Parrots,
tortoises
tortoises
&
redwoods live a longer life than men do;
Men a longer life than dogs do;
Dogs
a longer life than love does.
edna saint vincent millay
.
.
|
|---|
Showing posts with label Tortoise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tortoise. Show all posts
at 6's & 7's
.
MRS TREFUSIS TAKES A TAXI wonderful blog and truly BEAUTIFULLY written, dropped this little box on me and I offer her my humble thanks. She tells me- This award," like all good inheritances, comes entailed with conditions" - pass the award onto 6 other bloggers & reveal 7 things about yourself.
7
I am a bit superstitious, why risk it? What about you? Tell me something I don't know about You, dear reader.
drawing by YSL from book LOVE by Yves Saint Laurent
.
the LOVE BLOG AWARDS
or
MRS TREFUSIS TAKES A TAXI wonderful blog and truly BEAUTIFULLY written, dropped this little box on me and I offer her my humble thanks. She tells me- This award," like all good inheritances, comes entailed with conditions" - pass the award onto 6 other bloggers & reveal 7 things about yourself.
6
&
(go see them all by clicking on the blog title)
7
random things about me
I love Myrna Loy-in any movie, especially and for always the THIN MAN'S Nora Charles
or here as Mrs. Blandings:
Sarah Bernhardt and I share the same birthday- make of it what you will. I am thrilled.
I insist that I am a woman, though I still get occasional emails asking, I am amused-still.
4th grade photo offered as proof
Turtles are my talisman- ok, So I have blogged about this once,
but it gives me an opportunity to offer this blog post you may not have read.
I love the music of Mother Maybelle, this started at an early age- It just comes over me, I have to hear some Mother Maybelle.
I would easily select Oscar Wilde as my dinner partner-if asked to choose from the famous & drink in his witticisms and feast on his erudition.
I am a bit superstitious, why risk it? What about you? Tell me something I don't know about You, dear reader.
drawing by YSL from book LOVE by Yves Saint Laurent
.
in High Point-What's New? What's MADE GOODS?
.
(GEMMA)
Nothing High Point offers is truly new-there are sparks of fresh things-an accessory line, a furniture maker & alas-the next season -that will be what you see everywhere. There is a real problem with creativity in today's furniture world. It's copy, dilute, reduce.
A few things that have been OD'ed on are the spare look of iron or other & reclaimed wood. The stories about this coming from this place- a school house in Belgium, a barn in Sweden. Who knows? What looked fresh last market is now watered down to the point of mud puddles.
Another sad thing was the shock of ORANGE in the Global Views showroom. Wow talk about overkill. Orange got squeezed into every possible nook & cranny- and on every possible body type. In order to drive home the Orangeness of the place-all the sales reps. appeared to be wearing orange-as My companion said & not the most flattering color. I broke out my orange Hermes Kelly Bag for this trip & it seemed to become a shrinking violet in the midst of the Orange Sea. Poor HKB just kept gasping -
"get me out of here, I have been defiled, debauched- I never want to appear in public again."
Who could blame to little thing? Carrots in vases of water, candy corn, oranges in containers, stacked and every orange thing imaginable. I order from this company-I know how to navigate their website & they have some sweet, neat vases of all shapes, sizes & design. What fails me in the showroom is the grouping together of ALL the Greens, ALL the Oranges (but I've told you about that), ALL the Black, ALL the Turquoise. Are you getting the idea? It is a product push- a mentality of selling an entire Color Collection- No, I protest. This is the problem with design today. It translates to fashion in the form of a Burberry hat, bag, watch, scarf, umbrella. I love Burberry- three of my favourite coats are Burberry but Don't walk as an advertisement for any label unless you are getting paid well.
if you can put blinders on good things can be found. A good looking storage box from Global Views.
One company that gets my Love is MADE GOODS. I have had them in my sights for awhile now. MADE GOODS make MIRRORS. They make MIRRORS very very GOOD.
It is no easy task to rev up a mirror, but founders Oscar Yague and Chris De Witt have gotten it right. I am impressed with the line, the concept, the quality. Go here to peruse their great website. De Witt took a hip route to Mirrors from marketing and merchandising brands like Levi's Nike, Urban Outfitters & Free People. Yague, from Barcelona, moved to the States in '99, working in product development for Anthropologie and Oly Studio. These two make dynamic partnerships at home and at MADE GOODS.
