When it came to commissioning an illustration for the opening page of my Style News section (launching our new Style at Home Colour Collection for Beauti-Tone Paints) in the hot-off-the-press June 2010 issue of Style at Home, I knew exactly what I wanted, and who I wanted as an illustrator.
Toronto artist Cybele Young was my first choice, and thankfully she jumped at the opportunity to create this stunning full page illustration for us. The direction we provided? An homage to Priscilla Peck’s deliciously avant garde illustrated covers of House & Garden magazine circa 1945.
Our inspiration — Priscilla Peck’s cover of the April 1945 issue of House & Garden:
… And here’s Cybele’s gorgeous full-page illustration for us. (She actually used real Style at Home Colour Collection paints in the illustration, and decked the sketched vignette in furnishings and accessories from the Style News section that follows!):
To say I’m chuffed would be an understatement.
There’s something timeless about postwar style; that unabashedly “pretty” approach to decorating that we’re seeing so much of with the resurgence of maximalism and Dorothy Draper-esque loveliness. Although House & Garden magazine is now sadly defunct, you can relive the glamour of the ’40s with blown-up reprints of their breathtakingly beautiful covers – framed or unframed – available through the Conde Nast website. An absolute must for any design mag junkie!
Here are a few of my retro-fabulous faves…
House & Garden art prints, from $195 US each, Conde Nast Store
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