Sheer Opulence

"Less Is Not More," a painting I made in 1999 as a gift for an interior designer friend (whose initials are NLM.)

I think every artist loves “doing” their interiors. We may not be interior decorators but the urge is always there to use our surroundings as yet another creative outlet. My taste in interiors, like the art I make, tends to be of the “Less is Not More” school, and looks to the past rather than to current trends for aesthetic nourishment. I love looking at interior design (usually on the printed page) and there are many practitioners whose work I admire, ranging from icons like Nancy Lancaster and Sister Parrish, to current masters like Bunny Williams and John Saladino, and on to the wild frontiers of Diamond and Baratta. Now I have a new addition to my A-list:  I recently acquired a copy of Nicholas Haslam’s Sheer Opulence, subtitled Haslam Style:  Glamour in Contemporary Interiors. 

Opulence and glamour are, alas, not very evident in my present home, but I add touches where I can, and slake my thirst for those qualities by acquiring books such as this. Haslam originally trained as an artist, and the Introduction contains several of his interior watercolors. Haslam’s opulent aesthetic--why just one layer when more can be contrived to richer effect?--is achieved by obsessive attention to detail. Floral print draperies in a bedroom are given a “fuzzy, funky” edging made of 3 layers of heavily gathered, scallop-edged chintz, looking like rows of flower petals attached to the curtains. He can also do sparer, more restrained interiors that nevertheless exude style and that ineffable quality, “taste”, via that same attention to detail. A dignified, monochromatic London drawing room is saved from stodginess by a gorgeous chandelier, cascading drapery swags and deep fringe on an ottoman. Dee-lightful! 

After perusing these beautiful photos for days, I began reading the text. As a young man Haslam was introduced to some well-known personages among his parent’s contemporaries, including Lady Diana Cooper, Cecil Beaton, and Oliver Messel. Geoffrey Scott, author of The Architecture of Humanism, was his father’s cousin (and one of Vita Sackville-West’s lovers) and had a hand in decorating his parent's home. Haslam says these people “taught me the point of the past,” something so very lacking, it seems to me, in the education of today’s younger generations. Or am I showing my age?

“Every room should have a touch of pink in it, because it makes all the other colors sing.”

 -Nicholas Haslam

Along with this lovely book, I am currently reading Serious Pleasures, a biography of Stephen Tennant by Phillip Hoare, which contains photos (by Beaton) of rooms in his family home, Wilsford. Stephen was assisted in decorating Wilsford by Syrie Maugham, another iconic decorator. Pink was his favorite color. These books, one about a legendary aesthete and one by a contemporary artist/designer, make delightfully complementary reading. I recommend them both.

My Wake-up Call

Today on Facebook, I followed a link in a post from Randel Plowman (one of the inspirations for my aborted collage-a-day project) and ended up in a wonderland of incredible artwork. Here is the link:  http://observersroom.designobserver.com/oblog/entry.html?entry=25118

Via the links on the Oblog page, I entered the amazing worlds of Angelica Paez, Javier Rodriguez and Rodrigo de Fillipis. I urge you to do the same.

I can barely tell of the emotions that stirred in me by seeing their work. Surprise, appreciation, the joy of seeing talent put to such effective use, and also, ENVY. Having strayed so far of course from the purpose of starting this blog—to post a daily (or at least steady) stream of new artwork—I felt like I'd been turned to stone in the roadway while others dashed past leaving a shower of glorious artworks in their wake. *sigh*

Clearly, it is time for me to break out of this drift, and get back to my heart's core. Just to make myself feel better, I have re-posted a dozen favorite pieces of my own, to remind myself that, yes, I can actually make art when I choose to. (Click on the date to go to the original post.)

Nectar. Posted 5/22/10

Best Friends Forever. Posted 2/23/10

Descension. Posted 6/11/10

Star Charts. Posted 5/11/10

A Bridefor Max Ernst.  Posted 4/16/10

Buddha Eggs. Posted 5/18/10

Le Chapeau fait l'Homme. Posted 6/9/10 

St. Theresa in Excelsis. Posted 4/11/10

The Walls of Jericho. Posted 7/13/10

Pleasure Dome. Posted 7/1/10

Egg Hunt. Posted 6/12/10

Clever Parrot. Posted 5/7/10

Happy Birthday, Edward Gorey!

