Venerdi in Venice: Ponte Storto

30.4.10

ink & watercolour illustration, 8.75" x 7" [22.5 x 18cm]

Perhaps I could engage someone to build a pond in my yard so that I could have a purpose for a bridge like this.  Imagine the fun the geese would have.  

Grazie mille to Pierre at Venice Daily Photo for allowing me to use his glorious photo as inspiration!  If you're wondering why there's no-one standing on the bridge in my version, I took so long to draw it, they'd gone by the time I was ready for them.  One simply can't get good help nowadays.  And on that note...

Happy Venerdi in Venice to you!
19 comments

Meep: Far From Pedestrian

27.4.10

ink & watercolour weensy, 3" x 2.25" [8 x 6cm]


If one was searching for a new car {and by "new", I refer to something different from what one already has}, one might be tempted to turn a blind eye to the rheumatic rumblings of something that looks like this, for the sake of ~ something that looks like this.   Being a miniature, it can be stowed away easily at the end of the trip, perhaps even in one's portMeep.
16 comments

Francophile Friday: Scootering is an Eiffel Matter

23.4.10

 ink & watercolour illustration

Technically, I doubt it's legal to drive one's scooter along this path to the Eiffel Tower, and the gendarmes may not appreciate the lack of helmets either ~ ah well, in for a penny, in for 1.56265 euros.

On the off chance that some of us would be partial to a scooter ride around one of our favourite places in the world, to clear our heads for the weekend ahead ~ the line starts here.  And on that note...

Happy Francophile Friday to you!
25 comments

Geese, It's Chilly

20.4.10


Oh, is that the time already?  Please excuse me while I feed the geese. 

On second thoughts, it's just started raining heavily and the temperature is dropping.  I'll send these young ladies with the vastly superior circulation to do it for me.  Inspired by the autumn catalogue of my fave jimmy-jams designer, Peter Alexander {you may remember him from this}, I was still cold just looking at them, in spite of their scarves and matching pink home boots.  After much churlish resistance, they caved and allowed me to add ultra-thin merino wool cardigans.   They still have goosebumps... but not as many as I'd have.
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Francophile Friday: Doors to Adore

16.4.10

ink & watercolour illustration, photo inspiration many thanks to Virginia Jones

It's safe to say that my fingers have such a workout with everything I do, they'll never, ever become fat.  Yes, I'll sleep happy in that knowledge tonight.

Hot on the heels of finishing a lovely commission of daughters-in-Paris illustrations for a private client, I patted myself on the back but still needed a drawing for today's post.  What to do?  On browsing through my stash of beautiful photos loaned to me by pals, I stopped at this and thought, "Ah, I love doors and haven't drawn any in a while ~ and my, how fortuitous: this scene should be fairly quick to draw."  {Insert deluded laughter here...} 

Regulars at Virginia's Paris Through My Lens  might remember this especially special photo of hers. Thank you, dear Virginia ~ oh, so magnificent!  Although cemeteries scare the BeeGees out of me, Père Lachaise in the 20th arrondissement of Paris is one that I might bear making an exception for.  Unlike the doors in this location, I promise to leave these in place with the utmost respect.  And on that note...

Happy Francophile Friday to you!
20 comments

A Far-From-Shady Shady Establishment

13.4.10

ink & watercolour illustration, 7.5" x 6" [19 x 16cm]


I'm posting this one in spite of it being a pub, not because it's a pub.  I just want to point that out, since I posted a brewery a couple of weeks ago and I don't want to give the impression that I'm a lush ~ even though this pub is called the Pineapple Hotel, which automatically conjurs visions of lusciousness. 

No, I'm posting this one simply because I find it quaint.   This historic establishment is the fifth-oldest pub in Queensland.  You'll find an old photograph of it here ~ and if you watch the page for long enough, you'll see a current photo of this original part of the building here.   They've opened up the verandahs again since the vintage of my illustration ~ and you can never have too much airflow in our climate, so good on them for being both backward and forward in their thinking. Kind of like patting one's head and rubbing one's tummy at the same time...
19 comments

Venerdi in Venice: Growing Flowery

9.4.10

ink & watercolour illustration, photo inspiration thanks to Alexa

Travel Tip #369: When visiting friends in Venice, instructions such as,  "Ours is the watermelon-coloured villa with green shutters and flowers in the window boxes," may not quite suffice...  To be on the safe side, ask for more fail-safe pointers, like "what colour are your flowers?" and "which fertiliser do you use?"

Thanks to dear Alexa of The Road is Mine for the luscious photo inspiration.  And if you'll please excuse me, my mind is predictably wandering to gelato, geraniums and grappa.  So, on that note...

Happy Venerdi in Venice to you!
24 comments

A Tail of Pugs and Vintage Ports...

6.4.10

ink & watercolour illustration, 7" x 8.75" [18 x 22.5cm]

You may have twigged by now that I'm an armchair traveller rather than a real traveller ~ at this time, at least.  But if I was a traveller, even though I love to pack light, I'd be tempted to take an entourage of empty vintage ports with me just for the sake of feigning more glamour than I really have.  In case you're tut-tutting over my excessive after-dinner drinking habits, tut not.  {My pretentiousness, on the other hand...}  A port is one of our words for luggage or suitcase, and in Queensland when my sister and I were growing up, it was also what we called the bag we took to school each day.  According to my irreproachable research source, Wikipedia, the term is fading from common use here, but it's derived from the French word portmanteau, so I just decided I'm going to continue to call my suitcases "ports" forever more. What's more, it lends a whole new meaning to the expression "Any port in a storm," albeit a senseless one.

In case you're wondering, this illustration was inspired by an interview and photo shoot of Kylie Minogue and a very sweet pug in the November 2009 Australian edition of InStyle magazine.  I took the liberty of wallpapering.  I hope they don't mind...
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Francophile Friday: Hop Into Ladurée

2.4.10

ink & watercolour illustration, photo inspiration Virginia Jones


This little Easter bunny is all tuckered out.  She's been busy with preparations, and who can blame her for nodding off with a contented tummy, full of scrumptious Ladurée macarons.  If she's late arriving anywhere because of her diversions, I have a feeling she'll be forgiven ~ certainly by anyone who shares her love of a fine macaron.

Thanks to dear Virginia {and her gorgeous blog, Paris Through My Lens} for her sweet inspiration!

The Ladurée site takes you on an armchair tour of various shop locations ~ not just in Paris, but around the globe.  There are none in Australia yet, and that show pony Sydney might be the first to attract one.  Yet a store at the feet of Brisbane's petite Eiffel Tower would be perfectly appropriate, don't you think?  And on that note...

Happy Francophile Friday, and a safe, peaceful and hoppy Easter to you all!
25 comments
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