Lovely World

costume

:: I recently found an old book filled with images of traditional costume from around the world. It is such a pleasure to browse through. I sometimes fear that local and regional style will be lost and everyone will be wearing a t-shirt with a corporate logo emblazoned on it. How sad that would be.

:: My 12-year-old daughter is very interested in the theater. She is involved in a program with Shakespeare and Company. This past weekend she went down to their costume shop to pull outfits for an upcoming fundraiser she and her classmates are performing in. She was so happy in that costume shop. She told me that at one point she was wearing around a large viking hat that had been gifted to Shakespeare and Company from the Metropolitan Opera in NYC.

:: The bottom photo is me holding a doll I made over a year ago. It is still unadorned because I wasn't sure what to do with it. Browsing the costume book is a chance to get inspired. I am doing the hair and face today.

work and worth

:: Dear friends. Thank you again for all the warm comments you have left me as I return to my blog. They are very meaningful.

:: Here you see a collage of many patterns (the lid of a vintage paper box, a small embroidery that an etsy seller from abroad tucked in my package when I ordered from her shop, and a clipping from a recent New York Times Weekend Arts section). I pair this photo with a "Bird in Flight" that I made this month. Hand-dyed wool, vintage silk flowers, and an old factory spool. I bought a handful of these spools at the Brimfiled Market last spring. I hope to get back to the show this year to find more of these. They allow me to portray and support animals in motion.

:: I read an interesting post on Bookhou this morning about the worth of handmade work. I recommend both makers and purchasers of handmade goods read this. Arounna is articulate in her argument. I also have to say that, as an owner of two Bookhou bags, her work is beautiful and worth the investment.

:: Finally, along the lines of work and worth, I read this in Mary Rose O'Rielly's spiritual memoir The Love of Impermanent Things:

"It was so hard for me to learn to value my own vocation - it's still my basic instinct to spill over for anyone who asks - and now, in midlife, I am not going to give up what I know."

Does that sound familiar to you?

calendar and book

{Calendar Week 25}

Book 24/52:

Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games

I really liked this book. I'll be picking up the other books in this trilogy.

calendar and book

{Calendar Week 24}

Thank you Johannes Gruger

Book 23/52:

Deborah Copaken Kogan's Between Here and April

✿ Have a nice start to the week.

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{Calendar Week 23}

Book 22/52:

Mary Karr's Lit

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{Calendar Week 22}

Book 21/52:

Benjamin Wallace's The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the world's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine

of birds and david bowie

I bought this book, "Birds that Hunt and are Hunted," at the library book sale last month. I liked that it was a book about birds, although the title is a little creepy.

The 48 illustrations are photographs of birds on a painted background. I think some of the photographs are hand painted as well. It was published in 1902.

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On a completely different note, here is a video of David Bowie's "Modern Love." I saw his "Serious Moonlight" tour with a friend when I was in high school. We were so excited we could barely contain ourselves. As I watched this video, it reminded me that back in the 1980s we had no cell phones, iphones, ipods, digital cameras, or video cameras. But, we did have big hair and interesting clothes. (If this doesn't play right here- just click the link to youtube)

 

calendar and book

{Calendar Week 21}

Book 20/52:

Kathi Appelt's The Underneath

I read this book aloud to my son. I really liked this one. It is a Newberry Honor Book and a National Book Award finalist.

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{Calendar Week 20}

Book 19/52:

Siddhartha Mukherjee's The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer

(This is an amazing book - science and storytelling woven into a gripping read. It is long - 470 pages - but a page turner.)

reader

I bought this early reader at the library book sale a few weeks ago. It is a graphically-striking mid 20th century Russian or other slavic language book. Perhaps one of you dear readers recognizes the language?

I spent time thoroughly cleaning my work room over the weekend. It was very satisfying to clear the decks for new ideas.

Have a nice Tuesday. The sun is shining here, and we finally have a decent canopy of foliage developing on the trees. This is my favorite time of year.