Today would’ve been Edward Gorey’s 86th birthday. Alas, he is no longer with us but I don’t doubt he can “hear” our birthday wishes. As my own homage to the Master of macabre wit, I offer photos of a recipe box I made several years ago (for one of the people I love most in the world, who is also a dedicated Gorey fan.)  The box is decoupaged with scenes based on EG’s drawings, combined with illustrations of vintage utensils and comestibles. I think Edward would’ve enjoyed it, and I hope you do, too.



The lid of the recipe box. Arsenical buns for all!



Front of the recipe box. Mr. Earbrass is perhaps having a nightmare?






Rear of box. Beware of attacking kitchen utensils.

  


Side of box. Green Gages and Crumply Bumplies for breakfast!



Other side of box. Welcome to Edward's kitchen.



The box open



Another view of open box



The interior features Victorian kitchen scenes. Don't they look cozy?

 

The War on Women

Not worried yet? Read this email from MoveOn.org:

Dear MoveOn member,

It might seem hyperbolic to say that Republicans have declared a war on women.

Sadly, it's not.

Just take a look at the top 10 shocking, crazy things Republicans have proposed in recent weeks. If you think this constitutes a war on women, please share this email far and wide—forward it, and post it on Facebook and Twitter.

I wish I could say these were the only examples of the Republican war on women. But it's just a sampling, and more is sure to come—unless we raise a ruckus and call them out. So please, share this email today.

Thanks,

Kat

Top 10 Shocking Attacks from the GOP War on Women

1) Republicans not only want to reduce women's access to abortion care, they're actually trying to redefine rape. After a major backlash, they promised to stop. But they haven't.

2) A state legislator in Georgia wants to change the legal term for victims of rape, stalking, and domestic violence to "accuser." But victims of other less gendered crimes, like burglary, would remain "victims."

3) In South Dakota, Republicans proposed a bill that could make it legal to murder a doctor who provides abortion care. (Yep, for real.)

4) Republicans want to cut nearly a billion dollars of food and other aid to low-income pregnant women, mothers, babies, and kids. 

5) In Congress, Republicans have proposed a bill that would let hospitals allow a woman to die rather than perform an abortion necessary to save her life.

6) Maryland Republicans ended all county money for a low-income kids' preschool program. Why? No need, they said. Women should really be home with the kids, not out working.

7) And at the federal level, Republicans want to cut that same program, Head Start, by $1 billion. That means over 200,000 kids could lose their spots in preschool.

8) Two-thirds of the elderly poor are women, and Republicans are taking aim at them too. A spending bill would cut funding for employment services, meals, and housing for senior citizens.

9) Congress voted yesterday on a Republican amendment to cut all federal funding from Planned Parenthood health centers, one of the most trusted providers of basic health care and family planning in our country.

10) And if that wasn't enough, Republicans are pushing to eliminate all funds for the only federal family planning program. (For humans. But Republican Dan Burton has a bill to provide contraception for wild horses. You can't make this stuff up).

Please share this email today. Just click the links to post on Facebook and Twitter.

Sources:

1. "'Forcible Rape' Language Remains In Bill To Restrict Abortion Funding," The Huffington Post, February 9, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206084&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=6

"Extreme Abortion Coverage Ban Introduced," Center for American Progress, January 20, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205961&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=7

2. "Georgia State Lawmaker Seeks To Redefine Rape Victims As 'Accusers,'" The Huffington Post, February 4, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206007&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=8

3. "South Dakota bill would legalize killing abortion doctors," Salon, February 15, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206102&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=9

4. "House GOP Proposes Cuts to Scores of Sacred Cows," National Journal, February 9, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206103&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=10

5. "New GOP Bill Would Allow Hospitals To Let Women Die Instead Of Having An Abortion," Talking Points Memo, February 4, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205974&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=11

6. "Republican Officials Cut Head Start Funding, Saying Women Should be Married and Home with Kids," Think Progress, February 16, 2011
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/16/gop-women-kids/

7. "Bye Bye, Big Bird. Hello, E. Coli," The New Republic, Feburary 12, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206104&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=12

8. "House GOP spending cuts will devastate women, families and economy," The Hill, February 16, 2011
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-a-budget/144585-house-gop-spending-cuts-will-devastate-women-families-and-economy-

9. "House passes measure stripping Planned Parenthood funding," MSNBC, February 18,2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206122&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=13

"GOP Spending Plan: X-ing Out Title X Family Planning Funds," Wall Street Journal, February 9, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206105&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=14

10. Ibid.

Birth Control for Horses, Not for Women," Blog for Choice, February 17, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206106&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=15

Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

Happy Birthday VyVy!