The concept is to meld materials and production techniques to create mirrors that are original, familiar and timeless. Take a look at some of my favourites in their Interhall space at Market & their website.
GORKA. Here, shown in antique gold & in a monumental size 44 x 60. Wood covered in metal-hammered & etched with intricate floral patterns. Circles of tiny mirrors in increasing sizes encircle a central mirror.
GORKA in its 36" round size. Here in silver. Love both sizes. The larger GORKA is quite something!
KATHERINE is an intricate mosaic of cut shells -all hand applied. 37" x 48". Wouldn't this be spectacular in a powder room? The design is translated into a drum chandelier with a sleek cream linen drop shade inset.
ERATOS is made of aged velvet with hand beading in a Greek Key design made of natural color bone beads.
SOPHIE is a Made Goods take on the Trumeau. Shown in grey linen with hand embroidered flower appliques & hand stitched leaves with a few accents of glass beads of course. One of the prettiest.
MADENA is made of rows & rows of matchsticks. I love this one.
EDITH a realistic looking shagreen in Blue, bordered by a Palladian shape inset with a narrow sycamore wood edge.
LILIAN-a 28" diameter drum light made of real shells, heat pressed to create a tortoise look. MADE GOODS also does a mirror in the same finish. I would use this in a library to great effect.
XIMON is a series of scallop edged bone and resin geometric patterns. Diamonds and star shapes are alternately place creating an exotic mirror. This would be a perfect twist in a traditional room paired with an 18th century chest.
The chandelier shown at the heading of the post is by MADE GOODS. GEMMA is made of mother of pearl butterflies and capis butterflies suspended from coco beads. This piece has me thinking about the 1920's, a touch silk charmeuse, eglomise & shagreen.
The only other look in the MADE GOODS Showroom was by MARJORIE SKOURAS DESIGN.
I photographed her Silvio Juan Carlos Chandelier in lapiz lazuli. See more of her things here. Really quite something and she does it in turquoise too.
MARJORIE SKOURAS as seen in the MADE GOODS Showroom at Market.
from her website
Mirrored knobs from Marjorie Skouras
and this sharp looking silhouette portrait rug from her website is a Custom Order.
a few more things to share from High Point in my next postings.
(GEMMA)Nothing High Point offers is truly new-there are sparks of fresh things-an accessory line, a furniture maker & alas-the next season -that will be what you see everywhere. There is a real problem with creativity in today's furniture world. It's copy, dilute, reduce.
A few things that have been OD'ed on are the spare look of iron or other & reclaimed wood. The stories about this coming from this place- a school house in Belgium, a barn in Sweden. Who knows? What looked fresh last market is now watered down to the point of mud puddles.
Another sad thing was the shock of ORANGE in the Global Views showroom. Wow talk about overkill. Orange got squeezed into every possible nook & cranny- and on every possible body type. In order to drive home the Orangeness of the place-all the sales reps. appeared to be wearing orange-as My companion said & not the most flattering color. I broke out my orange Hermes Kelly Bag for this trip & it seemed to become a shrinking violet in the midst of the Orange Sea. Poor HKB just kept gasping -
"get me out of here, I have been defiled, debauched- I never want to appear in public again."
Who could blame to little thing? Carrots in vases of water, candy corn, oranges in containers, stacked and every orange thing imaginable. I order from this company-I know how to navigate their website & they have some sweet, neat vases of all shapes, sizes & design. What fails me in the showroom is the grouping together of ALL the Greens, ALL the Oranges (but I've told you about that), ALL the Black, ALL the Turquoise. Are you getting the idea? It is a product push- a mentality of selling an entire Color Collection- No, I protest. This is the problem with design today. It translates to fashion in the form of a Burberry hat, bag, watch, scarf, umbrella. I love Burberry- three of my favourite coats are Burberry but Don't walk as an advertisement for any label unless you are getting paid well.
if you can put blinders on good things can be found. A good looking storage box from Global Views.
One company that gets my Love is MADE GOODS. I have had them in my sights for awhile now. MADE GOODS make MIRRORS. They make MIRRORS very very GOOD.
It is no easy task to rev up a mirror, but founders Oscar Yague and Chris De Witt have gotten it right. I am impressed with the line, the concept, the quality. Go here to peruse their great website. De Witt took a hip route to Mirrors from marketing and merchandising brands like Levi's Nike, Urban Outfitters & Free People. Yague, from Barcelona, moved to the States in '99, working in product development for Anthropologie and Oly Studio. These two make dynamic partnerships at home and at MADE GOODS.
