Olympic Fever : Nadia Comaneci

Colour Me LULU

Should your glance on mornings lovely

Lift to drink the heaven's blue

Or when sun, veiled by sirocco, Royal red sinks out of view,

Give to nature praise and honour.

Blithe of heart and sound of eye,

Knowing for the world of colour, where its broad foundations lie.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The lovely Lulu de Kwiatkowski, She paints, she designs fabrics,wallpapers, dinnerware, pillows , rugs, bedding and my favourite of all are her collages that she transformed into a handwritten and hand painted journal, travelogue, bio, titled LULU all created on from her kitchen floor.

All this amazing work and a mother to three boys, I should have paid more attention when we were in art an sculpture class together at school!

To view more of her work go to her website and wonderful blog where I was inspired to do this post,

Brava xo

www.luludk.com

Images via Luludk, 1stdibs & ClicGallery

Stella Jean Has Got her Swim Groove On

Love this woman my second post on her, Stella Jean you are too cool for school. Old world swimwear! 

 Giorgio Armani has  named her the next big thing and has invited Stella Jean to show her next collection at Teatro Armani. Bellissimo!  I totally agree with you Signor Armani she has got it. Moda Operandi is currently showing some of her pieces this week. Run to buy or see her site for more stockists.

Brava Stella x 

Previous post on Stella

visionofsplendor.tumblr.com/post/40676334538/carribbean-chic 

www.stellajean.it

www.modaoperandi.com

Peter Fetterman Gallery

Macaroni Penguins in Zavodovski Island, The Sandwich Islands by Sebastião Salgado

Church Gate Station, Western Railroad Line, Bombay, India by Sebastião Salgado

Kafue National Park, Zambia [lion-two brothers] by Sebastião Salgado

Menatwi Man Indonesia

Arizona, USA by Sebastião Salgado

Bryce National Park, Utah, USA by Sebastião Salgado

Cactus:Trichocereus Schickendantzii, San Martino, California by DonWorth 1977

Miconia Magnifica, California by Don Worth 1977

Succulent: Agave Victoriae-Reginae, Mexico by Don Worth 1975

Succulent: Echeveria Subrigida Hybrid, California by Don Worth 1968

Tropical Leaves, Fittonia Agyroneura, California by Don Worth 1958

Succulent:Agave Parryi Var. Huachucensis, California by Don Worth 1969

Peter Fetterman Gallery Santa Monica, CA

The only reason I ever go to a Contemporary Art Fair is to see the Photography. To me it marries the visual with the traveler and the storyteller.

I found these amazing works while browsing 1stDibs as I do religiously every week and fell for The Peter Fetterman Gallery. They have incredible Artists on their books and these two immediately stood out.

Sebastiao Salgado was born in Amoires in the state of Minas Gerais Brazil, he started his career in Economics and began his serious  photography in 1973.

Sebastião Salgado has been awarded numerous major photographic prizes in recognition of his accomplishments. He is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and an honorary member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in the United States.

Sebastiao and his wife Leila Wanick Salgado formed their own press agency Amazonas Images. Together, Lélia and Sebastião have worked since the 1990’s on the restoration of a small part of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. In 1998 they succeeded in turning this land into a nature reserve and created the Instituto Terra. The Instituto is dedicated to a mission of reforestation, conservation and environmental education.

Don Worth Iowa USA 1924-2009  Went to Julliard School of Music and Manhattan School Of Music. In 1949 he began professional photography and assisted Ansel Adams for several years. Worth's childhood on an Iowa farm sparked a life long interest in horticulture and he designed and maintained a large subtropical garden at his home near San Francisco. Most of his photographs use plants as their subject matter. He has traveled widely in order to photograph. Don Worth's photographs  made, generally, with large format cameras, have an incisive clarity and quiet meditative mood. Many images involve enormous spaces, and often use the transformative power of fog, mist and other atmospheric conditions.

Love his vision of plants , especially the huge range of Cactus, one of my favorite type of plants. I find them so sculptural and mystical and his images of them spectacular. Would love to own some of his pictures one day.

http://www.peterfetterman.com/artists/sebastiao-salgado/

http://www.peterfetterman.com/artists/don-worth/

http://www.1stdibs.com/

Horus at the Temple of Edfu, on the banks of the Nile Egypt. November 2019, Photo by Vision of Splendor

Happy Winter Solstice

"In the depth of Winter, I finally learned that within me lay an an invincible Summer"

Albert Camus           

Winter Solstice occurs in the Northern Hemisphere between the 21st-22nd of December depending on your time zone. This is officially the first day of Winter, it happens when the North Pole tilts 23.5 degrees away from the sun, it is the longest night of the year. On a very good note, after this event the days will slowly get longer until the Summer Solstice!

