Friday 6 November 2009

Vernon Ward



Over the summer while wandering round car boots I've picked up several delightfully kitsch prints by the prolific 50s painter Vernon Ward. I knew nothing of him until this year but have found myself drawn to these pictures - many of flowers but lots of birds in flight too. The picture above is Anemones and Michaelmas Daisies.



This shows his signature.



And this one is "Dahlias"...

I noticed while in London the other day that Liberty has some fabulous vintage window displays at the moment and if you look very carefully the room set shave Vernon Ward pictures on the wall! Unfortuantely my batteries were playing up so I didn't get any pictures. (Nor did I get any of the new Anthroplogie store on Regent Street - much loved by many of our American blogger friends. (For lots of eye candy put Anthorpologie into the Flickr search tool...)

I digress. I suspect that there are lots of you who have one of these on your wall at home - given the number of bloggers with floral pictures on their walls I find myself straining to see the signature on the bottom of the pictures. Unfortunately those I have are framed in rather grubby looking frames and I'm still trying to decide whether I should leave them in their original frames or update them. I have become so smitten that I have set up a group on Flickr called unimaginatively "Vernon Ward". If you do have a picture please let me know and if you could add it to the Flickr group that would be great!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway if you haven't already - see post below. And for those who usually pop in and don't comment - come on in - the water's lovely!

Also,for those of you in Northampton tomorrow do pop into the Vintage and Homemade fair - see sidebar.

Love Wend

14 comments:

  1. Oh how that picture took me back - I never had any actual pictures but his designs were on all sorts of things back in the late 50s and early 60s and I had an address book with a pink rose painting printed on it. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

    JAne

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  2. Hi Wend
    Here is a fellow Vernon Ward fan! I only have 2 pictures - both charity shop finds. Though I fell in love with one at a Flea Market last month but was horrified at the £12 price tag - I've only paid £1 each for the others!!!
    I will take some pics and put them on your flickr page - what a great idea - well done you!
    Good luck with the V&H fair - wish I could be there!
    Denise x

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  3. Oh I remember how once we had a Three-Tier Chocolate Box with Drawers in it and the fanciest chocolates imaginable (this was long long ago before anyone was habitually fancy) and one of his pictures on the lid and we all just sat round and marveled silently for days.

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  4. Wonderful pics - I shall have to look out for them on my travels now!

    Pomona x

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  5. Ohooo yes have fun at the fair :)

    Of course you can :)

    Hugs

    x

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  6. I'm rather taken by the dahlias - wonder if he made his fortune.

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  7. I have a Vernon Ward too - two pink flamingoes beside a white rhododendron bush. An unlikely combination, I would have thought...

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  8. Hope the fair goes well for you!
    I do love your Vernon Ward pictures!
    ;-)

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  9. You are clever to spot old Vern In Liberty, brilliant spot! I am off up there to do some inspirational window tours so will kepp my eyes peeled!

    have a lovely weekend,

    Sarah x

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  10. i'll have my eyes peeled! best of luck with the fair. your description of what happened to your lovely patchwork quilt had me audibly shreiking oh no ! at the computer...mine will never be washed so.

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  11. Hi Wend!
    I would like to say thank you for joining my blog, have a lovely weekend!
    Looking forward to hearing every detail about the fair!

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  12. Hope you have fun withyournew flickr group

    Carolyn ♥

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