Barbara Bradley

Leif Peng saved the above gorgeous painting to conclude his series of Barbara Bradley's little memoirs that he's been running over the last week: Mon, Tues, Weds, Thurs, Fri
Interestingly, in a great series of incidents and insights, particularly with regard to the trials of a woman making good in a male-dominated business in the 1950s, this is the line that I most identified with: "Still, in my day, illustration, being a stay-at-home career, was a great field for a woman. Most women are great jugglers. I would put a wash on the board, then a wash in the machine." (That just about describes my own daily routine)

From Askart.com: (Born 1927) Following training at Art Center in 1951, Barbara Bradley began her illustration career at Charles E. Cooper Studios in New York. In 1955, she returned to the San Francisco Bay Area to freelance. Specializing in expressive figures, she became known for her depiction of children, raising three of her own. Her illustrations for clients such as Bank of America, Borden’s, Dole, and C&H Sugar have brought her many national awards.
In 1958, she began teaching at the Academy of Art University, becoming Director of Illustration, a position she held for twenty-five years until her retirement. She continues teaching special Courses at the Academy and has taught drawing workshops in the US for Disney and Pixar, and in the UK. ... etc.

Ex-students of Barbara's have established a tribute page, with photos and loads of pictures. I particularly like this page of 'barbara-isms,' in which ex-students tell anecdotes : "All artists are in danger of falling in love with a part of a drawing or painting, even when that element is adversely affecting the rest of the piece. I was often guilty of changing everything but that tantalizing little bit I was enamored with. Barbara used to warn us that the success of the entire piece was sometimes dependent on removing that one thing that we had great feeling for. “Sometimes you have to kill your children”..."
*******

some dingbat has written and performed a very funny song about alan moore (Youtube) (via Neil Gaiman)
*******

thought for the day: "Keep in mind that no matter how cute and sexy a guy is, there's always some woman somewhere who's sick of him."- Carol Henry