Pictures via National Geographic, Flickr, Tumblr and Pinterest,

Farewell Oscar Niemeyer

"When you have a large space to conquer, the curve is the natural solution, I once wrote a poem about the curve. The curve I find in the mountains of my country, in the sinuousness of its rivers, in the waves of the ocean and on the body of the beloved woman."

Farewell to the legendary Brazilian Architect Oscar Niemeyer, "The Concrete Poet " what a poet he was. Thank you for bringing our world such unforgettable monuments.

Sources via Flickr, Pinterest & Tumblr

via pinterest 

The Incarnations of Kimiko Yoshida

LOUIS XIV AS THE RISING SUN IN "LE BALLET DE LA NUIT" AT VERSAILLES. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2010. COURTESY PACO RABANNE

SULTAN SALADIN THE GREAT. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2010. COURTESY PACO RABANNE

GODDESS OF WAR ATHENA BY KLIMT. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2010.   COURTESY PACO RABANNE

WISE KING MELCHIOR BY MANTEGNA. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2010. COURTESY PACO RABANNE

THE GOLDEN BRIDE FROM FEZ, SELF-PORTRAIT 2005. COURTESY OF THE ISRAEL MUSUEM, JERUSALEM

QUEEN OF FRANCE MARIE DE' MEDICI BY RUBENS. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2010. COURTESY PACO RABANNE

EL CONQUISTADOR HERNAN CORTES AS EL DORADO. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2010. COURTESY PACO RABANNE

LAST SAMURAI KATSUMOTO. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2010. COURTESY OF PACO RABANNE.

THE TORERO BRIDE WITH A BLACK SUIT OF LIGHTS , REMEMBERING PICASSO. SELF-PORTRAIT 2006.

ASSOMPTION OF VIRGIN MARY BY TINTORETTO. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2010. COURTESY OF PACO RABANNE.

SAINT AUGUSTIN BY EL GRECO. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2010. COURTESY OF PACO RABANNE.

WOMAN OF ALGIERS BY DELACROIX. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2007-2009

PHARAON BY GUSTAVE DORÉ, SELF-PORTRAIT, 2007-2009

SISTINE MADONNA BY RAPHAEL. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2010. COURTESY OF PACO RABANNE.

KING OF FRANCE FRANCOIS I BY JEAN CLOUET. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2010.COURTESY OF PACO RABANNE.

JUDITH BY CRANACH THE ELDER. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2010. COURTESY OF PACO RABANNE.

THE CAPRICIOUS GIRL BY WATTEAU. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2010. COURTESY OF PACO RABANNE.

ZAPATA BY DIEGO RIVERA. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2010. COURTESY OF PACO RABANNE.

QUEEN MARIANA OF AUSTRIA BY VELASQUEZ. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2010. COURTESY OF PACO RABANNE.

HECATE, THE GREEK GODDESS OF THE MOON AND THE SPIRIT OF THE DEAD, BY WILLIAM BLAKE. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2010

DON QUIXOTE BY PICASSO. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2010. COURTESY OF PACO RABANNE.

THE SILVER BERBER BRIDE, MOROCCO, EARLY XX th CENTURY. SELF-PORTRAIT 2005. COURTESY OF THE ISRAEL MUSUEM, JERUSALEM

THE MEXICAN BRIDE,  SELF PORTRAIT 2012

THE RED EGYPTIAN BRIDE (HARRY WINSTON). SELF-PORTRAIT, 2008

THE BRIDE GRAND COMMANDEUR DE LA LEGION D'HONNEUR. SELF-PORTRAIT 2006

THE RED PALESTINIAN BRIDE , EARLY XX th CENTURY. SELF-PORTRAIT 2005. COURTESY OF THE ISRAEL MUSUEM, JERUSALEM

THE MAO BRIDE RED GUARD RED. SELF-PORTRAIT, 2009

"A fundamental part of Japanese culture is linked to the notion of disappearance.

Unlike the West, in Japan we use makeup in order to disappear, to erase our identity. The basic idea behind my makeup is tied to the geisha’s traditional use of a ghostly-white makeup, called ” doran ” which leaves only the outline of her eyes and bright red lips visible. Makeup in Japan is not perceived as a way of making a woman become more beautiful, but rather as a way of transforming her into an abstraction of a woman. She becomes an “idea of a woman “, rather than an “ideal woman.” It is a way of dying." text by Barbara Oudiz

Transformation, Metamorphism, Shape Shifter. These are the words that come into my mind when I look at Kimiko Yoshida and her impacting self portraits. All the pictures use always the same setting, same subject, same lighting, same framing. She does her own make-up, lighting and design using a Hasselbald camera with no retouching or editing. 

