Week 18May 2017

This edition: Creative fulfillment, the ultimate 90’s chillout song, a cold and distant beauty + Brad Pitt

Create…
Ive been thinking a lot about creative fulfilment lately… Ive never had a burning urge to create art until just recently. In my previous job, I was creative almost every day – admittedly I was creating for clients and transcribing their vision, but I still got to experiment and create and that was enough to keep me creatively fulfilled. Having recently changed jobs to one that isnt as creative, I have suddenly felt this overwhelming feeling to design and to design for myself.

I’ve got a few ideas rattling around in my head for some projects I’d like to experiment with – but finding the time is hard right!? In amongst everything else, I now want space to create and design… Is there a way to create time?

How do you go about fitting in your passion? Does it get first priority and you make time for it without fail, or is it relegated to 2nd, 3rd or 10th place in the list of things to do?

The weekthat was..

This was one of those design projects that I wish I’d thought of. Super well done.
How to live a Creative Life infographic
Inside the sketchbooks of famous artists
Nah, Im definitely a cool mum 😉
I’m needing to *try* and make this Cherry Pie
Digital Natives? The different ways in which parents handle their kids’ use of technology are creating three distinct types of tech users — and setting the stage for a clash of cultures
Shut up and listen. I really needed to read this.

Listening to...

Mazzy Star // Fade Into You
Let’s take a step back to the 90’s for this one. One of my all-time favourite albums and this song is the soundtrack to my early adulthood.
The ultimate chillout song. Every time I hear it I’m transported back to my share flat, drinking cheap wine after a night out clubbing. 😉

This month's photos

Art

Tamara De Lempicka / Girl with the Green Gloves

Tamara De Lempicka was a wealthy Polish socialite famous for her painting style that perfectly blended together Cubism into the more widely recognised Art Deco art style. In her distinct and unique way, De Lempicka’s paintings directly reflected her interests – beauty, elegance, wealth and sexuality.

This is probably her most famous artwork – Girl with the Green Gloves. It’s quite an understated sexualised painting for De Lempicka. Just by looking at it, you can almost feel the cold breeze that’s blowing through the model – making her dress cling delicately to her breasts and her hands cling to her hat saving it from blowing away.

She is a cold and distant beauty – much like her artist.

De Lempicka led a fascinating life, she made her name while heavily involved with the bohemian set in Paris in the roaring 1920’s (Think Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso & Jean Cocteau) where she was famous for her libido. She had many affairs, a lot of them bi-sexual. She became the mistress of a Baron and eventually they ended up marrying in 1934 after his wife died.

She foresaw the 2nd World War coming before most people and had the good sense to move herself, her husband and their fortune over to the US where she settled in Beverly Hills and became part of Hollywood royalty of the time.

She had one daughter Kizette – who she had a difficult relationship with, always preferring her peers as company and not taking on the role of “mother” in a traditional sense of the word. They remained in contact though and DeLempicka even lived with her towards the end of her life. But she was very critical of everything – nothing was ever as good as the “good ol’ days” – which made her extremely disagreeable to live with.

For all her faults, she led a colourful and entertaining life. She’s definitely an interesting woman… Its a wonder Hollywood hasn’t immortalised her in film yet. It would be one to watch that’s for sure!

Brad Pitt x GQ

High Art or bullshit?

Much has been said of this interview/photo shoot of Brad Pitt – It’s his first interview since his very public marriage breakdown. First off, it must be said, Brad comes off as a serious tripper. If he hadn’t made it abundantly clear that he was sober, I would have said for sure he was baked during the interview. And while some of the photos themselves are definitely tipping into the edge of cray-cray – some of them are quite beautiful too. I do like the fact that they’ve taken an artistic edge to the shoot rather than the straight “beauty” shots that most pull out for cover articles.

Have you read it? What did you think?

ps. I actually really love this photo