Today’s featured artist is Hillary Waters Fayle. Her original, creative work was brought to my attention via the site My Modern Met.
Hillary’s work is delicate, original, and organic. Through her art, Hillary explores human connection to the physical world, binding nature and the human touch. Her art is something that makes me say “How did she come up with that?” I love it when art causes you to question.
They say it’s nice to share. So with that in mind, I’m starting this new feature-The Friday Featured Artist-a periodic blog post on Fridays on a new-to-me-artist.
Today’s featured artist is Anna Dabrowska also known as Finnabair. She is an artist originally from Poland now living in Ireland. I love her melding of Steampunk, mixed media, and collage, and her use of color.
My deepest heartfelt thanks to everyone who left a comment on my post Preparing to say Goodbye. I appreciate your kinds words and compassion. My friend passed away peacefully on Friday. It was an honor to know her and to have been a participant in her life.
Mr. Woody is recovering and is progressing in the right direction. A change in antibiotics for an underlying infection seems to be working, along with sub-q fluids to keep him hydrated. He must be feeling a bit better because he has carried his toy mouse from one floor to the other and back again.
And I’m back working in the studio making art and working on the business side of my art. A return to some form of normalcy.
I hope to get back to some regular schedule of blogging in the near future as well. Until then, enjoy these pictures of Woody taken over the past few weeks. (Click on a picture to enlarge and to scroll through each image.)
What can I say. The cats are my kids. Spoiled and they know it 🙂
Thanks to everyone who left a comment on the Week 2 Blog Giveaway post. In keeping with the medieval theme, I chose a gold drawstring bag to place the names of those who entered the week 2 giveaway. And I also had some special help this time around. First the names were placed on top of the gold bag. Purple paper, gold bag. Nice medieval colors.
Then the names were placed in the bag….
No peeky…shake the bag
Then my assistants provided their approval.
Pippin Inspected the Bag
Woody Approved the Bag
The winning name was pulled from the bag…..
And the winner of Cris Dupouy’s book, Creating Your Own Antique Jewelry and one of my art doll necklaces is….
Marlea A
Congratulations Marlea!
Thanks again to everyone who participated. Check back this Friday, 8/19, to see what you can win in Week 3 of my blog anniversary celebration.
I love almost anything involving the Medieval age and the Renaissance. Old castles, tapestries, religious artifacts, knights, The Pillars of the Earth mini-series.
And then there is the lovely jewelry that adorned some of the women during these time periods. Stunning necklaces of gold and exquisite jewels. Head pieces with precious gemstones and pearls. Even some of the men were adorned with jewels. And if they weren’t wearing them, you might find them holding a jewel encrusted sword.
Following the medieval theme started in my last blog post on Carcassone, this week’s blog anniversary giveaway features Cris Dupouy’s lovely book “Creating Your Own Antique Jewelry: Taking Inspiration from Great Museums Around the World.”
In this book, Dupouy uses select artifacts as the source of her inspiration to create jewelry. Her sources of inspiration span the time periods from Antiquity to the Middle Ages, the Renaissance to the 20th century. For each piece, she provides a brief history, a picture of the artifact (often being worn by the subject in a particular painting), and instructions for recreating the item.
Though Dupouy’s medium of choice in this book is polymer clay & gemstones, it may be possible to recreate the items in a combination of mediums such as polymer clay, metal clay and gemstones or metal clay and gemstones.
Along with Dupoy’s book, you also have the chance to win one of my first art doll necklaces inspired by my interest in the Medieval age.
If you’d like to enter this giveaway, just leave a comment on this post sharing your favorite period piece, such as a movie, mini-series or book and why. Please include an email address when you leave a comment so I may notify you if you win.
Comments will remain open till midnight EST on Tuesday, August 16. The winner will be chosen on Wednesday. Giveaway items will be shipped via USPS and limited to U.S. residents. I apologize for the restriction on shipping.
The winner of this giveaway was Marlea A. This giveaway is now closed.
I am heading back to France this summer to take part in my second workshop with Dayle Doroshow at La Cascade in Durfort, France. While I’m away, please enjoy this re-post about the artistry in France that I encountered during my visit in 2009.
One of the many aspects that I love about France (and most of Europe for that matter) is the artistry that permeates the environment. From the doors and windows to the gardens and the food, nearly everything exudes an artistic quality that, in my opinion, is sorely lacking in the United States. The arts are held in high esteem in France and it shows. What struck me on this trip was noting that many business titles include the word “artisan” in the description; from the patisseries to the boulangeries to painters and plumbers, everyone is an artisan.
Artisan (n): A person manually skilled in making a particular product; craftsman.
I wonder what our society would be like if we all considered ourselves artisans.
Cemeteries
I love old cemeteries. I love to walk through them, gaze at the ornate headstones, and imagine the people who have passed. What were their lives like? What did they look like? Would they be annoyed that I’m standing here staring at them? As a kid, I trembled at the thought of walking across people’s graves. I always made sure to walk AROUND the grave, never across it. This probably stems from watching too many black and white horror movies on the Sir Graves Ghastly show (warning: audio starts when you click this link.) However, this behavior is still with me today and if I have to walk across someone’s grave, I always say “excuse me” first.
The cemeteries in southern France are all above ground. Families have small crypts to inter loved ones. Many crypts have several markers indicating which family member is buried in the crypt. The markers might be attached to the exterior of the crypt or they may be placed on the ground surrounding the crypt.
