the bird king....

After a long day yesterday
I was feelin a little tired...
from all the long chats, appoints and walking!
I needed to find a tiny sanctuary - some where tucked away -
where I could regain some energy...
...some inspiration, and escape from all the craziness of the day...
And where was this sanctuary I hear you ask?
The MCA store... down in The Rocks...!


I find that wherever I maybe, I always need to have an escape hatch - a place that makes me feel like I have all the time in the world; a place where I can use all my sense and just breathe! Doesn't hurt if the place in question also has beautiful objects to look at, in this case, books! I found some wonderful new publications to make me search for an excuse for a tiny purchase...
a little bit of retail therapy....

Oh and how lucky for me that I have one of those such occasions up my sleeve!! It's my birthday in a few days, and even though I'm not the biggest birthday, attention seeking person, it is nice to treat yourself every once in a while!
And what, pray tell, did i find with which to ring in another year of being older???


This!
An absolutely beautiful book of sketches by one of my most favourite illustrators...
Mr Shaun Tan... a man I have mentioned on this blog before!
The book is called The Bird King and it is an assemblage of all Shaun's sketches and drawings to date. It goes through his ideas for new picture books {published + unpublished}, theatre set creations for new productions and finally... drawings from his everyday life - images of people walking down the street, children playing and whatever doodles he has scribbled down, in one of his many notebooks.


This is just the opening page! The details, the imaginative mind at work... and the most important thing... the emotions... are all captured from within each drawing. It is amazing work and so lovely to now have in one beautiful publication - like an upscale visual diary!
These are my favourite type of art books to buy... as you feel like you can get to the essence of an artist and the fantastic thoughts and creations that they can procure on a humble piece of white paper!

Love this little owl...of course!

Such beautiful tenderness and warmth... its as if Shaun has created a complete character, rather than just a sketch! And the warmth that comes from all the colour is amazing...

Love it...!!

Oh happy birthday to me!