Tag Archives: Art

Reclining Nudes…

02 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by in Art, Photography, Reflections

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© Khrystynana Kazakova

…the artist is he who can take a piece of flint and wring out of it drops of attar of roses.  – Walter Sickert

In celebration of the beautiful feminine form, here are my favorite reclining nude paintings – most of them by the Impressionists:

1.  Reclining Nude by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
2.  Reclining Nude by Richard Edward Miller
3.  Reclining Nude by Richard Edward Miller
4.  Reclining Nude by Isaac Israels
5.  Autumn by Frederick Carl Frieseke
6.  Large Reclining Nude (The Pink Nude) by Henri Matisse
7.  Reclining Nude by Jean Frédéric Bazille
8.  Olympia by Edouard Manet
9.  After the Bath or Reclining Nude by Edgar Degas
10. Reclining Nude by Edward Hopper
11. Reclining Nude by Douglas Hofmann
12. The Reclining Shepherdess by Berthe Morisot
13. Reclining Nude by Giovanni Boldini
14. Reclining Nude with Mirror by Delphin Enjolras
15. Reclining Nude by István Szőnyi
16. Reclining Woman Magenta Green and Orange by Beverly Brown
17. Reclining Nude by Amedeo Modigliani
18. Nude with Hands behind Head by Amedeo Modigliani
19. Nude by Salvador Dali
20. Mornington Crescent Nude by Walter Sickert

Women Reading Books…

31 Tuesday May 2011

Posted by in Art, Fashion, Photography, Reflections

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© Ukushu Khrystyna

Pierre-Auguste Renoir loved to paint women and girls engaged in everyday activities, especially reading. Below are beautiful paintings of women and girls reading:

1.  Woman Reading by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
2.  Reading Woman by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
3.  Two Young Girls Reading by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
4.  Young Woman Reading By A Window by Delphin Enjolras
5.  A Favorite Book by Delphin Enjolras
6.  A Woman Reading by Claude Monet
7. The Novel Reader by Vincent van Gogh
8.  Reading Lesson by Auguste Toulmouche
9.  Girl Reading or in the Orangery by Charles Perugini
10.  Girl reading by Franz Eybi
11. American Girl Reading by George Cochran Lambdin
12. A Young Woman Reading by Jean-Honore Fragonard
13. Woman Reading in a Landscape by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot
14. Woman Reading by David Park
15. The Window Seat by Sir William Orpen
16. Grace Reading at Howth Bay by Sir William Orpen
17. The Treasured Volume by Harry Brooker
18. Compagnie by Escha Van den bogerd
19. Reading (The Artist’s Sister) by Berthe Morisot
20. Simplon Pass: Reading by Singer Sargent
21. The Little Convalescent by Eastman Johnson
22. Fire Opal by Laura Coombs Hills
23. Reading on the Rocks by John George Brown

Model: Ukushu Khrystyna

Lady in Red…

29 Sunday May 2011

Posted by in America's Next Top Model, Art, Fashion, Photography, Reflections

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© Khrystyana Kazakova

I want to reach that condensation of sensations that constitutes a picture.
Henri Matisse

I was surprised how few of my favorite artists painted portraits of women wearing red dresses. Here are some beautiful ones I found:

1.  Lady in Red by Murat Kaboulov
2.  La Femme en Rouge by Giovanni Boldini
3.  The Lady in Red by Giovanni Boldini
4.  Madame Juillard in Red by Giovanni Boldini
5.  Mrs. Charles E. Inches (nee Louise Pomeroy) by John Singer Sargent
6.  Portrait of a Lady in Red by Sandro Botticelli
7.  Woman in Red by Jacqui Faye
8.  Portrait of a Woman in Red Dress by Anna Bilińska-Bohdanowicz
9.  Portrait of a Lady in Red by Jacopo Pontormo
10. Study of a Woman in Red by Jean-Jacques Henner
11. The Small Cowper Madonna by Raphael Sanzio
12. Helnwein Child by Raphael Sanzio
13. Portrait of a Woman in a Red Dress – Pierre Auguste Renoir

Model: Khrystyana Kazakova

Scarves…

18 Friday Mar 2011

Posted by in Art, Design, Fashion, Photography, Reflections

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© Miri Ekshtein – detail

Scarf – an article of dress of a light and decorative character.

