Reverie Jewellery

I thought these Reverie necklaces were really interesting and beautiful. I love how they are made out of little charms or tiny special things, and I also really like the colours and different shapes. I don't know if you are like me - but I have little dishes and boxes filled to the brim with these kind of things - cocktail swords, a smooth rock, shells, a colorful plastic toy, a shiny penny...I just keep them around to look at now and then I guess. Making jewellery like this would be a good way to make something functional and unique out of these small treasures...hmmmm...I'll have to keep this idea in mind!

Have a great and relaxing weekend!

Some Late Night Links

Hello! I went swimming today - only the second time this summer! Oh well - at least I squeezed in one more time before the fall...better than nothing. In any case, now I am exhausted...so here are some links (easy to post)

...beaux chapeaux....
...Russian bookjackets via Speak Up...
...Elly and her favorite things...

Happy Thursday!

Giorgio De Chirico Theatre Costumes

(...for close-ups go here...)

I took these photos awhile ago and have been waiting to post about them - they are costume designs by the artist Giorgio De Chirico (here are some of his paintings...) for the Ballet Russes in 1929. I took the photos from an article in this magazine. So stunning! I love the kind of papery, drawn-on feeling of them. And the really surreal architectural references with the brick patterned jodphurs and roman column as shirtwaist and bowtie...so cool!

It also reminds me of this scene from An American in Paris with Gene Kelly (swoon...), where he is dancing through a stage set made to look like they were charcoal drawings come to life - it is one of my favorite scenes in that movie. There are clips of that stage setting in this video...

(sorry for all the Wikipedia links again! Consider it as a way to brush up in your trivia knowledge!!)

Some Stuff and Some Inspiration

I have kind of been fooling around with these images - trying out some different things with the fountain colors in the background and then these big heavy figures in front. I also kind of like making these weird shapes with the illustrator program (like in the last one) - the shapes always end up so perfect and flat! Because of the type the first two sketches look more like editorial design or book covers - but I really want to toy around more and see if I can come up with something as good as these free-form posters from the Mike Mills "Humans" project below:

I think they are really stunning...! They also kind of remind me of the background of this spread I did for the Worn Journal (the 2nd image from the top)...

Aldo Londi Ceramics

I was reading an old copy of Elle Decor UK and I found vases just like the ones in the Ikebana book! They are so beautiful and full of character. They are designed by Aldo Londi who worked for the Italian ceramics company Bitossi. I love their different crazy colours, shapes and textures...so glad I found them to share!

Ikebana is Rad

(...to see the photos bigger go here - sorry some are a little blurry, and the black and white photo is not of an arrangement but a moblie made with natural objects: twigs, flowers, berries, plant pods...)

I think Ikebana is so cool - especially these examples above done in the 60ies - with the old fashioned flowers and colours. I also really love the crazy vases! They are so beautiful and nubble-y. I found this little book, (literally - it is a just smaller than a postcard), in a thrift shop years ago and I just rediscovered it after our latest move.

Here is a paragraph from the book (the translation is very awkward but perfect...)

"The inspiring element is the very one which our predecessors feverently sought after in Ikebana. Tenshin's saying, 'restores to us our waning confidence in the universe', does not aim at prettiness of flower, but at the vitality and the movement of mind resonant with life. There we feel a joy in arranging flowers, and then we find the clue which leads us to Ikeru, or to arrange, from Sasu, or to stick. The most important significance of Ikebana is in the blending into daily life and in EXISTING JUST NOW."

A bit cryptic, but great I think - and I didn't cap lock that last part - that is exactly how it is written!

It really makes me want to get back into some floral arranging but more low key - maybe finding some old vases from Salvation Army and just picking things that grow wild here. I always see tons of Queen Anne's Lace growing in the unused lots around my neighbourhood and I am always tempted to just grab a handful.

I really love the philosophy of the florist Constance Spry, who believed that with only a little money and a lot of imagination you could beautify your home with materials found around you. Below are two of her arrangements...