Today is the birthday of a friend of mine who also happens to be a brilliant young physician! So I made this birthday card for her. Have a happy one, VyVy!

I'm also excited because I recently found blogs by Teesha Moore, one of my favorite artists and the one-and-only creator of the planet-wide art phenomena called "zettiology," and also her husband Tracy's blog. Tracy Moore makes incredible hand-made books, in addition to producing fabulous journals like Teesha. Check them out!

Where the Lotus Goes in Winter

I have removed my blog background (except for some color), in the hopes that this will spur me to create my own background. This is something I've wanted to do for a long time.  Why not now? While I wait for Spring. The weather has been teasingly warm(er) here, I no longer feel like a lady locked in ice.

AValentine's Day Wish For You...

Search for a Hidden Heart

May your Valentine's Day be rich
in love, friendship, and chocolate. And may someone special discover your hidden heart.

Time for a Change...

...it's been happening for a long time anyway. Early on, I said the reason I was doing this blog was to get myself to make more art. It worked! For awhile. Perhaps my collage-a-day project was ill-conceived, given that I could not sustain the stresses that goal put on my time, sleep, and other commitments in my life. So, why not write posts about other things that interest me, or things in my life that others might find interesting? Next to art, the biggest category of personal obsessions is books--as well as music, interior decoration, food, gardening, animals, etc. The fact that reading a book is MUCH EASIER than producing art has something to do with it.

So....to bring you up to date with the highlights, and nadir, of my past several days:

Last Friday night I was delighted to attend Handel's Rinaldo when a friend's husband was not up to 3 hours of baroque opera!

Sorceress Armida (Alexandra Loutsion, center) has Almirena and Rinaldo (Shannon Dooley, left, and Stephanie Lauricella) under her power in Pittsburgh Opera's "Rinaldo."
© David Bachman Photography, 2010

 

 

 

The singing was nothing short of astounding, especially considering that these vocalists are members of Pittsburgh Opera's Artists in Residence program, singers-in-training, all so young that only one is just embarking on a professional career. Minimalist but effective sets, in combination with evocative lighting and costumes, also  made for a visually magical night. How about a little operatic beefcake?

Sexy & Shirtless: "Barihunk" Dan Kempson, who sang Argante in Rinaldo

Saturday night I attended a baby shower for a co-worker, and a fine, ribald old time was had by all! 

Sunday afternoon I picked up my daughter from a sibling reunion at her Dad's place, looking forward to spending Monday with her before putting her on a train back to NYC on Tuesday morning.

We watched the Steelers lose the Superbowl., in spite of this year's fabulous fight song, "Drink Up, Yinz Bitches!"...well, gotta give the other guys a chance to win once in awhile.

Alas, I awoke early Monday and found myself face to face with a nasty bout of the flu. I haven't been that sick in quite awhile, and lost my day with my daughter. Fortunately her Aunt was able to get her to the train station so she got home ok.

Last night I finally stopped the frequent dashes for the bathroom, but I stayed home from work today as well. I'll be back in harness tomorrow.

I'm online tonight, actually, because I was searching for pictures of the Honorable Stephen Tennant, whose biography, Serious Pleasures, I am currently reading. There's something about early-20th c personalities that I find utterly fascinating--Stephen Tennant, Diana Cooper, Ottoline Morrel, the Sitwells, the Mitfords, Vita Sackville-West, to name a few. Perhaps its that sense of temps perdu, of ways of life that are forever vanished, that makes the magic. Also, people seemed to conduct themselves with so much more panache and/or elegance in bygone times. Or does every generation think that?

Stephen Tennant costumed as Prince Charming

The days are getting longer...

A melancholy faux-memory for a time when branches are bare,

nests are empty, and eggs are stones.

The days are getting longer, and I feel like I might start creating some art again. Seasonal depression is such a bore. (That’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it.)