The local cemetery in Durfort was no exception. A couple of us even went back during the week to make molds of the designs on some of the headstones. Here are a couple of iron crosses from the cemetery in Durfort.
Windows, Doors, and Knockers
I mentioned earlier being drawn to the beautiful doors and windows in France. Many doors also feature wonderful door knockers that really are welcoming. Door knockers have been around for ages and were most evident in the Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance periods. Door knockers typically fall into one of three classes: the ring, the hammer, and the human figure or animal heads. Door knockers from the Medieval period were the most carefully designed and those from the Renaissance period were the most ornate. To read more about the history of door knockers, visit here.
Here are a couple versions of the popular hand door knocker which we saw on many doors in southern France.
And the doors; oh my. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many beautiful doors. This gentleman’s head was on a wrought iron door in Soreze. I wonder who he is and what he is thinking.
The doors below were along one street in Toulouse.
Full shot of the door above, including the stunning arch over the double doors.
And of course there are the windows. Here is another pair of windows in Soreze that drew my attention.
And a side street also in Soreze.
Architecture
There is also wonderful artistry in the architecture of the old churches, castles, chateaus and yes, even the gardens:
I am heading back to France this summer, to take part in my second workshop with Dayle Doroshow at La Cascade. While I’m away, I’m posting some of the entries from my time in France in 2009.
Enjoy this re-post which introduces you to La Cascade. When I return I’m sure to have hundreds of new pictures and many new stories to share.
With several hundred photos to review and edit, I thought I would begin by introducing you to La Cascade, the lovely home owned by Gwen Gibson in Durfort, France. Gwen is very generous in opening up this little slice of heaven to artists so that we, too, may experience the joys of the area, indulge our senses, and release our inner muses. For more information on La Cascade visit this page.
Come On In
Let’s start with the interior: the kitchen, dining room, and family room:
Where we gathered for breakfast and where Nesa prepared her delicious, artistic meals
We ate several meals in the dining room
The Family Room or Gathering Room
La Cascade is not only beautiful on the inside, but on the outside as well. Behind La Cascade is a soothing river and waterfall. Even on cool nights we kept our windows open slightly so we could be lulled to sleep by the wooshing sound of the waterfall.
The patio where we ate several meals and relaxed
Our bedroom windows; small windows are the studio
La Cascade waterfall
River running behind La Cascade
And the studio where we awakened our muses:
Up the original stairs to the third floor studio
Viola! La Studio
Along with the door knocker shown at the beginning of this post, La Cascade also holds lots of sweet little niches and decor.
A Scrolly Metal Railing
The Bell that Called Us to Dinner
Loved This Cutting Board
A Little Niche in the Patio Wall
Curious: A key or something else?
I hope you enjoyed this little tour of La Cascade. It truly is a special place.
“This is the end, beautiful friend, this is the end.”
-The End by The Doors
So you’ve probably heard about this little “event” that is supposed to take place today; the end times, the beginning of the end, or the rapture. In fact, as I write this, calamity should be coursing its way around the globe, beginning in New Zealand at 6:00pm local time. I didn’t realize that God conducted His business by time zones.
At first I was both amused and annoyed at all the attention this has received. Amused at people’s humorous take on these predictions, such as the CDC’s Zombie Apocalypse blog post (which does include beneficial information on preparing for a natural disaster), the Post Rapture Looting page on Facebook (absurd but not something I condone; looting is looting and not funny), choosing your song for the end of the world, and the Rapture Prank, which advises leaving clothes strewn about on the sidewalk as if someone just went “poof.”
My annoyance came at all the attention this particular group has received. I was concerned that the media and social networking promotion of this alleged event only reinforced this group’s beliefs. Then I thought of other extreme groups like Jim Jones and the Jonestown Massacre and how I would hate to see anyone who supports this prediction of the end times kill themselves. (The Jonestown Massacre was not related to an end times prophecy. However, I do believe one must be concerned about how someone potentially reacts when they realize the prophecy did not manifest itself.)
Maybe, then, all the attention is a good thing in an odd sort of way.
I’m not passing judgement on anyone for their beliefs. That’s supposed to be reserved for the Big Guy/Gal or whatever you choose to believe in (or not.) However, I’ve read that those who believe in this prediction plan to sit in front of their televisions watching the destruction. Another believer asked “Would you continue business as usual?”
Well, I have no desire to watch the destruction of others. My take away from all of this is to live life to the fullest. Express your love and gratitude for all that is around you. To me, that is continuing “business as usual.” I don’t think any ethereal entity wants us sitting around thinking about the end. We’re human BEings. We live, we love, we struggle. When the end comes, it comes.
And if this is the beginning of the end and the end is due to arrive in October, I ask that it wait until after my birthday :-0
The studio painting is done! Woo-hoo! I’m loving the color.
Now I’m dealing with the blank canvas equivalent. I call it empty studio syndrome. The new studio color is so nice and fresh that I don’t want to muck it up by hanging things on the wall and filling the studio with clutter.
I’ve been perusing Studio magazines, and the IKEA, Container Store, Home Improvements, and Solutions catalogs. I’m thinking about switching my regular work table for a work bench. My punch list has been written and I know I’ll be adding to it.
For now, I’ll share with you the nearly empty studio before and after pictures.
BEFORE
Rear Wall Studio Before New Paint
Studio Center Before
Studio Front Wall Before
AFTER
Studio Rear Wall After Paint
Studio Center After
Studio Front Wall After
I love how a fresh colorful coat of paint can transform a room. What do you think?
Musings from the Moonroom 