range of over 300 designs.
John Clappison designs for Hornsea Pottery – mugs & hen ashtray
Mexican pin dish
1950s cocktail tray
We’re really pleased with this recent biscuit tin acquisition, picked up in a mixed box at a nearby auction.
fantastic 1950s graphics
Mid century books can be a rich source of high quality, period illustrations.
We dipped into our vintage cookery book collection again and came out with some little gems.
collection of 1950s Stork margarine recipe booklets
Bill Charmatz illustrations
Esquire Cook Book front cover. First published in 1956
Charley Harper illustrations
We hope you’ve enjoyed looking at our avian delights. Stay tuned for flowers, foliage, landscapes and much more!
I want an orange fridge/freezer too! Most definitely the orange!
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