January is half over. WHAT?!? *sigh*

At least we are that much closer to Spring. On the other hand, winter can be so wonderfully beautiful. As a child, I loved to explore the woods near my home, especially after a heavy snowfall. Then the branches, arching close over my head with the weight of snow, became a magical, soft tunnel from which I emerged with my own sparkling mantle of white. Now, as an adult, having to commute through the ice and snow to spend my day doing what I do not prefer, can rob the season of its charm. How nice if we could declare winter to be one long holiday, compelled never to leave home unless we chose to visit friends or buy food to be eaten with our families in our warm kitchens.  

“Being in this room on a winter night, 

alone or with one or two great friends,

the sparkling coal fire with its low 

brass-bound fender, the familiar things all around,

sitting in a chair which becomes a nest 

with letters and papers and baskets and telephone

scattered on the floor, dogs comfortably 

settled by the fire, or near the draught of the door

according to their thickness of coat, 

is my idea of an evening happily spent.”

Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire,  

The House: A Portrait of Chatsworth

And so begins another year…

"Angel of Light." Christmas 2010

I wish I had had the foresight to put up a post after Christmas that said “Holiday hiatus in effect, see you later!” I didn’t do so, because I had intended to keep up with Collagitation blog throughout the holidays. Next year I’ll know better—or try harder! I have this dilemma, where I still desire to post my own artwork, but, especially during the holidays, I didn’t make the time to do any. So I ended up not posting anything. However, I did take some nice pictures of the decorations in our house, so I’ll use some of those instead.
The arrangement above is situated in a corner of the dining room, which is an interior room with no windows so it is ideal for this type of display. I saw the crystal bowl full of lights and silver ornaments on a Christmas house tour several years ago, then later I found the lovely angel figure (at the Salvation Army store, no less) and I love how she looks hovering over the lit bowl.

My New Year’s Resolution, of course, is to resume regularly making artwork. I wish all of you a happy, productive, prosperous and serene year in 2011!

"Go into yourself and test the depths in which your life takes rise; at its source you will find the answer to the question whether you must create."   Rainer Maria Rilke

12/27/2010: Merrily Chistmas Rolls Along!

We left room under the tree for Dundee, who loves laying there

 

It has been a lovely, if somewhat bittersweet, Christmas here at Patchwork Cottage (an unofficial  name given to our little house by my Mother, because of the miscellany of materials that cover the exterior.)  Lovely for all the usual reasons—sheer beauty, warm emotions, memories, familial love, traditions, contemplation, companionship, time off from my job –but also a bit sad; due not just to the sweet melancholy engendered by all of the above, but also, primarily, because of my Mother’s continuing decline into dementia, and then my son’s non-appearance due to flu, and my daughter’s non-appearance due to burn-out and the need to take time to reconnect with her and her husband’s own home in New York and all the solace therein. Well, this last is actually not sad-making, I am happy for her to have time off to just indulge in home-life without dealing with holiday travel stresses. My son, who lives locally, is on the mend, having, as usual, not even let us know he was ill. He travels a different orbit and we never know when he may or may not communicate/turn up.

Nevertheless, the pervading mood of the holiday (so far—I insist on all 12 days’ worth of celebration) has been one of wonder and gratitude. Wonder, because, no matter how often I experience it, the physical transformation of our home wrought by the Christmas tree, the tiny lights strung on wreaths and garlands which festoon every room, massed candles, the festive music and aromas of special foods being lovingly prepared, is such a source of joy! I told my Mother, as we watched Baryshnikov dance the Nutcracker, that one of the reasons I so loved Christmas was because it was a time when the appearance of my physical surroundings almost matched the magical world inside my head (where I probably spend way too much time.)  

Well, I guess that is the whole point (once you get beyond mere shelter) of inhabiting a home at all: to create an environment that reflects and nourishes your own senses and sensibilities as nowhere else can, your intimate space into which you can beckon family and select friends. Holiday decorating is that, on steroids. All the decorating excesses that would be bad taste any other time are allowed at Christmas. Though I draw the line at two items:  those hideous, bloated, inflatable plastic Santas and Snowmen; and exterior Christmas lights that operate in such a way as to send susceptible persons into epileptic shock. You know, those lights that race, flash, jerk, change color and direction--! No, give me the still, silent grace of strands of white light drifting from the eaves, or colored bulbs illuminating the façade of the house, tracing against the night that familiar icon that says “home.” Or spirals of lights outlining the primal forms of trees, casting their glow onto the carpet of snow on the lawn around them. Silent night, still night. Give me Christmas lights that echo that aesthetic—the deep silence and stillness of winter, the quiet of animals hunkered down in earthen dens or straw-insulated barns, the evocative pattern of a window cast in warm, supple light on the snow outside, bearing silent witness to the human warmth within.