I have a penchant for beautiful scarves! My favorite silk patterned ones were purchased at flea markets in Lisbon, Santa Fe, and San Francisco. I drape them around my shoulders mostly but have never had the panache to wear them in the dramatic way shown above.

I did, however, buy a crimson suede-fringed scarf on vacation in Morocco that seemed very chic, but once I got home it looked more like Davy Crockett meets Little Red Riding Hood and I never wore it.

© Miri Ekshtein

Models – Lauren DiMarco and Khrystyana Kazakova

Proserpine Posterized…

13 Sunday Mar 2011

Posted by in Art, Photography, Reflections, Travel

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© Olesya Aleksandronis

Pluto, god of the underworld, abducted Proserpine to be his queen and bride.

The woman’s fingers in the photograph above, brought to mind one of my favorite marble sculptures, Pluto and Proserpina (1621-22), by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the Galleria Borghese, Rome.

© absurdlakefront.tumblr.com

Model – Maksim Zaitsev

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Clay Sculptures…

11 Friday Mar 2011

Posted by in Art, Crafts, Photography, Reflections

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© Susan Collett, "Cauldron" approx. 38" H

Each has his own happiness in his hands, as the artist handles the rude clay (s)he seeks to reshape it into a figure; yet it is the same with this art as with all others: only the capacity for it is innate; the art itself must be learned and painstakingly practiced. – Goethe

The two clay sculptures by talented Toronto-based artist, Susan Collett, evoke extremes of the same beautiful images for me:

Cauldron is reminiscent of the coral and conch shells strewn on Florida beaches, while Cluster awakens memories of oyster, scallop, and clam shells from more northern shores, such as Nantucket Island.

I have a penchant for a darker beauty (preferring black pearls and diamonds, black & white photographs and movies, nightscapes, and images of the underbelly of life), that which is swathed in mystery and thus relies more on the imagination.

© Susan Collett, "Cluster" approx. 30" H

One of Susan Collett’s clay sculptures is now in the collection Severes Porcelain Museum, Paris. See her website for more views of her truly original work – clay, copper, prints, and installations.

Act of Creation…

23 Wednesday Feb 2011

Posted by in Art, Design, Fashion, Photography, Reflections

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© Joan Currie

I design thinking about the kind of woman that I would be: intelligent, powerful, and eccentric. – Zac Posen

There is nothing like an old fashioned dress form to help create an innovative fashion design.

My first overly-ambitious sewing project was a gown for my grade twelve prom. I chose a sky blue velvet fabric and a Butterick pattern with an Empire waist. Since the fabric was so delicate, I decided to sew the full-length back zipper in by hand. I was terribly pleased with my creation and imagined all the lovely gowns that I would make in the future.

My date, stunningly handsome in his tuxedo, liked the dress so much, he insisted that we stop at his house to take some photographs before the event. Unfortunately, when I extended my hand to greet his parents, the zipper ripped out from the back seam and his mother and I spent a good part of the evening trying to sew it back into place. My humiliation was so great that I have no memory of the prom itself.

Painting and Poem…

14 Monday Feb 2011

Posted by in Art, Photography, Writing

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© Jacqueline Osborn – Afternoon Affair

We Everyday Our Love
by Phil Turner

I mechanic her car
She Tide’s my T’s
I Monday her garbage
She Friday’s my cleaning
I divide her labor
She trims my toil.

She Bonnies my Clyde
I Adam her Eve
She cheeks my touch
I rhythm her dance
She buzzes my waking
I dream her sleep.

I young her years
She discos my decades
I friend her blog
She twitters my tweets
I pony her express
She feathers my flight.

She weaves my fingers
I arm her hug
She smiles my tears
I pillow her pain
She peppers my tonic
I tang her tart.

I pumpkin her muffins
She chickens my soup
I wine her friends
She beers my buddies
I coffee her morning
She juices my day.

She blues my sky
I sun her moon
She mosses my path
I soul her walk
She lyrics my song
I sing her life.

Painting, Afternoon Affair, by Jacqueline Osborn.