Creative Monsoon

Art Express: Brodie Murray

On - Sunday 8 March 2009

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Degas Exhibition - Canberra

On - Thursday 5 March 2009

There are only a couple of weeks left to see Canberra's Degas - Master of French Art exhibition before it closes March 22nd.

As with every popular exhibition there were big crowds gathered around the most well-known works making it difficult to get a good look. And the lighting certainly didn't help much, it was one of the darkest exhibitions I've seen (or not seen) for some time. Some notable works were missing, there was certainly a lack of his famous 'bathing' works. But it is understandable, I doubt many galleries are keen to hand over some of their most popular paintings to the other side of the world.

I did enjoy it though, and it's certainly worth a look if your around Canberra. But what was with the frilly knickers in the gift shop?

Now I'm not usually one to complain about a gift shop after an exhibition, nothing wrong with a few postcards, and I confess I have the Mona Lisa as a fridge magnet. But there was something not quite right about this one. Maybe it was that there were more people rummaging through the fake pearl bracelets and frilly knickers than actually looking at the paintings? I think I just thought they could have done a lot better, there are far more interesting and less tacky things they could have come up with. I decided to have a quick hunt on the net for some better options:

This lovely Dahlia flower clip by mamapatrice was inspired by Degas and would certainly top off any little ballerina's outfit.
Gorgeous Degas buttons! Pretty up your hat, bag, jacket- anything. Only US$9.90 for 11 buttons from Buttonbistro7.
These fabulous cushions from Bonjour Mon Coussin will bring some Parisian glamour to your home.
Or add a touch of je ne se qua with this 8x8 inch Paris print from us - creative monsoon.
Perfect for unleashing your inner ballerina, this beautiful feather headband from stylesmith is a steal at only US$25!
Chasing Lightning Bugs in Canada has these amazing envelopes copied from an old 1909 Paris map. Much better than cheap frilly knickers and fake pearls!