The wonder of the Birth of Christ is not absent from my Christmas. I still call the winter holidays by the name honoring that event. Having been raised a Roman Catholic, it’s true I have an atavistic tug towards all those religious elements that form the “true meaning” of Christmas to so many. Yet, other, older impulses draw me just as compellingly—the winter festivals celebrated since long before the advent of Christ or even his father, that rather sour-tempered Judaic patriarchal god. Oh, how long ago the snows fell, how long our memories dwell, our sagas tell of nurturing the light, seeking the warmth against the endless night, marking the settings of the Sun, until the night that brought us the dawn of the returning Star. The Winter Solstice, the greatest of the olden holidays, (usurped by the greatest of the Christian holidays, Christmas) the rebirth of the star that gives life to this planet. The source of physical life and the source of spiritual life combined in one season--what more could we ask….?

And gratitude—what makes one count one’s blessing more than the winter holidays? There must be some kind of atavistic wellspring of victory about surviving the harshness of winter, a primordial memory of overcoming the double-whammy of the cold death coupled with cold winter, that makes us especially grateful at this time of year. (Reminds me of an episode of Northern Exposure, where a corpse had to be hauled into a tree to survive the winter, safe from wolves, until the spring thaw when a grave could be dug.) Every feeling of gratitude is magnified in this season: I offer gratitude for my family and friends, my home, my abilities (such as they are), and for so many other things spreading out into the wide world—gardens, books, music, classical architecture, Victorian hotels, the fall of Communism,  inexpensive red wines, bread machines, organic eggs, thrift shops, the internet, and friends I reach thereby—and here let me stop! 

ALSO greetings and thanks to Junibears, Nigel and Connie for your comments, I will offer personal responses later this week--cannot respond from home computer : (

Merry Christmas to Me!

While shopping for Christmas gifts for family and friends, I usually end up buying way too many books—especially for myself. Here I offer a little tableau, in my over-flowing library (which is also my art studio), displaying some recent acquisitions. 

With so many discount book stores on the streets and publisher's closeout catalogs arriving in the mail, at least I almost never pay full price for them.  Nowadays my favorite catalog sellers also have websites, but I get cheap, bibliophiliac thrills from perusing discount book catalogs. My favorites come from Edward R Hamilton (http://edwardrhamilton.com/) and Daedalus Books (http://www.daedalus-books.com/).  Dover Publications http://store.doverpublications.com/ is another favorite source, not discount but I always try to get their items on sale —a regular occurrence at Dover (also don't forget to sign up for weekly,  free email samples from Dover's digital images library). When in pursuit of a specific, probably out of print book, my first resource is American Book Exchange (which offers no catalog):  http://www.abebooks.com/  as well as Amazon.com (no link necessary) whose affiliate sellers also often carry those hard-to-find items.

The costume book, containing marvelously detailed engravings of mostly Teutonic 18^th c dress, and the Dore Gallery (with CD-ROM) from Dover will provide inspiration and materials for collages. Also from Dover comes a book about Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. I’ve been fascinated by that event ever since reading Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City.  Larson creates a masterpiece of tension that moves between the logistics of designing and constructing the splendid “white city” that housed the fair, and the nefarious activities of the charming but murderous psychopath, Dr. Holmes, who found the fair to be fertile hunting grounds for his victims (true story.)

From Daedalus came Yann Martel’s The Life of Pi; Manor Houses of Normandy, and Temple Grandin’s marvelous book, Making Animals Happy.   The Life of Pi was an impulse buy, and it looks to have been a good one. It’s one of those books written for adolescents, that, like the Harry Potter series, offers writing with depth and wit enough to keep more mature readers enthralled; the story of a ship-wrecked boy whose wits and skill enable him to survive (unlike his several animal boat-mates) at sea in a life-boat with a ravenous tiger. It contains magical illustrations by Tomislav Torjanac.

