Mary Blair (FLAIR it up woman!)

I was in Books of Wonder the other day (18th st in Manhattan) when I came across a book about the illustrator Mary  Blair and I instantly fell in love! The book is entitled "The Fabulous Flair of Mary Blair". Actually I have been in love with her work since I was a kid without even knowing it was hers. Dare I say it, I think she has been the most influential artist in my life without me even knowing it, oh my! When I was younger my grandfather made sure we had all of the disney movies on vhs and I was always drawn to the early ones like Peter Pan, Cinderella and one of my all time favorites the 3 Caballeros. Mary  did  the inpirational paintings for all of these films and most Disney films in the 1930's, 40's and 50's. Her most famous works are Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella and Peter Pan. Yes, she was the one to create all of those fantastical landscapes that we all associate with these stories! She also did other work that was not for disney (I have posted some below). I think her sense of color is amazing and so bold and I love how she mixes cartoon and fine art sensibility together. The sense of grandeur in her castles in Cinderella and the way she uses proportion is the stuff of wonderful dreams!

Below I have posted pictures of her paintings as well as a scene

from the 3 Caballeros, and 2 shorts that she did artwork for that are from very early disney, all AMAZING!!!

Mary Blair, I confess my undying love for you! and you go girl--takin' on all those men at Disney back in the day...

 
Chocolate Milk Ad

From "Little Verses" (a golden book)

Peter Pan

Alice in Wonderland

Cinderella

The Little House (1952)

Once Upon a Wintertime (1948)



The 3 Caballeros (1944) scene

Les Diners de Gala - Salvador Dali 1971

I can't remember how I first came across this gem of a book but I've been eyeing it for quite some time now. Art of food? Food of art? It's gotta be love!!! By some probable misguided intervention of the divine, I lucked out for once and found that Strand had a copy in good shape and at a very reasonable price, so I went for it! It really wasn't in my power to resist such a beautifully designed large hardcover art book, lavished with a striking gold-foiled embossed jacket – generously showcasing Dali's unadulterated obsession with his food and his woman.

It's the stunning combination of gaudy 1970s opulence, abundance of ornate silverware and cutlery, extravagantly tacky table settings, morbid usage of taxidermy, and over-the-top sculpturing and plating of some of the most bizarre/frightening/delicious collages of foods, that allows for this spectacular glorification of one man's gastronomical insanity.

It's over 300 pages of a literal smorgasbord! Full of paintings, drawings, photos, collages, sculptures, philosophies, recipes and food! The shamelessly bad photographs I threw together honestly can't even begin to depict the variety of wackiness you will recoil from or laugh at or drool over.

Stuffed Artichokes? Yes, we are gonna stuff the hell out of these artichokes and stack them atop each other like a phallic monument. Then we're gonna erect (ha!) it inside this grandiose silver trophy cup filled with a cement of mashed peas, peeled avocados and pate de foie!

Calf Kidney in a Shell? Ooh, brandy marinated kidney goes into a soft quiche dough, then baked in its own marinade juices. Simple and delicious – just don't forget to shape your quiche dough into a, what else, kidney! Crucial step in full enjoyment of this kidney-kidney pie!

Dali, Dali, Dali...
Oh, such fruits borne of overindulging a hungry madness!

 

I especially dig the section titles of the meats and the aphrodisiacs

 

Dali & Co.

 

The other good death to die

 

Anatomy of our brains here at Death by Drone

 

 

 

 

 

Fancy chicken dinner

 

"Oasis Leek Pie"

 

 

"Bush of crayfish in Viking herbs"

 

"Veal cutlets stuffed with snails" and "Frog Pasties"

 "The Breast of Venus"

 Eat on! Eat strong!

Update: The Giant Book of Tiny People

So it's taken quite a while... (<----- understatement)

But "The Giant Book of Tiny People" is finally up under the illustrations page!

Brain is COMPLETELY cloudy from too much computer codes and what not, but here's something to remedy the situation... One of my favorites...

That party that didn't happen

We made a flyer for the black angels / warlocks after-party a friend put together that for some reason didn't happen, but here it is anyways...



I caught the warlocks at mercury lounge the evening before with a really excited group of fans. I had no idea the mustache drummer and the bassist weren't in the band anymore. Anyway, the show was alright and I was just excited to see them at mercury after such a long time. Bobby just seemed really happy to be playing in the city. They definitely gave a much better show at southpaw the following night though. The lighting was better, the sound was louder and they ended with moving mountains!!! Bobby is my new hero with his brian jones haircut!

A WEEKDAY OF LOVIN'!

RIP

These characters were killed off from our final book. Meet...

carrot and his psychedelic perm machine


little princess


oh! those strawberry eyes...


squatter

floral pattern obsession

yep...i have one. Pretty sure I got it from growing up around this awesome wallpaper at my grandparent's house (Morris an Phyllis). I was there today and brought a camera because they are kinda my "style icons",here are some photos of the house!:

~deb

meet pukers brother...BARFER

oh barfer

dear jesus

please send me a puker for my birthday.

i will let him wander around my house and puke me out red velvet cake and walnut brownies every 5 hours.

i will take good care of him.



-tiff

Water Bottle Blues

for vampires and vampiras

TONIGHT.... is the night of the vampire...TONIGHT....is the night of the vampire....if its rainin' and your runnin'...don't...slip in mud...cause... if you do, you'll.... slip in BLOOD...TONIGHT"
(lyric from Night of the Vampire by the 13th Floor Elevators)

-deb