Baby Arts

When I was in secondary school in Saint-Quentin, northern France, one of my arts teachers was Serge Dutfoy. I doubt he would remember me years and thousands of pupils later (!) but I sure do remember him because not only was he my arts teacher for a couple of years, he also established himself as a fixture on the local arts scene as a cartoonist and a jazz musician. He is a local celebrity!

Earlier in the Summer, when I stumbled across his name while browsing through a local arts blog, I traced monsieur Dutfoy back to his personal blog. Although it hasn't been updated in three years, it still managed to catch my eye, or rather this piece of anthology, "Serge et ses Grenouilles" (Serge and his frogs) did, drawn by his artist auntie Germaine, in Paris in 1946-47. The two family cats, Titite and Totote, are studying the figurines in the water from a safe distance, maybe trying to figure out whether or not they are edible...

My arts teacher's happy bath time as a baby, captured in watercolours! And with his grandma a piano teacher and his mum a piano player, we can safely say that art runs in the DNA of the family!

Source: "Serge et ses Grenouilles" watercolour, via Le Blog de Serge Dutfoy. His biography (in French) is available via La Lanterne à BD, L'Aisne Nouvelle and Wikipedia.

At Home with Kokeshis

In recent years, Kokeshis and Matriochkas have donned many guises in the purpose of entertainment and homely companionship: just check out our capsule photographic collection for some further inspiration!

Sources: (1) Brighton-based illustrator and blogger Kris Atomic, via her Other People's Houses photographic exhibition. (2) Hang on a minute! This can't be a kokeshi, it's Barbapapa! Photo from The Yvestown Blog (02/02/12). (3) 'Kimono Girl Bento Box', available to purchase online from the Victoria & Albert Museum shop. (4) 'Four Seasons Kokeshi Dolls' from the Japanese Shop. (5) Extract from Kris Atomic 's sketchbook. (6) Quirky kokeshi sketch by French up-and-coming Corsica-based artist and personal friend Isabelle Duvignon.