the ugly earring

(photo from La collectionneuse (1967))

“Believing it almost a sin to buy something he could make himself, Sandy would drop anything he was involved in, no matter how important, and beat out a roasting pan for Louisa or fashion a large-capacity serving ladle or a sieve. This do-it-yourself dictum was undoubtedly a carryover from their earlier, leaner days, but it had become an obsession with Sandy.”

A creative artist of any kind—writer, painter, musician—needs two conditions met in his outer life to be productive for the long haul: a physical space in which to work that he doesn’t have to think about, that is as natural for him to get to and be in as a kitchen table, and, just as important, people around him who are dedicated to smoothing his way, who will see to it that the washing is done, that visitors are handled deftly.

Calder had both of these, for nearly his entire career. His homes, in Roxbury, Connecticut and in Saché, France, had multiple workshops and each shop had multiple stations where dozens (and ultimately thousands) of works—mobiles, stabiles, gouaches, jewelry, kitchen goods—lay scattered about, with their attendant tools, waiting for their creator’s hand to turn to them again. To the outsider it looked like a sparkling chaos, but to Sandy it was like working in his own projected brain, with nearly finished thoughts readily at hand.

And for smoothing his way, Calder had Louisa.

(my father wanted to name me Louise.)

(text from here)

(photos of the calder home from here by way of a lovely desert)

(and something for the cold)

Once the camels reach maturity, in five years, the young males are driven out of the herd, whereas the females remain with their mothers.

(photo)

“There exists a sweet spot between chaos and order, gas and crystal, wild and tame. In that spot lies the powerfully creative force of self-organization (aka “order for free”) where we organize based on our strengths. In a polyculture (of more than one love) we breed not just one crop, but all the difficulties and joys that come with multiple crops. Seek that sweet spot where all of our abilities to perform, or even exceed performance, flourish next to each other.”

(i’m so happy you’ve returned to the garden. via wit*ness.)

(photo)

“My heart is like a sea which has little sad waves,” she wrote [to Rodin]. “But every ninth wave is big and happy.”

(painting: Gwen John, Young Woman Holding a Black Cat)

(on the hunt for Gwen’s letters to Rodin but in the meantime this )

For a while she had a tiny allowance from her father, but that ended with his first visit, when he saw her wearing a dress she had painstakingly copied from a Manet picture. “You look like a prostitute in that dress,” he told her. “I could never accept anything from someone capable of thinking so,” Gwen blazed back.

(from here)

(painting: Édouard Manet, Woman with Fans)

“I brought you some shrimps, Calixta,” offered Bobinôt, hauling the can from his ample side pocket and laying it on the table.

“Shrimps! Oh, Bobinôt! you too good fo’ anything!” and she gave him a smacking kiss on the cheek that resounded, “J’vous réponds, we’ll have a feas’ to-night! umph-umph!”

~ kate chopin, the storm

(photo from here)

(photo from here and a pretty song)

Fill a jar with fresh lavender flowers. When it is full knock the jar against your hand to get the blossoms to pack in tighter and fill the jar the rest of the way.

When the jar is full add your oil mixture. You can use any high quality oil. I like to use a mixture of olive oil, grapeseed oil, and almond oil. Another good oil is avocado oil. You don’t have to use a mixture, but I like to.

Fill with oil until all the blossoms are covered. Put a lid on and leave in sunny place for 1- 1.5 YEARS. You could leave it for 6 months it just won’t be as potent.

When a year has passes strain the blossoms out of the oil and put the oil in glass jars or bottles. You can use it as a body oil, make lotions with it, add it to bath crystals or whatever else you can think of.

(via mociun + stone healing)

on finding two infant skeletons:

“The first thing I thought was the spirits – maybe we disturbed the spirits.”

(from here)

(necklace by lovely aesa)