The concept is to meld materials and production techniques to create mirrors that are original, familiar and timeless. Take a look at some of my favourites in their Interhall space at Market & their website.
good orange
BROOKE
Real full grain leather with double rows of stitching inspired by vintage leather accessories and luggage
BROOKE
Real full grain leather with double rows of stitching inspired by vintage leather accessories and luggage
GORKA. Here, shown in antique gold & in a monumental size 44 x 60. Wood covered in metal-hammered & etched with intricate floral patterns. Circles of tiny mirrors in increasing sizes encircle a central mirror.
GORKA in its 36" round size. Here in silver. Love both sizes. The larger GORKA is quite something!
KATHERINE is an intricate mosaic of cut shells -all hand applied. 37" x 48". Wouldn't this be spectacular in a powder room? The design is translated into a drum chandelier with a sleek cream linen drop shade inset.
ERATOS is made of aged velvet with hand beading in a Greek Key design made of natural color bone beads.
SOPHIE is a Made Goods take on the Trumeau. Shown in grey linen with hand embroidered flower appliques & hand stitched leaves with a few accents of glass beads of course. One of the prettiest.
MADENA is made of rows & rows of matchsticks. I love this one.
EDITH a realistic looking shagreen in Blue, bordered by a Palladian shape inset with a narrow sycamore wood edge.
LILIAN-a 28" diameter drum light made of real shells, heat pressed to create a tortoise look. MADE GOODS also does a mirror in the same finish. I would use this in a library to great effect.
XIMON is a series of scallop edged bone and resin geometric patterns. Diamonds and star shapes are alternately place creating an exotic mirror. This would be a perfect twist in a traditional room paired with an 18th century chest.
The chandelier shown at the heading of the post is by MADE GOODS. GEMMA is made of mother of pearl butterflies and capis butterflies suspended from coco beads. This piece has me thinking about the 1920's, a touch silk charmeuse, eglomise & shagreen.
The only other look in the MADE GOODS Showroom was by MARJORIE SKOURAS DESIGN.
I photographed her Silvio Juan Carlos Chandelier in lapiz lazuli. See more of her things here. Really quite something and she does it in turquoise too.
MARJORIE SKOURAS as seen in the MADE GOODS Showroom at Market.
from her website
Mirrored knobs from Marjorie Skouras
and this sharp looking silhouette portrait rug from her website is a Custom Order.
a few more things to share from High Point in my next postings.
Tortoise or Hare?
petrus christus~ flemish master(1410-1472) I am a self described Tortoise.
I admit it.
Deliberate.
Sure.
Slow and Steady.
Grounded, but with head in the clouds. Eastern mythology tells us the turtle's magic united heaven and earth-a creation of nature carrying its round shell over the ground-the Heavens, and underneath-flat-the Earth.
Hard shell (Well?)
Soft on the inside (Well?)
I even have a bit of a collection to prove it. Here are a few favorites for one or another reasons.
the Turtle shell on the stand is a Guatemalan turtle I named Mariela- after my Guatemalan housekeeper who gifted it to me.Her name was Mariela too.
I was so touched that she had noticed-Well I guess she noticed or maybe...
I was just so slow it reminded her of me. I didn't ask- It might have spoiled everything.
Another very nice tortoiseI have some Tortoises that reside in the yarden. One you must see at some point is quite huge- taking two yardeners to just get it to budge. Purchased from a designer's estate sale- it is supposedly a Japanese Tortoise. The designer's mother was Japanese and the turtle was too. He has only moved three times to my knowledge- from the estate sale to my Garden and then to my yarden. I've moved twice- So the Japanese Tortoise came with me- But...
He was so slow-
He needed help, two yardeners had to move him- as I said.
Some of these outdoor turtles have lost their heads- I prefer to think that the said Head is safely inside the shell...
Some of my turtles are on little sheets of paper...
here are a few of them.
Since we know the fable by heart- here is the French poem adapted from Aesop by La Fontaine~
Le Lièvre et la Tortue
Rien ne sert de courir, il faut partir à point :
Le lièvre et la tortue en sont un témoignage.
« Gageons, dit celle-ci, que vous n’atteindrez point
Sitôt que moi ce but. ─ Sitôt ? êtes vous sage ?
Repartit l’animal léger.
