These long summer days have been taking me away from my computer, so my updates have been infrequent. Thanks for your patience - a new post is on the way soon!
Mary
'Steampunk'-style clock ('Quartz No. 10') by Eric Freitas
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Dear readers,
These long summer days have been taking me away from my computer, so my updates have been infrequent. Thanks for your patience - a new post is on the way soon!
Mary
'Steampunk'-style clock ('Quartz No. 10') by Eric Freitas
These long summer days have been taking me away from my computer, so my updates have been infrequent. Thanks for your patience - a new post is on the way soon!
Mary
'Steampunk'-style clock ('Quartz No. 10') by Eric Freitas
Friday, June 19, 2009
Neil Morris Prowl
First, let me preface this review by saying that I've stopped testing fragrances by carefully and delicately dabbing a few tentative drops on my pulse points. I'm 50 years old now. Time to test perfume like a grownup. I've resolved to test from this point forward with the gusto of a mature, self-confident woman!
Therefore, when I popped the cap of the spray tester (sent to me by the equally womanly Ida) of Neil Morris' provocatively-named scent Prowl, I aimed the nozzle at my forearms, collarbone and behind my knees. Forearms because Chandler Burr once wrote that the arms are an excellent place for fragrance because we're always waving them around. Collarbone because I love catching drifts of my perfume when I'm reading. Behind the knees because that seems to be a very sensual place for a lady to wear scent.
Neil lists the notes as follows: Black Pepper, Honeysuckle, Jasmine Sambac, Tuberose, Patchouli, Oakmoss, Amber, Civet.
Prowl grabs your attention immediately. Opening with a tenacious bite of peppery sweetness - fresh at first, it warms down into a sultry white floral heart, redolent of damp tropical blooms. The note of tuberose, in particular, dusted with the pepper is unbelievably beautiful. Neil has used patchouli very skillfully in the base, as it supports the florals with a lovely soapiness rather than piercing through them. I pick up the pleasantly treebark-y oakmoss and the beautifully musty amber in the final drydown, with just a whiff of the civet at the end.
A gorgeous, sexy fragrance to transition from Spring to Summer. Available at Neil Morris Fragrances.
A Jaguar, John MacAllan Swan (1907)
Therefore, when I popped the cap of the spray tester (sent to me by the equally womanly Ida) of Neil Morris' provocatively-named scent Prowl, I aimed the nozzle at my forearms, collarbone and behind my knees. Forearms because Chandler Burr once wrote that the arms are an excellent place for fragrance because we're always waving them around. Collarbone because I love catching drifts of my perfume when I'm reading. Behind the knees because that seems to be a very sensual place for a lady to wear scent.
Neil lists the notes as follows: Black Pepper, Honeysuckle, Jasmine Sambac, Tuberose, Patchouli, Oakmoss, Amber, Civet.
Prowl grabs your attention immediately. Opening with a tenacious bite of peppery sweetness - fresh at first, it warms down into a sultry white floral heart, redolent of damp tropical blooms. The note of tuberose, in particular, dusted with the pepper is unbelievably beautiful. Neil has used patchouli very skillfully in the base, as it supports the florals with a lovely soapiness rather than piercing through them. I pick up the pleasantly treebark-y oakmoss and the beautifully musty amber in the final drydown, with just a whiff of the civet at the end.
A gorgeous, sexy fragrance to transition from Spring to Summer. Available at Neil Morris Fragrances.
A Jaguar, John MacAllan Swan (1907)
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The Lady and the Unicorn
The unicorn represents mystical and complex symbological concepts, and has been an irrisistable artistic motif for centuries. Christians see in this radiant, white beast the quintessence of an invincible Christ who honors the chastity of a pure soul (the Virgin Mary, aka The Maiden). A more Pagan view sees the unicorn as a symbol of spiritual awareness, elegance, magic, procreation and sexual sublimation.
The unicorn and the Strange Girls who tame him are the subject of this installment. Hope you enjoy these works of art as much as I do!
Below is the tapestry entitled 'Sight', one of the six that make up the group of six late-15th century Flemish tapestries called La Dame à la Licorne. The lady holds up a mirror for the tamed animal; they are surrounded by equally mild fauna. These tapestries were designed in Paris and woven in Flanders, and made for the powerful Jean Le Viste for his castle in Boussac. I think the lady looks very sad here - perhaps sad that the unicorn has been so completely tamed?
This much smaller, and even more poignant, tapestry was made as a cushion for the back of a chair in Strasbourg around 1500 and is called Wildweibchen mit Einhorn (Wild Women with Unicorn). Here the virgin sits in her enclosed garden, seemingly content with the unicorn at her feet. But on the band is written a lament - she is unhappy about being isolated from the world and wants to be released from her loneliness.
Here is The Unicorns (1885) by Gustave Moreau. There was no better artist than Moreau to find a way to combine the dreamlike mysticism of the unicorn myth and the opulence of Byzantium. Here a group of courtly maidens are languidly posed with their beasts. Pass the hookah pipe, please.
