Maryann Adair
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Recent Posts
- I Don’t Know About You But … I Decline Myself
- Is the Scalpel Mightier Than the Pen?
- Ha-Ha | ‘It’s better than sex’
- Hutton’s Hamming It Up
- Wowed By the Cloud
- Here Comes the Bride
- Walk Softly Witch! You Are Wanted by Carter Brown
- Hop To It | The Tale of Aurora and Tithonus
- Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bluebirds Fly…
- What Are We Hanging Around For?
Archive
Category Archives: Illustrations
Hutton’s Hamming It Up
Hutton’s Hams and Bacon (Pine-Apple Brand) During the 1860s the suburb of Preston in Melbourne’s north saw the introduction of a bacon-curing factory. Following its opening in 1862, came a tannery in 1865. These original establishments would be followed by … Continue reading
Posted in Edible Art, Illustrations, nostalgia, StillLife
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Walk Softly Witch! You Are Wanted by Carter Brown
The 1950s were a golden era for Australian pulp fiction and one of the main attractions was its striking cover art. With import restrictions on books and magazines from the United States (US) in the 1940s and 1950s; opportunities arose … Continue reading
Can We Do It? | Yes We Can
The Infamous “We Can Do It!” poster which has become a symbol of women’s empowerment has remained popular since its inception in 1942. The original depicts a 17 year old WW2 factory worker who modeled for the poster which was … Continue reading
Posted in Illustrations, StreetArt
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The Art of UNICEF Never Gives Up
[Above: Nicolas Fimbari – The Procession – Italy] The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) provides emergency food and healthcare to children and women in countries that have been devastated by war or other significant emergencies. UNICEF was created by … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Artists A-Z, Cards, GreetingCards, Illustrations
Tagged #Christmas, Greeting cards, Unicef, worldwide charities
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The Art of Keiichi Tanaami
Keiichi Tanaami (b. Tokyo, 1936) has been an active artist, illustrator and graphic designer since the 1960’s. He refers himself to an Edokko (a person born and raised in Tokyo). Tanaami’s early career took him to San Francisco in 1968, … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Illustrations, Oriental Art
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Confessions of an English-Opium Eater & Others
Opium usage in art and literature is not as uncommon as you might think. Fascination with narcotics has reigned interest since the late 19th to early 20th Centuries with movies relating to the drug craze, such as: The Derelict (1914), … Continue reading
With a Huffin’ and a Puffin’ These Covers Will Blow You Away
[Above: Book covers for Puffin Story Books published in 1951. Gloria Freedman’s front and back cover (The Secret Garden) and John Harwood’s covers for Fairy Tales From the Isle of Man.] Four years after Australian paperback publisher Penguin Books had been … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Cover Art, Illustrations
Tagged Book illustrators, Gloria Freedman, John Harwood, paperback books, Penguin books, Puffin books
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Summer Nights | Tell Me Moore, Tell Me More
[A Summer Night by Albert Moore, (1890) Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool] Albert Joseph Moore (4 September 1841 – 25 September 1893) was an English painter known for his depictions of langorous female figures set against the luxury and decadence of … Continue reading
The Spring Cycle
[Above: Spring Cycle by Wen Jun (mixed media) 2013]. This colourful artwork is in the form of a pedicab, which was once commonly used as transport in Chinese cities. Painted in the traditional Spring Festival style, the eight paintings on … Continue reading
Soup de Jour? | Can Do
Warhol proved you can make Souper-Art – but why Broth-er? Pop art is the art movement that emerged in the mid-1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art presented a challenge to traditions of … Continue reading
Posted in Artists A-Z, Collectibles, Edible Art, Illustrations, Paintings
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The Art of Bishai is a Bit Shy and the Great Sphinx of Giza Holds Secrets as Well
Postcard of the Sphinx by A. Bishai (ca 1958). So far any information regarding the artist for this postcard remains a mystery, unless someone can provide any further information. In which case I would love to hear and then share … Continue reading
Posted in Cards, Illustrations, Postcards
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Apples of Temptation are Bonza!
Above are some great examples of Apple Case Art and Australiana. Labels began to appear in large numbers on wooden crates around 1920 and were only superseded in the 1960s by cardboard cartons. Although the designs were for the most part basic, and … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Edible Art, Illustrations, nostalgia
Tagged apple case art, apple museum, Australiana, Ephemera, Harcourt, huon valley, industrial folk art, tamar valley, wombat
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From Backstage Girl To Lucky In Love
Pulp Fiction paperback publishing did not only happen in America. In the second half of the 20th Century an Australian pulp scene burned brightly with tales of jaded gunshoes, valiant servicemen and women, daring spies, violent youth gangs and bikies. The … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Cover Art, Erotic Art, Illustrations, nostalgia
Tagged Cover Art, pulp fiction
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Hisashi Tenmyouya | From Passive Moon To Vibrant Sun
Above Left: Nine Kamakura Samurai (from Contemporary Japanese Youth Culture Scroll) August 2001, acrylic on wood (60cm x 42cm) Above Right: Archery 2008 acrylic on wood (90 cm x 70 cm) Japanese contemporary artist Hisashi Tenmyouya was born in February, 1966 in Tokyo. … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Artists A-Z, Illustrations, Oriental Art, Paintings
Tagged Archery, Hisashi Tenmyouya, Japanese art, Japanese artists, neo nihonga, Nine Kamakura Samurai
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