Ma commère, il vous faut purger
Avec quatre grains d’ellébore.
─ Sage ou non, je parie encore. »
Ainsi fut fait ; et de tous deux
On mit près du but les enjeux.
Savoir quoi, ce n’est pas l’affaire,
Ni de quel juge l’on convint.
Notre Lièvre n’avait que quatre pas à faire ;
J’entends de ceux qu’il fait lorsque, prêt d’être atteint,
Il s’éloigne des chiens, les renvoie aux calendes,
Et leur fait arpenter les landes.
Ayant, dis-je, du temps de reste pour brouter,
Pour dormir, et pour écouter
D’où vient le vent, il laisse la tortue
Aller son train de sénateur.
Elle part, elle s’évertue ;
Elle se hâte avec lenteur.
Lui cependant méprise une telle victoire,
Tient la gageure à peu de gloire,
Croit qu’il y va de son honneur
De partir tard. Il broute, il se repose ;
Il s’amuse à toute autre chose
Qu’à la gageure. À la fin quand il vit
Que l’autre touchait presque au bout de la carrière,
Il partit comme un trait ; mais les élans qu’il fit
Furent vains : la tortue arriva la première.
« Eh bien, lui cria-t-elle, avais-je pas raison ?
De quoi vous sert votre vitesse ?
Moi l’emporter ! et que serait-ce
Si vous portiez une maison ? »
Jean de La Fontaine,Livre VI.
Le lièvre et la tortue en sont un témoignage.
« Gageons, dit celle-ci, que vous n’atteindrez point
Sitôt que moi ce but. ─ Sitôt ? êtes vous sage ?
Repartit l’animal léger.
Ma commère, il vous faut purger
Avec quatre grains d’ellébore.
─ Sage ou non, je parie encore. »
Ainsi fut fait ; et de tous deux
On mit près du but les enjeux.
Savoir quoi, ce n’est pas l’affaire,
Ni de quel juge l’on convint.
Notre Lièvre n’avait que quatre pas à faire ;
J’entends de ceux qu’il fait lorsque, prêt d’être atteint,
Il s’éloigne des chiens, les renvoie aux calendes,
Et leur fait arpenter les landes.
Ayant, dis-je, du temps de reste pour brouter,
Pour dormir, et pour écouter
D’où vient le vent, il laisse la tortue
Aller son train de sénateur.
Elle part, elle s’évertue ;
Elle se hâte avec lenteur.
Lui cependant méprise une telle victoire,
Tient la gageure à peu de gloire,
Croit qu’il y va de son honneur
De partir tard. Il broute, il se repose ;
Il s’amuse à toute autre chose
Qu’à la gageure. À la fin quand il vit
Que l’autre touchait presque au bout de la carrière,
Il partit comme un trait ; mais les élans qu’il fit
Furent vains : la tortue arriva la première.
« Eh bien, lui cria-t-elle, avais-je pas raison ?
De quoi vous sert votre vitesse ?
Moi l’emporter ! et que serait-ce
Si vous portiez une maison ? »
Jean de La Fontaine,Livre VI.
which are you?
illustration from Arthur Rackham of Aesop's fable the Tortoise & the Haremore paper tortoises...
let me just say as a Tortoise...I know and love Hares. They are everywhere.
I admit- I am attracted to Hares.
Some of my dearest friends are Hares.
I once dated a German (well ) Tortoise-Hare. does that tell you something?
and a Russian Tortoise...
when walking one very cold evening- he asked me- A Tortoise-to slow down!
As a family we inbred-my father was a Hare, Mother a Tortoise...
Though my brother earned the nickname Pooka, you know- Harvey?, he is very much a Tortoise. He is father to a Tortoise and a Hare.
My brother KC takes after my father- all Hare. all the time.
I've never had ONE Hare rant or humiliate me about my state of existence, never had a Hare harm a hair on my head...
We get along beautifully- We have evolved since the feudal days of our ancestors.
Tortoises DO live a Long time you know...
I sometimes do have to tell one of my particularly Lovely Long Legged Hares to slow it down a bit. I am sure a grimace emanates from one OR both of our faces...
But we end up pretty much together at the end of the day-usually sharing a glass of wine- or I sometimes watch my Hare sip hers...
I'm just happy she's sitting still.
As I said- I love Hares and I will NEVER be heard to say...
Slow and Steady wins the Race.
and Yes, half the fun is getting there.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
