Holiday Good Wishes and Nostalgia

Pont Neuf, originally uploaded by lucy96734.

Thanksgiving is the time of year we offer gratitude for all our good fortune.
I've traveled the world and observed that we, here in America, and I do mean even the least financially secure of us, are millionaires, in the scope of the things that exist in the world.
And, so despite hardships we have endured this past year or so, during this economic tailspin, still we look to the horizon and offer thanks.
For me, the horizon of solace is always Paris, the mother land, where my roots are and I hope one day to be again.
I offer this photo, a bridge to whereever you need to go, a sky to shelter you, and lights with which you can seek your way, and I offer thanks....................... T

IMAGE FOR THE DAY.....

 I am  still trying to find my "blog voice".  Is it as artist, designer, "decorator", stylist -- all hats I have worn and still do wear when the project calls.  Not certain the direction this shall take, but enthusiastic about the process.

 A most RAINY day here, which I LOVE!! Working on some things of interest to post. In the meanwhile, this image, courtesy of Neville Trickett --http://www.saintverde.blogspot.com -- I shall share. Haunting and mysterious, dark yet lovely, sums up the feel of my day.

BIRD..............

Lovely Bird - colours like my eye - though my eye is not this lovely......

Though I live in a mostly black and white world, yet SOMEWHAT  creamy beige, greige, and  chocolate brown world,  my mind always romps to colour. The colour of my eye on my profile, I just realized, mimics the colour of my painting that tops this journal.

 I am suddenly haunted by the professor in graduate school who informed us, despite all our posturing,  that all paintings are a reflection of ourselves.

We cringed....

 Oh, BUT, could CERTAINLY see it in the work of others, but not, OH GOD NO, not our own!

So, as I ponder my next creative venture in the studio, I am torn between my innate sense of the monochrome, and my lusty desire for the peacock,  the scarab, and  the parrot.

I suppose all to be a reflection upon me...............

DOVIMA......

Thinking about creativity, especially paints and their names, but the madness of the day, has stopped me here at this image. I will get back to the other subject later.

 This is, perhaps, my favourite of all images that exist.

 Avedon. That man was a genius. This period of his work is beyond brilliant. And, Dovima, who sadly ended up her glamorous life serving hash browns at a diner in south Florida, though I am certain she always looked Dovima-divine. How could she not!

This image was used as the poster for Avedon's retrospective at the Met in 1978. I looked  for a copy for years, to no avail.  I unearthed a couple examples, in dreadful shape and exorbitantly priced. Finally, one day, just a couple years ago, I found her, my Dovima. 

She resides in my dressing room, and inspires me as I ready myself each day. 

Black and white, my preferred palette, yet she inspires me in colours that creep, not into my wardrobe, but my paintings.

She is exuberance-- old fashioned and modern at the same time.

RAISON d'ETRE.....  

  " I don't want to be reasonable -- there's plenty of time for that in the grave. 

           What I want is adventure,  innovation,  foolishness and discovery."                                                                                                                Mirabel Osler

I don't recall where I came across the quote above, only that I copied it down and posted it to my studio pin board. It delights me each time I read it. I commence this  journal in the spirit of adventure and discovery, as a reposite for things that intrigue and inspire, and to allow me to explore the creative ideas I generally just tote about it my head.