The Art of …

… ageing body positivity in portraiture, by Joan Semmel

The pictures are below the fold because they are nudes and are NSFW. They are unusual because they portray the ageing female body in a positive light. The story is from HuffPost, and the artist describes her work thusly,

“I painted in layers so that the evidence of age would not be erased by virtuoso paint handling. The sensuality of the flesh permeates these paintings, a sensuality that is not confined to youth. I had entered into a relationship with artist John Hardy, with whom I lived for 21 years before he passed away in 2014. These late years were empowering and rewarding in every sense, something I hoped to communicate through my work.

“The issues of the body from desire to aging, as well as those of identity and cultural imprinting, have been at the core of my concerns. The carnal nature of paint has seemed to me a perfect metaphor, the specifics of image, a necessary elaboration. The last 45 years of work, I think, reveal my ongoing interest in both process and relevance.”

[Read more…]

Resin Art: No Drama Llama

I’ve been slowing down a little, needing some more inspiration on the one hand, and also being too damn tired on the other, but I did get some things done and started a new batch heading in the “cute” direction. I also <i>almost</i> managed to get your stuff shipped. Then the automatic post station refused to accept one of the parcels and I noticed at literally the last second that I had mixed up the labels on two other envelopes… Next try on Tuesday…

©Giliell, all rights reserved

I got some new pigments and used them to stencil flowers on a black blank. I like it very much and attached an elastic.

©Giliell, all rights reserved

Part of a straw flower set on brass bezels.

©Giliell, all rights reserved

This one’s rather large and set into wire. it glitters nicely in the sunlight with its back being crinkled tinfoil.

©Giliell, all rights reserved

Same technique as above, with crinkled tinfoil, but it looked a bit boring, so I put a lot of plastic “gems” on top to refracture light.

©Giliell, all rights reserved

Some stuff I’d ordered finally arrived. 2021, when the most exciting thing is watching a parcel with llama moulds travel all the way from China.

©Giliell, all rights reserved

I need to finish the matching necklace, though.

And last but not least, my upcoming project:

©Giliell, all rights reserved

You gotta resin them all… Whoever owns the rights to Pokémon seems a lot more relaxed about trademarks than Disney, because you can get a lot of Pokémon themed craft supplies. There’s this guy in Thailand who makes excellent Pokémon themed moulds, so when I saw the heads and tails Eeevie moulds I had to get them. Shipping from Thailand was extremely fast, btw.

©Giliell, all rights reserved

This is what they look like, ready to be painted, only that painting is a pain (ting) in the ass, because it’s so tiny and I’m no good with a brush. the Eevies got too dark, so I had to recast them.

The Art of …

… romanticism, by British artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Rossetti is best known for his portraits and female figures, but he was also a poet and wrote the poem Body’s Beauty, to accompany his portrait of Lilith.

Lady Lilith, 1873, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Image from Wikiart.

Body’s Beauty

Of Adam’s first wife, Lilith, it is told
(The witch he loved before the gift of Eve,)
That, ere the snake’s, her sweet tongue could deceive,
And her enchanted hair was the first gold.
And still she sits, young while the earth is old,
And, subtly of herself contemplative,
Draws men to watch the bright web she can weave,
Till heart and body and life are in its hold.

The rose and poppy are her flowers; for where
Is he not found, O Lilith, whom shed scent
And soft-shed kisses and soft sleep shall snare?
Lo! as that youth’s eyes burned at thine, so went
Thy spell through him, and left his straight neck bent
And round his heart one strangling golden hair.

                             Dante Gabriel Rossetti

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Greenfinches

These grumpy-looking beauties used to be pretty common, coming to the feeder in flocks of over ten. Last year I have only seen one over the course of the whole winter. This year they returned, although not in as big flocks as previously.

All birds of genus Carduelis were rare last year, allegedly afflicted by some virus.

© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size

© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size

© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size

© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size

© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size

© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size

© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size