I find these images so deep and mesmerising, the Series "Painting, Self- Portrait" where she transforms herself into people from famous historical portraits with pieces from Paco Rabanne's Haute Couture collections works of art in themselves are my personal favourites. 

Do go to her website and see her extensive portafolio of work I had a hard time not putting all her work on this post, then this would just be pages and pages long. I spent hours reading, there are also lots of in depth articles on her and great interviews, Kimiko you are a fascinating lady!

Am hoping that she will do a show in London someday soon. 

All images Via Kimiko Yoshida

“I am Worthy of Love and Respect, I Love and Approve of Myself Exactly as I am. I am Safe”

Midnight at The Oasis

Sunrise on The Great Sand Sea

Meet the Flintstones 21st Century

Bedroom Adrere Amellal

Siwi Man Photo by C. Stamba-Badial 

Drinks by the Salt lake 

This was were I stayed in Adrere Amellal view of the lake all around

Drinks at the Fire pit 

i

Temple Amon

Adrere Amellal Bedroom

Dunes of The Great Sand Sea

Date Palms at Siwa

One of the many lounging nooks in Adrere Amellal

Locally  handmade Kaftans by the Siwi Women

The natural spring pool at Adrere Amellal

Illuminated "Kershef " Wall  a mix of rock salt & mud

Dinning under the palms Adrere Amelall

Sweet water oasis in the middle of the desert

Riding the dunes in the Great Sand Sea

Dinner in the middle of the desert

Dusk at Adrere Amelall

Magic dinning locations dotted around the property

Candle lit bed time

Sun setting over the dunes

“Oh that the desert were my dwelling place,

With only one fair spirit for my minster.

That I might forget the human race,

And hating no one, love her only.”

Lord Byron

In the  magical Great Sand Sea of Egypt's western Sahara on the boarder to Libya lies a diamond named Siwa. An Oasis filled with history and legends,such as the Temple  of the Oracle of Amun~ RA. Were Alexander The Great consulted the oracle in order to seek confirmation that he was the son of Zeus and the rightful ruler of Egypt. Or something like that.

I was invited  about 8 years ago to a wedding in Cairo by dear friends of mine. Included was a trip to Siwa a couple of days  before the wedding, staying at the amazing eco lodge Adrere Amellal. The love project of  visionary Dr Mounir Neamatalla a very elegant egyptian environmentalist. The words eco lodge dont always make me jump with joy, but a trip to the Egyptian desert I could not miss . 

When we arrived we all had a big smile on our faces as we took in the scene before us. The sacred white mountain towers over the property with views on  a vast salt lake , date palms  and in the distance the dunes of the great sand sea. Dotted around this setting are traditional buildings made by combining rock salt and mud called "Kershef", 40 rooms all furnished in locally artisanal furnishing, beds made out of palm with Egyptian cotton sheets and fluffy pillows. Bedouin carpets and beeswax candles everywhere  there is no electricity, no phones, no air conditioning or wifi.

Really a place to give in to the mystical call of the desert, at night they light up all the pathways with candles and dinner is served in the most amazing locations all over the property with the light of the stars as company. Date souffle served on silver plates and wine drank out of crystal glasses, the food was amazing, all the staff are local Siwi whose origins are Berber. On one night they came and played traditional Bedouin music , they danced like mad and so did we! When ready to retire, A member of staff would accompany you with a lantern to your room that glowed with candles, I would slip myself into the soft sheets with the breeze of the desert lulling me to sleep. 

Morning starts with a delicious breakfast over looking the lake and then preparation for a ride on 4 X 4 in to the Sand Sea so called because it was actually a sea, you can see fossils everywhere, as you ride over the dunes driven to mad perfection by the charming and hilarious locals its an exhilarating experience. They would stop and give you a board to surf the dunes if you wished or just sit and take in the unforgettable experience, everyday they planned a new surprise in the desert, which I would not give away as these surprises are truly special.

Once back at the lodge there are many more things to do, you can float on the lake or swim in the natural green pool under the palms, or for some you can go riding in the desert. There was also a trip into town to meet the local women whose embroidery is magnificent all supported by  Mounir Neamatalla and his also very elegant sister Laila, they produce kaftans, home furnishings and jewellery done by the local community. There is also a lot of history in the area and again I will not divulge too much here as to make you want to go and see for yourself but one of things is have swim in Cleopatra's Bath. 

 Thank you Dr Mounir for creating such a wonderful place and thank you my dear friends for letting be part of such an amazing journey. When are we going back?

  Adrere Amellal

Siwa

Photos via above websites & Flickr.