The Maiden and the Unicorn, a fresco painted in about 1602 by Domenichino. The temperment of the unicorn is very different here; he looks like he's leaping into her lap for safety. I like her sweet, controlled expression.
Here is Raphael's magnificent Lady with a Unicorn, painted in 1505. Raphael was at the pinnacle of his career with this picture. The lady's glowing skin and hair, the softness of her eyes and the velvety sumptuousness of her dress - it's all just perfection. There is a sad story to this painting. The lady was betrothed when this work was begun by Raphael, and she was originally portrayed holding a dog, a symbol of fidelity. The betrothal was broken. Raphael painted out the dog and painted in the little weeping unicorn.
This is an illumination on vellum from the year 1230, made in England and taken from the Rochester Bestiary. I feel that this is pretty blatant sexualization of the myth. We have two thrusting phallic symbols, a viril-looking knight and a nude Maiden who looks more than a little pleased with the proceedings. The Rochester Bestiary is actually full of depicted, or implied, sex.
Below is a beautifully delicate drawing by daVinci from the late 1470's, A Lady with a Unicorn. Apparantly Leonardo was interested in unicorns too: "The unicorn through its lack of temperence, and because it does not know how to control itself for the delight that it has for young maidens, forgets its ferocity and wildness; and laying aside all fear it goes up to the seated maiden and goes to sleep in her lap, and in this way the hunters take it."
The unicorn and the Strange Girls who tame him are the subject of this installment. Hope you enjoy these works of art as much as I do!
Below is the tapestry entitled 'Sight', one of the six that make up the group of six late-15th century Flemish tapestries called La Dame à la Licorne. The lady holds up a mirror for the tamed animal; they are surrounded by equally mild fauna. These tapestries were designed in Paris and woven in Flanders, and made for the powerful Jean Le Viste for his castle in Boussac. I think the lady looks very sad here - perhaps sad that the unicorn has been so completely tamed?
This much smaller, and even more poignant, tapestry was made as a cushion for the back of a chair in Strasbourg around 1500 and is called Wildweibchen mit Einhorn (Wild Women with Unicorn). Here the virgin sits in her enclosed garden, seemingly content with the unicorn at her feet. But on the band is written a lament - she is unhappy about being isolated from the world and wants to be released from her loneliness.
Here is The Unicorns (1885) by Gustave Moreau. There was no better artist than Moreau to find a way to combine the dreamlike mysticism of the unicorn myth and the opulence of Byzantium. Here a group of courtly maidens are languidly posed with their beasts. Pass the hookah pipe, please.
The Maiden and the Unicorn, a fresco painted in about 1602 by Domenichino. The temperment of the unicorn is very different here; he looks like he's leaping into her lap for safety. I like her sweet, controlled expression.
Here is Raphael's magnificent Lady with a Unicorn, painted in 1505. Raphael was at the pinnacle of his career with this picture. The lady's glowing skin and hair, the softness of her eyes and the velvety sumptuousness of her dress - it's all just perfection. There is a sad story to this painting. The lady was betrothed when this work was begun by Raphael, and she was originally portrayed holding a dog, a symbol of fidelity. The betrothal was broken. Raphael painted out the dog and painted in the little weeping unicorn.
This is an illumination on vellum from the year 1230, made in England and taken from the Rochester Bestiary. I feel that this is pretty blatant sexualization of the myth. We have two thrusting phallic symbols, a viril-looking knight and a nude Maiden who looks more than a little pleased with the proceedings. The Rochester Bestiary is actually full of depicted, or implied, sex.
Below is a beautifully delicate drawing by daVinci from the late 1470's, A Lady with a Unicorn. Apparantly Leonardo was interested in unicorns too: "The unicorn through its lack of temperence, and because it does not know how to control itself for the delight that it has for young maidens, forgets its ferocity and wildness; and laying aside all fear it goes up to the seated maiden and goes to sleep in her lap, and in this way the hunters take it."
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Friends and readers, I'm returning to blogging today after a short time away. I hope everyone has been enjoying these early days of June!
I'm working on a new Strange Girls post and should have it up by tomorrow.
In the meantime, Johnny Depp is 46 today. Let's all take a moment to praise whatever or whoever strung his DNA together.
I'm working on a new Strange Girls post and should have it up by tomorrow.
In the meantime, Johnny Depp is 46 today. Let's all take a moment to praise whatever or whoever strung his DNA together.
Friday, May 29, 2009
My blog has been having a bit of a rest - I'll be updating soon!
Noonday Rest (1910), John William Godward
Noonday Rest (1910), John William Godward
Monday, May 25, 2009
Memorial Day
U.S. Army First Infantry Division landing on Omaha Beach.9,387 Americans died on 6 June 1944 to liberate Europe, nearly 15,000 total Allied troops killed.
Average age 22.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
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