Tag Archives: art

Louise Hill Design – Hong Kong’s a work of art

Posted on April 6, 2015 | 4 comments

Proof that Facebook isn’t all bad: I discovered amazing artist Louise Hill through it!

Thanks to a couple of my friends liking Louise’s work, her Facebook Page popped up on my news feed one day, whereupon I immediately fell in love with her vibrant colourful designs – and now I’m showing them here in the knowledge that you will too!

Many of Louise’s pieces are inspired by her time in Hong Kong and I love the richness of detail that goes into each artwork – I’m forever noticing cool new elements and references in there, all of which transport me to certain memories, places and experiences in HK… which is exactly the idea. The Mister Softee van, the yummy dan tat (egg tarts – my favourite!), the old-school wet market red lamps… something new jumps out at you every time you look.

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4 Comments

Posted in Hong Kong, Pretty Things

Tagged art, artwork, Bird Market, design, drawings, Hong Kong, Hong Kong art, Hong Kong artists, Hong Kong wet market, illustration, Louise Hill, Louise Hill Designs, Mong Kok, Sai Kung, Sham Shui Po, Star Ferry

Chic like chocolate – Mathilde Brunelet’s beautiful Parisian artwork

Posted on February 12, 2014 | 4 comments

I’m a sucker for desserts… and a sucker for pretty packaging. Add the two together and you have Rach dropping hundreds of dollars on chocolate she never even wanted or needed in the first place!

So say hello to these uber pretty chocolate bars from French brand Comptoir du Cacao. They were about $50 each (*wince*) so I have to stick them on here to claim that as a blog investment, right?!

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Posted in Pretty Things

Tagged art, artwork, chocolate, Comptoir du Cacao, design, dessert, drawings, fashion artists, fashion drawings, fashion illustration, French fashion artists, illustration, Mat.b, Mathilde Brunelet, Paris, Paris fashion artists, Pretty Things, sketches

I spy with my little eye… the gorgeous artwork of Miss Magpie Fashion Spy

Posted on January 16, 2014 | 1 comment

Ever since joining Instagram, a whole new world of pretty things has been opened up before me – and one of my favourite discoveries has been the work of Miss Magpie Fashion Spy, aka UK fashion illustrator Niki Groom.

This type of drawing is everything that is totally up my street – my trademark favourite watercolour-esque sketchy style (see here… and here!), cute girls, gorgeous dresses and beautiful details peeking out of every corner.

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Posted in Pretty Things

Tagged art, artwork, design, drawings, fashion artists, fashion drawings, fashion illustration, illustration, Miss Magpie Fashion Spy, Niki Groome, Pretty Things, sketches

I Know That Feel Bro!

Posted on October 15, 2012 | 7 comments

Got problems? I know that feel bro!

But no one illustrates shared problems quite as awesomely as artist Chris Gerringer.

Gerringer’s I Know That Feel Bro quirky series of illustrations takes fictional pop culture characters and draws them side-by-side, consoling each other in their shared misery. A problem shared is a problem halved, right? And judging by his drawings, a lot more cute too!

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7 Comments

Posted in Random

Tagged art, artwork, Chris Gerringer, drawings, I Know That Feel Bro, illustrations, pop culture, quirky stuff, Random

Forgotten Fine Art: The Cityplaza Copper Suite

Posted on October 30, 2011 | 11 comments

In Hong Kong, you can often find pretty things in the strangest places… which often means discovering fine art in the most mundane of anonymous corporate offices.

Such was the case with this stunning series of plaques entitled The Cityplaza Copper Suite by Australian sculptors Joan Walsh Smith and Charles Smith in Tai Koo’s Cityplaza complex of buildings.

I was taken aback by the level of detail in these – you could spend ages poring over these still find even more interesting and clever little vignettes revealing themselves in the copper artwork. The style reminds me a little of Jan Pieńkowski’s silhouette illustrations for the Joan Aiken books I used to read when I was little. Click on each photograph to enlarge and zoom in and you can check out some of the detail for yourselves!

Each ‘Rondo-Progression’ has a different theme (unfortunately, I forgot to note them down, bad blogger, slaps wrist!) but I believe they were The Arts, Food, Leisure and Work. My favourite is probably The Arts with its striking centre-piece of the two Chinese theatre masks and loads of other dynamic pictures surrounding it – it’s almost like it’s alive with movement!

You can’t really tell from the pictures (which have distorted the light reflections weirdly) but these are made from copper, which is even more stunning and vivid in real life – and I loved the way the light reflected and bounced off these pieces, making them even more vibrant.

It seems a shame that these are tucked away in a place most people wouldn’t even notice so hopefully this post does its bit to show them off to the rest of the world!

