Herve Morvan Book

My Herve Morvan Book has arrived from amazon and I am very excited about it. If you like his work, then this is essential. Its always a bit of a gamble buying art books when you can't look inside them, so I was a bit worried that it wouldn't have much of the stuff that I like, but I am really pleased as it has loads of really strong work in it and lots that I hadn't seen before. Great ideas , lots to like . Very inspiring. There hasn't been much published about him really, the only other book that I've come across has always been nigh-on impossible to get hold of as its out of print and nowhere seems to have it. I had the idea to compile a book of his work myself and if I hadn't been beaten to it, it would probably have looked very similar to this. He's obviously got a bit of a following in Japan as this is published by a Japanese company. My only criticism is that it doesn't give you much background information and what there is isn't brilliantly translated Perhaps a case of Japanese whispers. Visually a treat though.

My Five Senses by Aliki

This not a new acquisition - I think I got it from a jumble sale many years ago . I keep coming back to it. The limited palette of the screen printing works really well. Sometimes its good to be restricted by something then you just work with what you've got rather than having endless permutations and making lots decisions about the way things should look. I looked to see if you can get it on amazon and its been re-vamped. Not nearly so nice now.

More Lovely Matchbox Labels

So fantastic... I can't get enough of these at the moment. There are several others in this series and I think they date from the early 1970s. Its a pity matchboxes aren't this exciting any more.I remember going on holiday to Spain when I was a kid and spending half the time hanging around bins and litter trying to collect interesting matchboxes. Some things never change...although I have to admit I didn't have to hang around bins in Eastern Europe to get these. If you like this sort of thing - matchbox labels, not foraging in bins, I mean - you might find yourself wanting to buy this book on the subject. (A shameless plug as I used to share a studio with Jane Smith, the author of the book ).Worth a look.

Origami Revisited

My enthusiasm for the much mocked 70s pastime has been re discovered. These are some which I have made recently. My son loves them which is great - beats power rangers any day. They really are strangely satisfying to make until of course they go wrong and they can be equally frustrating.
I do remember struggling with that frog when I was a kid for what seemed like months and I attempted a horse the other day which ended up as a wierd mutant headless being.(picture not shown) I am a bit of a purist when it comes to origami - it has to be made from a square sheet with no cutting sticking or gluing involved. Go on, have a go you know you want to - there's loads of sites on the internet.

New Arrival

A matchbox label from Poland. I just love these tiny screenprints. I've no idea who the artists who designed them were, but the simple graphics are great.Would look good as posters. I think they date from the 50s and 60s. I have some others which I will post as and when.

Nice Paper Bag

This came as an unexpected free gift with the purchase of some ice-creams on a recent visit to
Coverack. It came from Brenda's which is about the only shop there. It is relatively tidy these days,but when we used to go there when we were kids on holiday it was absolutely chocca with STUFF of all descriptions. You could hardly get into the place. The challenge was to find something she didn't sell. I don't think we ever succeeded. Anyway the bag is a rather nice folksy affair which depicts traditional Cornwall.
It reminds me of a piece of embriodery. I wonder whether you can get them with different counties on them.