drawing | dance, we can
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i don't exactly know where it came from, but all of a sudden, i found myself at the disco...
flaming nora! today i notice i have drawn a girl with a goatie, and barbie® by mattel? hee hee...!
let's dance! chez patrice
flaming nora! today i notice i have drawn a girl with a goatie, and barbie® by mattel? hee hee...!
let's dance! chez patrice
♥
corner view ≈ bridges and backroads {US bound}
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the bridge that once upon a time unsettled me most is the san francisco cypress freeway viaduct of which parts came down in the late eighties loma prieta earthquake. i traveled the states in the year after and on one of my walks bumped into it. a local stopped by and together we contemplated our communal train of thoughts. the deserted bridge bore a frightening, if for some reason, serene sight. {this picture of course and by far not exuding serenity}.
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on the same trip i encountered my very first live back alley. somehow backroads always look more sinister in the states than anywhere else, something to do with the collective (television) memory, i figure. as the greyhound bus pulled up over a baltimore double four lane {adorned by memorable hanging traffic lights}, i couldn't help expecting a flaming red starsky & hutch car screetching outa narrow back road. needless to say that didn't happen. ☻
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a thought on a. adams and drawing | tile
it's a good thing to {blog}scroll back in time now and again and reread what all one promises the reader. as such i promised a come-back to arnold circus {in this dc theme}, and also to photographer ansel adams, whose well known natural photos i stared at in the london nmm, last december. as it happened, a video on adams' beliefs played and i set myself down, looked, and listened. much to my surprise, an inner conflict arose.
i may have misjudged ansel adams a little as a wonder. this belief fired by my former photography teacher, i always imagined adams meticulously fiddling with his technical camera to get light, image and atmosphere right as he found himself e.g. at the bottom of a mountain. i wasn't wrong there. listening to the man's own view on things in a 1980's video played in situ, meditating on his form of art and his dedication, i think i got my imagining all wrong.
while i pinned down adams as a man of great skill {which he undoubtedly is}, shooting his photo as he bumped into his perfect setting, i discover he actually configured his image in his mind beforehand, then went looking for it, made the photo and brought it back to the studio, if necessary enhancing to come as close as possible to his original expectation.
so, in other words: not looking for {beauty in} randomness, but hunting a very specific setting. it's not that adams doesn't say interesting things, we're talking the nineteen-eighties! and here he is predicting the imminent digital printing revolution to a tee already {just look at us, home-engaging ourselves, in the image industry only thirty years onwards}. it's just that i'd figured him a different technician. as he goes on to explain how different prints of one and the same scene differ in quality and intensity because of the {dark room} performance, ...
... he coyly admits shooting two photos of certain scenes is mandatory, 'for protection'. i can't but admit myself i feel let down, disappointed, somehow unable to shake the deflation from that point on. perhaps i need to study ansel adams again, now with my own eyes, not my former teacher's. perhaps i am no longer the girl i used to be.
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perhaps i should just stick to this week's drawing challenge, hosted by the queen of the castle at the eisenbach~hamburg, {"the longer the title, the nobler its carrier"} ~ who's leading us to many-splendored tiles. ... these tiles in a thrift shop i fell in love with at first sight and i have as good as literally reproduced them. i did slam in an hungarian proverb for fun. watch out for its meaning. ☻
corner view ≈ stunning architecture
i simply can not rain on my own parade, can i? although it needed half a memory and some patience to reach back for some stunningness extraordinaire. here goes. all via sweet station. enjoy, and no! sadly not on my block, no... ☻
1-4 : victor enrich {created in photoshop ☻}
5 : rem island, amsterdam
6 : whiteread house, via tate
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and two more for their quirky nature, architecture miniature, much appreciated...
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1-4 : victor enrich {created in photoshop ☻}
5 : rem island, amsterdam
6 : whiteread house, via tate
renov # 33 {studio countdown 2 of 5}
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the weekend came.
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and went.
