tinywoolf

drawing challenge NEW THEME | beauty

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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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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.

finding dad. again

on my last day in london last year, i visited the wellcome collection, on the euston road. i'd never before heard about the collection, a poster in a tube station drew my attention.
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since fashioned skulls seem all the rage at the time {december 2012}, and since death is an occupational hazard on my mind, a visit seemed appropriate.

in the last of five elaborately laid out exhibition rooms my eye stills on anonymous amateur photographs. as i slowly walk from one vintage black & white {& sepia} photograph to the next, i discover a group photo, with skull. as i peer closer into the eyes of the men assembled in the group photo, i notice the face in the left hand corner. that man’s face… he?
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my cerebral storage cabinet flings open. what is this? Is this... ? never! i stroll on, ignoring my surprise, to step straight into reverse. i peer into the demure face on the left again, drinking in its magnetizing features. at that exact moment, i chuckle. i think.

please find on the right here an image of my father, age twenty something, perhaps not even twenty. now let your gaze pull back to that man’s face in the left hand corner, to move back to my dad's. at the time lacking my dad's photo, i peer into cardboard eyes of a very familiar kind indeed. checking facts later, i admit a little wishful thinking held me enthralled, as did romance and unwavering dedication to dad... hello-though!

which makes me wonder. do exact duplicates of ourselves walk this earth a few times at any given time anyway? do you perhaps {like me, vigilantly} frown upon the possibility that one day in the near or distant future, we will be able to draw queries on people's features, thus enabling encounters with look-alikes? what would that be like? would insides match outsides?

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just a thought, he . ..☻

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{image 2 & 3 from exhibition's catalogue,
DEATH, A PICTURE ALBUM,
the wellcome trust, 2012}

a foursome

what happens if you go about crocheting a glove the wrong way, or the akward way? what if perhaps they turned out boots, made for marching?

what if my {sharp legged} writing table comfy chair would be clad in four socks, to protect the new flooring? that - would - be - just - awesome. and it is! half an hour tops. dunno what took me so long... ♥