11 Comments

Posted in Hong Kong, Pretty Things, Random

Tagged art, artwork, Charles Smith, Cityplaza, Cityplaza Copper Suite, design, fine art, HK, Hong Kong, Joan Walsh Smith, photos, pictures, quirky stuff, sculpture, Tai Koo, Tai Koo Shing

I wish all atlases looked like this!

Posted on October 19, 2011 | 2 comments

One of my favourite Pretty Things posts on here is still my blog on the gorgeous travel posters by Brazilian illustrator, Fernando Volken Togni – the colour, the detail, the style, everything! (And I updated it to feature his most recent additions to the series so do check it out!)

Inspired by these, and also the somewhat similar Scandinavian postcards I featured from Ikea, I wanted to share with you these lovely pictorial maps by Canadian artist, Marisa Seguin that I discovered via Design Work Life – and just as I wanted Togni’s work on my walls, I want Seguin’s right up there with it!

What sets these apart for me are the strict but stunning colour palettes she has used for each piece. Again, it’s hard to pick a favourite – the icy cool blues and purples of Vancouver, the strikingly vibrant pinks and turquoise of Venice, the dreamy romantic pastels of Paris, the vivid riot of brights that makes up San Francisco or the dusty sepia tones of Seguin’s current base, Milwaukee.

I also love the level of detail that’s gone into illustrating each of the landmarks; sadly, I haven’t visited any of the cities in question (apart from Paris, which I honestly think looks far more charming here than it does in real life!) but if I do, I’ll be toting one of these and navigating my way in style!

Hope you enjoy these as much as I did – and you can check out more of Seguin’s work on her website or buy these as prints from her Etsy shop.

And I loved the Jellyfish one so much, I couldn’t resist sticking it on here too!

2 Comments

Posted in Pretty Things

Tagged art, artwork, design, drawing, illustration, maps, Marisa Seguin, Pretty Things, quirky stuff, travel posters

The Beauty of Lillian Bassman

Posted on June 8, 2011 | 10 comments

I hadn’t previously heard of a fashion photographer called Lillian Bassman, yet when I came across some of her images in a Saturday Times Magazine a few months back, I wondered – why the hell not?! (Shown above: Anne Saint-Marie, Chanel advert, 1958)

Her work is simply exquisite. When I think of the golden age of fashion photography, I think of names like Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton and Lord Snowdon. Now I’ll also think of Lillian Bassman.

More Fashion Mileage Per Dress, Barbara Vaughn, 1956

Her photographs manage to feel both of their period, yet timelessly classic, yet also startlingly modern; it’s almost impossible to distinguish some of her earliest work from some of her latest. Working mostly in black and white, some have a noir-ish feel to them, others feel like they could be stills from an old movie or as if you’re intruding on an (immaculately-attired) personal moment.

It’s A Cinch, Carmen, 1951

The underwear series is breathtakingly erotic, and you can barely even see the models’ faces; there’s something unbelievably wraith-like, ethereal and sensual about how the lines have been softened and blurred. And all this without distracting from the stunning beauty of the couture outfits photographed in her work, especially from the 50s (cue obligatory Mad Men reference), which are simply stunning.

Barbara Mullen, 1950

Bassman achieved many of the effects in her photographs by post-procesing manipulation in the dark room, blurring, burning and bleaching them, adding some details by hand later on (as in the photo above, hand-painting all the polka dots back in!). The use of shade and light is just phenomenal – after all, it has to be to get noticed and raved about by an art novice like me!

‘There are things that I think are marvellous and there are also pictures where I look at a particular crop and think “How awful. I couldn’t have done that. It’s mediocre”. But are you ever completely happy? No, thank goodness, or you’d stop. I think I’ll go on for ever’.

Incredibly, Bassman trashed many of her negatives in bin bags in the 1970s; they re-surfaced in the 90s, along with a greater appreciation of Bassman’s art. Even now, in her 90s, she continues to work, using digital technology and Photoshop to manipulate and make something new out of her old photographs.

Fantasy On The Dance Floor, Barbara Mullen, 1949

I love how she combines art with fashion – ‘For me, it was about the gesture, the neck, the throat, the arch of the back’. Here are just a few of my favourites (remember to click for enlargements) and hopefully now a few more of you will discover the beauty of Lillian Bassman!

Lingerie, 1951

Olga

The Line Lengthens, 1955

The Dressing Room

Wonders of Water, 1959

Paris: Dinner At Nine, Barbara Mullen, 1949

Barbara Mullen wearing Jean Patou, 1949

Across The Restaurant, Barbara Mullen wearing Jacques Fath, 1949

Barbara Mullen Blowing A Kiss, c.1950

The V-Back Evenings, Suzy Parker, 1955

Black And White, Mary Jane Russell, 1950

Golden Fox, Blue Fox, Marilyn Ambrose, 1954

Eve L Tripp Las Vegas, 1948

Dovima, 1954

Night Bloom, Annaliese Seubert, top gown Givenchy by Galliano, bottom by Christian Dior, 1996 (can’t believe these are so new, they’d fit right in with the rest, right?)