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by.
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a soft and sun filled sunday found me sealing outside window joints again, downstairs this time, left and right to the french windows opening into the garden. it was a task i was weary about, but it worked out fine. cement is drying out.
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a quick glance at the mentioned sewing pots gives result already too.
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the weekend came.
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and went.
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by.
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a soft and sun filled sunday found me sealing outside window joints again, downstairs this time, left and right to the french windows opening into the garden. it was a task i was weary about, but it worked out fine. cement is drying out.
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a quick glance at the mentioned sewing pots gives result already too.
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the rest of the work is coming along. i will definitely repaint the ceiling, while the room is semi empty. more work now, happier woman later. i've learnt to think ahead a little, not that this simplifies anything. somehow i can't wait to start on that floor, so boxes³ will finally find their way home. it will get interesting, over the next coming weeks.
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the rest of the work is coming along. i will definitely repaint the ceiling, while the room is semi empty. more work now, happier woman later. i've learnt to think ahead a little, not that this simplifies anything. somehow i can't wait to start on that floor, so boxes³ will finally find their way home. it will get interesting, over the next coming weeks.
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drawing | beauty
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myself not overly wild on wilde, i thought of him as a jumping board to our theme.
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earlier this week i drifted from the thrift shop's children's games to the books section, humming a recognizable tune.
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in this leisurely fashion i found what i was looking for: another vintage artis-historia reference book on animals. as i leafed through it, i discovered him, again [that's right, i've a few of the same books now, all ready to be torn up, but not just yet], and i was grateful.
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now i could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.
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i don't think there is another bird as jolly as this a-one, the superb bird of paradise {lophorina superba}, unless i am mistaking {which is probable}.
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trying to get him good and proper on paper, and let him have his say, proofed to be all part of this week's challenge.
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by all means, please do watch included below video clip, [if only for richard attenboroughs cajoling voice and phantasmagoric transcript], and let the elaborate and stunning male play draw you in, you won't be disappointed.
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in fact you might even yearn to be wooed like this, from now on ... ☻
ariane, cindi, norma, tanïa, celine, barbara, renilde, stefanie, ram, carole, susan, rachel, patrice, mano, kristen, kim, emily, jgy, sue, ... show you their own personal way to beauty.
renov # 32 {studio countdown 1 of 5}
so here comes this week's round up. sitting down writing and loading up pictures means my home renovation work for the week(end) has come to a reasonable end. {but we're going on, since we're having a few days off work}. not all work it was either, i visited thrift shops to keep the enthusiasms burning {and the near-future-playing alive},
and i played about in the garden, high time it was. behind our sunny {well, if} kitchen windows, i've planted seeds that are shyly pushing up earth, for want to live, let's hope. any ideas on ecological slug expelling, since we will soon come to that?
this is a 360° of the upstairs front room. as you see, there's a middle-of-the-room obstacle of wardrobe & studio materials boxed up, that is going to be taking front row viewing along with all of you. son will move these about, as i literally progress through the room.
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i've been finishing the strip of wall behind the radiator {so it can finally go back up}, i'm sanding down all of the roughly plastered walls. actually? my ceiling needs attention. i may have detected some peeling? ☻
i've been finishing the strip of wall behind the radiator {so it can finally go back up}, i'm sanding down all of the roughly plastered walls. actually? my ceiling needs attention. i may have detected some peeling? ☻
doing away with that ghastly and uninspiring orange at last {i am definitely not an orange-as-an-interiors-colour lover}, as i will be painting the windowed wall white. proof to that, later. high up the ladder i feel queen of this room at least, what an illusion. having attended the joint-sealing windows-outside wall {1st floor up after all} left me kind of wobbly in my knees, actually.
now it's straight onto bathing and reading up where i left off last, chez d.h. lawrence. did you ever read anything by him besides lady chatterley? there's a sign-of-the-time feel to the short stories i'm reading, all whilest being of a distractive order. i do like the introspectives, the subliminal tension and the unruly parts women play in his books. i also highly enjoy his vocabulary.