Buying books sight unseen, of course, sometimes results in unexpected encounters, as well as pleasures. Manor Houses of Normandy is a rather dry, didactic, technical study of these structures, but nonetheless there are wonderful photos  to fire the imagination. The buildings date mostly from the 18^th century, yet they look to me so archaic that I thought they dated from the 14-15^th c.  This book will take its place in the architecture section rather than the interiors section of my library.

Temple Grandin is an authority on animal communication who suffers from (or is gifted with) autism, apparently the source of her ability to penetrate the veil between our minds and those of the animals we love, as well as those anonymous beasts who play such a critical role in our lives. If you care at all about animals (who could not??) I heartily recommend her book, Making Animals Happy. You will discover, among other revelations, that one of the reasons cats are reviled among a certain percentage of the population, is because they do not possess the facial muscles to form expressions similar to our own, that dogs do.

Almost hidden in the photo is a book entitled Making the Metropolis:  Creators of Victoria’s London, by Stephen Halliday, which came from a recent used book sale at a local library (oh, to tell you of the treasures I have found coughed up from the dusty cellars of libraries!!)  It is the kind of fascinating study that I love to get immersed in and let carry me away to another time and place. From the jacket flap:  “Halliday’s…book shows how the ramshackle collection of communities that entered the 19^th century became the world’s first metropolis.”

Finally, there is the first volume of Anthony Powell’s epic series of novels, collectively entitled A Dance to the Music of Time.  I read about these books in other books (there’s a topic for a whole other post—bibliosynergy) and have always wanted to read them. I gather they are sort of a British version of Proust, perhaps? The books cover the decades between the world wars, an era (among others) which endlessly fascinates me. So much change, so fast,  and with such devastating consequences—how did it all happen? And also producing such singular personalities, how did the people survive it—or not? There are many books which fall into this chronological span, both fiction and non, and some of my favorites include the novels of Mary Wesley and such works as biographies of Vita Sackville-West, Stephen Spender, Lady Diana Cooper, the Sitwells, Cecil Beaton, the Mitford sisters, Iris Origo, etc, ad nauseum. Oh, if only I had the time! (Which will probably be the epitaph on my urn….)

Motherhood

I know a couple of women who are deathly afraid of birds. Can you imagine? Did their mothers watch Hitchcocks's "The Birds" too many times during pregnancy? Birds are naturally excellent mothers, as are all members the animal kingdom.

I read an article once years ago, about a woman who was a preacher I think in the 19th c. South, and she was taken to task by male church members for it, who felt it was not a woman's place to try to teach about Christ. She pointed out to them, that only women should teach about Christ, because he was born of a human woman WITHOUT the involvement  any human male! You go, girl! So I think Christmas is as much a celebration of Motherhood and the miracle of birth, as of the coming of a savior.

I Love Christmas!

...and so here is another piece of Christmas art for you. Made on Polyvore.com. My Polyvore name is Diakea, you can do a Member search to see my other digital art made there, as well as some fabulous art by my Polyvore buddies.

Christmas Kisses to You!

A digital confection created on Polyvore.

Olden times and ancient rhymes of love and dreams to share...

Like the lyrics to the beautiful song by Lee Mendelson and Vince Guaraldi, the winter holidays evoke memories and dreams more than any other time of year. I suppose this goes back to ancient times when humankind hunkered down and nestled in for the winter season, replacing the vigorous activity of farm and field for the introspection of fireside warmth.  For me, Christmas is a time of dispensation, when the normal pattern of everyday life is briefly dusted with magic, and we indulge in traditions that cheer us and give reassurance against the dark and cold beyond our walls. Little Augury recently posted some of her favorite Christmas traditions, and requested some from her readers. Herewith, my own “Top Ten” cherished holiday rites:

1) A Christmas tree, decked with treasured ornaments that each have a story. The cloudy, craquelured glass balls from my childhood are among the most cherished.

Our Christmas tree, c. 1953

2) The Manger. Having been raised Roman Catholic, the Manger scene will forever be integral to my Christmas. My Mother’s set goes under our tree, and I temporarily displace some books to make an arrangement in the library of the well-worn figures that were under my Grandparent’s tree during my childhood.

My Mother's manger set from the 1970's. The sugar angels are c. 1965.