Silk Organdie, Embroidered And Printed, Barbara Mullen, gown by Irene, 1955

Untitled, Model in Gloves and Pearl Earrings, 1950

Betty Threat, 1957

Mary Jane Russell, 1950

Outtake, Harper’s Bazaar, November 1948

Polka Dots On The Run, 1960 (love the expression in the model’s eyes)

Back, Barbara Mullen, 1950

Touch Of Dew, Lisa Fonssagrives, 1961

Chanel advert, 1963 (despite the manipulation, there’s no mistaking that jacket!)

Untitled, 2008

And ending with one of my favourites… just captures a mood and movement so perfectly…Untitled, Model with Raincoat and Umbrella, 1950

For more of Bassman’s work, check out: http://f56.net/kuenstler/lillian-bassman/lillian-bassman/, http://blog.daum.net/sooy0098/7706383 (which makes my Antivirus have a fit but doesn’t seem to do any harm), this Lillian Bassman Flickr album and this Lillian Bassman Facebook fan page, from where many of these photos were taken from.

Quotes taken from Saturday Times Magazine, 17 May 2011.

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Posted in Pretty Things

Tagged 1950s, Annaliese Seubert, art, art photography, artwork, Barbara Mullen, Barbara Vaughn, Beauty, Chanel advert, Dovima, erotic, Eve L Tripp, fashion photography, golden age of couture, haute couture, Lillian Bassman, Lisa Fonssagrives, Mary Jane Russell, photographs, photography, Pretty Things, Suzy Parker

Sweet like Chocolate Rain

Posted on May 13, 2011 | 4 comments

I promised you more Chocolate Rain cuteness after my post on Hong Kong Creative Ecologies and whaddya know… it doesn’t just rain here but it pours!

The mall in Olympian City (yes, named after the Olympics) had a super-kawaii installation dedicated to Chocolate Rain and I couldn’t resist taking some photos, much to my boyfriend’s annoyance (‘You’re so local’).

I’m more used to shopping centres in the UK too depressing to even warrant a George A Romero-style zombie stampede but malls in HK are a totally different ball game. [Remember that awesome Lane Crawford installation in Pacific Place?]

What’s more, there are so many malls here that it’s a competitive game, especially during Christmas and other special occasions, where they all attempt to out-do each other with special decorations, performances, giveaways and exhibits – HK folk do love their photo opps, after all! Hence the Chocolate Rain one here, called Olympian City’s Easter Dream Brûlée.

I just love artist Prudence Mak’s distinctive patchwork style for Chocolate Rain – absolutely lovely and just that little bit quirky too – and I love that a locally-designed brand can challenge the cute character powerhouse that is Sanrio. But most of all, as you know, I just love pretty things! And this delivered pretty things in abundance.

The Fatina doll character was dressed in colourful costumes inspired by different ice-cream flavours whilst the centrepiece was a 30-foot banana boat. Overall, it felt like I’d wandered into a village straight from a fairytale!

Truly scrumptious!

4 Comments

Posted in Culture, Exhibitions, Hong Kong, Pretty Things

Tagged art, Chocolate Rain, cute, Easter Dream Brûlée, HK, Hong Kong, kawaii, malls, Olympian City, Olympic, Olympic City, photos, Pretty Things, Prudence Mak, shopping centres

Little Miss Google Doodle

Posted on May 9, 2011 | Leave a comment

In case you missed it (or don’t have 15 minutes to spare pressing the Refresh button), Google have run a series of their infamous ‘Google Doodles’ in honour of what would been the 76^th birthday of Mr Men creator, Roger Hargreaves. These are so cute, colourful and charming, exactly in the spirit of the Mr Men series, which I loved as a child – and still do today!

Inspired by Hargreaves’ son Adam asking what a tickle looked like, these characters have been around for over 25 years and been a part of my life for practically as long as I can remember. Sadly, Hargreaves died way before his time in 1988 and his son Adam has been drawing and writing the books ever since.

The simple shapes and bold colours, not to mention the funny stories and pocket-sized books designed especially for small hands, are extremely appealing to children and I was no exception! I still have the complete series of the original Mr Men and Little Miss books at home (if you shelve them all together, a picture forms on the spines!) and would never part with them to this day – and over the years, all kinds of other Mr Men ephemera have joined the collection, including t-shirts, beanies, toys, stationary, bags… the list is endless!

Assigning each character an adjective as a name that encapsulates their personality is such a simple yet clever idea, and it was through Hargreaves that I learnt the meaning of words such as ‘Uppity’, ‘Fickle’, ‘Contrary’, ‘Nosey’ and ‘Fussy’ and also very British colloquialisms like ‘Topsy-Turvy’, ‘Scatterbrain’ and ‘Chatterbox’. I think my Mum said that I was a bit of a Little Miss Bossy too!

