Drawn to Cities…part 1

Mr. Peacock found 2 rolls of contact paper (see below) in my grandmother LaViolette's basement, after she moved to a nursing home. She was “green” before green even became a term. She saved and recycled everything—never wasting anything.

I was immediately attracted to the quaintly stylized buildings all crammed together. It reminds me of a cross between a street in Brooklyn and lower Fifth Avenue in Manhattan—which I find somewhat comforting. I’m not sure where she got this charming 1960’s cityscape contact paper, or why she never used it. The paper has “CB” drawn into the design, but I don't think it's a reference to Crate & Barrel—for all I know it could have come from Woolworth’s.

I first used it to line my medicine cabinet in my bathroom. Then I decided to make oversized Xeroxes of the leftover contact paper, and I used it to line all of my kitchen cabinets doors (above).

When I first spotted the contact paper it reminded me of Mr. Fornasetti's work—like this wood screen...

...or this Mediterranea wallpaper from the Cole and Sons Fornasetti Collection.

These charming cotton Piazza sheets have a similar vibe too.

Mr. Peacock likes the contrast of yellow added to the black lines of this cotton canvas cityscape shower curtain with soaring skyscrapers.

These tea towels, with line drawings of London landmarks, are striking with a modern punch of color.

Mr. Peacock is quite fond of line drawings. It doesn’t matter what the subject is, although, cities and buildings are quite appealing. I’ll share more of my line drawing favorites tomorrow. Happy Tuesday!