3)  My annual Christmas card. I believe I’ve missed only one year out of the 39 or so that I’ve been doing this, starting when my children were small. The cards used to be individually hand-made, but as my painted or collaged designs got more elaborate, I started having them color-copied. I still assemble the cards by hand.

lino block print, 1970

Paper collage card, 2007

4) Decorating to the hilt! I love the annual transformation of my home into a holiday house with something special to see at every turn:  little surprises tucked on bookshelves and table-tops, greens, berries and poinsettia blossoms (mostly artificial but still beautiful) garlanding door frames and mirrors, as well as our annual Nutcracker display. The topiary trees at each end were made by me, using moss harvested from the lawn of our German apartment building, c. 1995. They have been part of my Christmas decorating ever since.

The Nutcracker collection, 2006

5) Baking. Everyone knows that goodies you eat during the holiday season will never cause you to gain weight. Right?

6) Christmas Eve dinner with family at the home of my cousin and her husband.

7) My musical friends’ annual Christmas party, which always culminates in everyone gathering round the grand piano in their Victorian parlor, to sing Christmas carols, loudly and lustily, accompanied by flute and trombone (played by father and son, respectively.) 

8) The Victorian Christmas house tour in Old Allegheny West, an enclave of lovingly-preserved Victorian houses on Pittsburgh’s North Side. I discovered this wonderful event a decade ago when I saw an article about it in House and Garden magazine.

From the 2007 Victorian Christmas House Tour

9) Gluhwein! What the Germans drink to keep warm during outdoor winter events, such as Christmas markets. I will soon be enjoying some here at home. One does not, of course, buy the prepared bottled stuff. First, you make a mull with lemon, orange, cinnamon, clove and other aromatic goodies, sweetened with sugar or honey, simmered for awhile (filling the house with incredible aroma) then add red wine and heat, very gently, so as not to burn off any merry-making molecules, and serve. Good cheer indeed! A must while out on the nighttime patio viewing the December star-scape.

10) Elizabeth’s bears. My soon-to-be-84 year old Mother has been collecting teddy-bears (for affection, not value) for quite awhile now. At Christmas, the entire collection makes its annual appearance all around the house. 

Wishing all of you the happiest of holidays, and may you enjoy just rewards for all the hard work I know you you've put forth to make them special!

A Coming Metamorphosis

It’s been awhile since I posted anything, and at present I still have no new artwork to show, alas. However, I do see light at the end of the tunnel: I’ve finally finished this huge calligraphy job that has been stalking me like the Hound of the Baskervilles for several weeks and preventing me from taking up more creative activities. Here is a tale of woe all too familiar to calligraphers:  the piece is done, all 500+ words of it filling an 18x24 sheet, and the last step is adding a logo in black. Why I chose to do so with a crow quill pen instead of a permanent black marker, I can’t fathom, but I’ll know better from now on! Because, of course, the pen burped out too much ink, which bled beyond the edge of the logo design and thus ruined the entire piece. (And that was the second attempt, the first one being only half-done when I ruined it by leaving out an entire, important word.)  That was last weekend. This past week, every night after work, I plied my pen (doing the logo first—in marker!) and, HURRAY!! last night I finished it. Here it is, with apologies for the lousy digital photography:

Since I can no longer keep up the strain of working full time and still producing one of my intricate, detailed collages every day (attempts at simplifying my style have been futile) I’ve been pondering where to go with this blog. Recently I came across a couple of other blogs whose style I love—Little Augury, written by an interior designer in the Carolinas, and Scala Regia, by a Diogo Mayo, who is Portuguese. Both of them have exquisite tastes and interests in art, books, fine interiors, beautiful gardens, legendary personages, in short, the very things that are most compelling to me. Little Augury tends to emphasize interiors, while Scala Regia has lots about fashion, and both offer plenty about the personalities involved in those industries. LA includes a good bit of text, while SR is mostly visuals.Their blogs are loaded with wit and style and never fail to interest, enlighten and amuse. So, taking inspiration from these, I will attempt to broaden Collagitation to encompass all of my interests, not just my art. Whether I can do this without boring people remains to be seen!

Collagitation will remain the title, because, after all, life is a collage, made up of colors, patterns, and contents that we select and attempt to arrange in a fulfilling design of our own making. But unlike the art that we create, many, if not most, of the elements that comprise our lives are not what we choose, but either what we are dealt or what we settle for. Which is one of the reasons why creating art is so satisfying. “Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” - Twyla Tharp