There have been various incarnations of the Mr Men and Little Miss characters over the years and they had a radical re-design for the most recent television series, which I absolutely hated! But these Google logos are very much in the old style that I have such fond memories of, right down to how the colours look saturated yet slightly washed-out – exactly how I remember!

The whole concept of Google Doodles is such a clever idea too – much like the Creative Ecologies exhibit where one figurine was decorated and re-designed in a number of different ways, the Google Doodles play with how much you can alter one thing and exercise your creative license whilst still keeping it recognisable.

My favourites here are Little Miss Shy, too timid to join in the dancing, Mr Rush, whose speed lines leave a Google-shaped mark and Little Miss Sunshine, just because she’s adorable! Although where art thou Mr Strong, and what’s with the gender imbalance Google?!

But the big question is… can you name them all?!

[From top to bottom, they are: Little Miss Sunshine, Mr Happy, Mr Bump, Little Miss Naughty stealing Mr Uppity’s top hat (but not his monocle, another new word learnt at the time!), Mr Tickle, Mr Messy, Little Miss Chatterbox, Mr Forgetful, Little Miss Tiny, Little Miss Magic, Mr Funny, Little Miss Shy, Mr Rush, Mr Slow, Little Miss Curious – one of the posthumously-released characters, and Mr Dizzy with these very idiosyncratic pigs, birds and worms that appeared in lots of stories! And I didn’t have to look a single one up, so there!]

P.S. Since it’s the only Mr Men thing I have out here, here’s my Mr Men & Little Miss tote bag from awesome retro tee website, Truffle Shuffle.

Hong Kong: Creative Ecologies @ HK Heritage Museum – Like peas in a pod!

Posted on May 2, 2011 | Leave a comment

During our trip to the Pixar: 25 Years Of Animation exhibition at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, we had a quick scoot round the rest of the place. Emphasis on quick – you’ll have noticed my usual grumble about crappy café quality (see Museum of Coastal Defence, History Museum and Botanical Gardens posts for further moaning) was missing from the Pixar write-up… because this time there wasn’t an eating facility at all!

Sadly, nothing was as awesome as the colourful display of Fei-Fei’s plus-sized cheongsams we stumbled upon when we visited the Age Of Couture Exhibition (a greater aesthetic juxtaposition you could not imagine!). Yes, HK ‘affectionately’ nicknamed their much-beloved actress cum singer cum media personality Lydia Sum something that translates as ‘Fatty’!

This time, we happened upon the Hong Kong: Creative Ecologies exhibition – or what of it had been placed in the foyer of the second floor. Dozens of identical ‘Tin Tin’ figurines, all decorated, styled and re-imagined in different ways by various home-grown artists and designers.

It was fascinating to see how so many people could take one identical thing and end up with something so different yet still recognisable. Designs ranged from the beautiful to the comical to the bizarre to the slightly macabre (I didn’t take a photo of the one that had been mocked up to look like a see-through human body, with all the vital organs glowing inside, as it freaked me out too much), whilst many had a uniquely HK flavour – one had a map of our MTR system, another had silhouettes of our trademark bamboo scaffolding system with workers hanging out un-harnessed and causing heart attacks to Western Health & Safety bodies.

My favourites were the ones who thought ‘outside the box’ and mixed it up a little. I noticed that whilst many of the fashion and accessory designers decorated their models, the artistes chose to do more abstract things – like one completely encased in a steel box, with just that recognisable pointing finger sticking out, or the one that appears to be melting. I was engrossed by the one that seemed to have sprouted alarmingly naturalistic-looking roots and was even growing foliage up top!

The only HK artist whose work I recognised instantly was Prudence Mak. That distinctive bright patchwork style couldn’t belong to anyone but the founder of cute quirky local brand, Chocolate Rain, who you will hear more of later…! Apologies for the picture quality – I haven’t figured out how to minimise the reflections caused by the glass cases – so I’ve compared it with a nice HQ photo from the Heritage Museum’s website so you can see it in all its detailed technicolour glory!

Hopefully these will be kept together as a display once the exhibition has ended and housed somewhere else, as they’re far more powerful and dynamic as a collection rather than if they were split up. It’s certainly nothing to warrant a special visit to the Heritage Museum (though apparently there was a Creative Ecologies gallery that I was too hungry to visit), but it’s a cool little diversion nonetheless! Enjoy!

Hong Kong: Creative Ecologies, 5 Feburary-11 May 2011, Hong Kong Heritage Museum, 1 Man Lam Road, Sha Tin, 2180 8188. See Hong Kong: Creative Ecologies Website for further details.

$10 admission, free on Weds. Opening hours: 10am-6pm, 7pm on Sunday and public holidays. Closed Tuesdays.