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thank you all for being such enthusiasts for next weekend's drawing challenge.
beauty on our minds... i'm looking forward to your musings,
as i'm sure we all do.
drawing challenge NEW THEME | beauty
this week google doodles spoiled for choice to reference just a few great comers (and goners) in art history. indeed german naturalist and scientific illustrator maria sibylla merian (°1647-1717) caught my eye and tickled my fancy, as did belgian architect henri van de velde (°1863-1957), for his architectural influence and stunning ability.
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in general, i've always felt rather attracted to art deco and art nouveau for its clean {if curved} lines, and its distinct designs. living in belgium, we are rather spoilt for choice on behalf of both streams, albeit too many buildings have been destroyed by unruly conflicts of interest. but that's another story.
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the connection between beauty and function always on the mind of turn of the 20th century architects, i find the approach breathtaking to this day, an approach i try to hold onto myself, when decisions need making on behalf of our house. as on other subjects, for that matter. function makes beauty stand out. beauty enhances function. but we're talking drawing challenge, aren't we?
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over the past dc months we've had themes such as home, balance, city, window, stained glass, development, curve, roadside attraction, industrial, shadow, leaves, glass, willow, ..., to name but a few. in a sense, we've been building up to beauty related to function. is it what artists often do? while beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, i'd love to make it our dc theme. it is a bit of a wild card, isn't it? it may be an invitation to go overboard, "in the line of beauty"... {weekend of april, 13-14th.} ~ if you feel you're in, leave your name below; so very welcome to join. ♥
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beauty takers : ariane, cindi, norma, tanïa, celine, barbara, renilde, stefanie, ram, carole, susan, rachel, patrice, mano, kristen, kim, emily, jgy, ...
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beauty takers : ariane, cindi, norma, tanïa, celine, barbara, renilde, stefanie, ram, carole, susan, rachel, patrice, mano, kristen, kim, emily, jgy, ...
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save the date {studio renovation countdown} ☠ {renov #31}
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i have difficulty focusing on what needs to be done still in our house. even as i’ve set myself the date of high summer for my studio to be back up and running, i know, in my ♥ of ♥♥♥, it’s going to be a struggle. experience teaches me the hardest parts in renovation work are:
☠ simply showing up,
☠ self-discipline to achieve what you have envisaged,
☠ strength to make it all happen.
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did i say struggle? we don’t want no struggle!
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☠ so i got to thinking, what if i gently urge myself towards a mild weekly scheme, and accordingly blog about the progress? it’d give you, sweet reader a bit of an insight in the why’s i’m still at it,
☠ it’d give humble me the boost to execute what needs doing, right?
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right.
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no, really.
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you’ll all be the biggest help, the proverbial big stick, for those darkly difficult moments when task and effect seem to be eachother's enemy, as in rather being committed to chaos than a logical order of result.
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looking after an other is so much easier than looking after oneself.
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and alas! this house, sometimes, feels like me.
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so. buckle up for a front row view, here’s where it’s gonna happen. i cut myself some slack by staying vague on finishing either july or august. by means of an invitation to party, already save the date though; we’ll get to it, if it's the last thing!
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let's baptize the effort our weekly dose of espial. {probably around mondays}.
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thank you for reading... ♥
... and for serving as proverbial stick!
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corner view ≈ {it's all about the jump} spring
jump for joy, jump for spring. i don't even know if it's spring yet, in paris. bichonnade sure still wears enough clothes to beat the probable air's chill. instead of trying to plow sodden earth to hunt for early spring life, bespoke bichonnade sprang to mind. i know why too. in flemish the word spring means jump. and when i hear jump, jacques henri lartigue offers me the perfect excuse to expose him once again. indeed, i do so every few seasons, so watch out for the man's intentional leaps! jane's corner view, francesca's hosting, spring theme.