CIRCUS a magic world of illustrations

At the moment I'm working on a very simple circus-themed counting book for children, I was struck by the number of different artists and illustrators who were inspired by the circus.

Here's a small first selection of illustrations to give you an idea and who knows, maybe a little bit of that childhood magic rubs off on you.

 

                                       

Vintage and modern circus illustrations, from top left clockwise: Robert Wagt - juggling circus dog, Spider's  "il grande Alfredo", Sara Mulvanny's cover illustration for "nights at the circus", vintage poster art by French illustrator Savignac, Aurelius Battaglia, Circus book by Swedish designer Stig Lindberg, Lionel Koechlin - acrobats, Jonas Bergstrand and finally New York based Japanese illustrator Yuko Shimizu.

In the air: GOLD

Whether it  were the alchemists, trying to liberate parts of the cosmos from temporal existence and trying to achieve perfection which, in metals is gold, the spanish Conquistadores in search of the Inca gold or the poor sods responding to the major gold rushes of the 19th century, man's obsession with the precious metal seems to have no limits.

Although Democritus told us as far back as 370 b.C., that happiness resides not in possessions and not in gold, but dwells in the soul, in this age of excess, with it's emphasis on status and consumerism, gold still holds the main stage. 

PRECIOUS METAL Clockwise from top left : Alexander Mc Queen  gold-leaf-painted feather coat with gold-embroidered tulle skirt, Golden Tortoise Beetle, Yves Klein's untitled Gold monochrome of 1962 and underneath Gustaf Klimt's famous portrait of Adele Bloch, Regent's Place pavillion by Carmody and Groarke a spider silk cape by Peers and Godley and Alexander Mc queen's gold leaf clutch bag.
 

Back to school

This week it was back to school.