My Inspiration for April 2022

“I am still ashamed of myself, afraid to let myself go, to let things pour out of me; I am dreadfully inhibited, and that is because I have not yet learned to accept myself as I am.”

“Etty Hillesum, from a diary entry featured in An Interrupted Life: the Diaries, 1941-1943 and Letters from Westerbork (translated from the Dutch by Arnold J. Pomerans)

Jamie Beck (@jamiebeck.co)

Instagram: elise.buch

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Reylia Slaby, Ophelia – Tales from Japan series – Nara, Japan – 2013

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My Inspiration for March 2022

“I don’t do anything with my life except romanticize and decay with indecision.”

(Allen Ginsberg, from The Book of Martyrdom and Artifice: First Journals and Poems: 1937-1952)

Amorous Couple (Mithuna), ca. A.D. 500, Madhya Pradesh, India, Pink sandstone.

Picture found here: Etsy shop: ‘Blessed Damozel’ necklace, inspired by the poem and Pre-Raphaelite painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

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Aerial sculpture of the Brihadisvara Temple, Gangaikonda Cholapuram, Tamil Nadu.

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Victorian Decorated chancel ceiling by Spencer Means.

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Patrick Bergsma’s unusual kintsugi sculptures combine the art of ceramics with bonsai.

By Glen Martin Taylor, @glenmartintaylor – “….if you die in one piece, perhaps you haven’t lived.” “Death’s Cabinet Door”, vintage plate and cabinet door, bones, silver solder.

By Glen Martin Taylor

Nijo Castle details. Japan. Photography by Matt Ritter on Flickr

photographed by Ben Toms for Vogue China, November 2017

My Inspiration for February 2022

This month I really enjoyed gazing at the dreamy and magical Oriental illustrations by Edmund Dulac and Warwick Goble, some of my favourites are featured here in this post. My other favourites were the Japanese inspired postcards by Raphael Kirchner. I enjoyed rereading Natsume Soseki’s wonderful, meditative and poetic novel “The Three-Cornered World” and also the poetry of Kobayashi Issa and Tagore. Here is a poem by Issa which struck me the most because it conveys such a lovely image:

“In spring rain

A pretty girl

Yawning.”

(Kobayashi Issa)

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Picture by Laura Makabresku.

Two pictures above found on liberty.mai Instagram.

Yayoi Kusama — Self Portrait  (collage with pastel, ballpoint pen, and ink on paper, 1972)

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Vogue 1971

there… by Jane Ha

My Inspiration for January 2022

This has been a rather fun and creative January for me, but I am still glad it’s over! I really enjoyed gazing at the Japanese woodblocks depicting winter scenes with snow covered roofs and bridges, paintings of Marie Laurencin, Danish painter Gerda Wegener and Raphael Kirchner; the latter two painted quite a few paintings with pretty girls and swans which I love. Flowers and bright colour to compensate for winter’s dullness…. oh how I long for spring’s mellow, flowery, idle days! I read Irving Stone’s romanticised biography of a German businessman and amateur archaeologist Henry Schliemann called “The Greek Treasure” and it was really interesting, even though I was never particularly interested in ancient Greek art and civilisation, but Stone writes in such a vibrant and captivating way and he can make any topic fun. Also, a song I really enjoyed this month was “I want your love” by Transvision Vamp from 1988. The singer, Wendy James, really brings this intense, obsessive energy when she sings and I love the video as well. Here are some lines from the song:

“Well I love, love, love, love the way you move
And I love, love, love, love the way you groove
I love your motivation
And I love your desperation

I want your love.”

Picture by Laura Makabresku.

Abandoned window in the forest. Ink and watercolor on paper. Instagram

Picture by Hadar Ariel Magar, “I am a garden of black and red agonies”.

Picture by Laura Makabresku.

This is a spirit communication via automatic writing, from I Heard a Voice, 1918.

Picture found on daryadarcy on Instagram.

Picture by everlinet on Instagram.

“Teacup in Chains” by glenmartintaylor

Instagram: everlinet.

Picture: Japanese Satsuma Tea Caddy By Kinkozan, 1900.

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North Lodge of Brockenhurst Park, Hampshire, UK | @nicolinaiacob

White Wanstead Epping Forest by Christian Moss

Picture by tonchetaah on flickr.

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In Bloom Gown // FireflyPath

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Lovely Bones (2009) film caps, found here.

My Inspiration for December 2021

This December I discovered, and rediscovered the beauty of some paintings, such as Kandinsky’s “The Riding Couple”, Zinaida Serebriakova’s paintings of ballerinas, Degas and Odilon Redon’s delightful pastels, Raphael Kirchner’s Japanese inspired prints of pretty ladies and flowers, and this painting of sunflowers, birds and the red setting sun bellow called “Sunflowers” by Walter Williams from 1975-76. I love the warm, dusky colours and the motifs, it just speaks to my soul. I’ve also really enjoyed the song “Mad World”, both the original by Tears for Fears and the cover by Gary Jules, especially the sad lyrics:

“All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for the daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head, I wanna drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I’m dying
Are the best I’ve ever had…”

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Instagram: everlinet..

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untitled by AnyDirectFlight on Flickr.

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Picture: everlinet Instagram.

Picture: everlinet Instagram.

Unicorn, by Nissan Engel.

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Picture by everlinet on Instagram.

Edinburgh by Daniel Farò

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My Inspiration for November 2021

Never has a month so utterly miserable and gloomy given me the gift of discovering such beautiful poetry. I have shared some of it on the blog throughout the month, as you may have seen. Words of poetry, full of beauty and meaning, and music that spoke to my heart made me rise again like a phoenix from the ashes of despair. It’s wonderful how Beauty (and Love…) can wash away the sadness of life… This month I really enjoyed gazing at paintings by the Polish painter Teodor Axentowicz and Stanislaw Wyspianski, and also I have a freshly awoken love for James Tissot, a genre painter whose elegant paintings I use to love a lot. I also enjoyed a lot of autumnal themed paintings as you will see bellow. Bye bye November and hello December!

“Have you ever thought, right… I mean, you don’t know…but you might already have had the happiest moment in your whole fucking life…and all you’ve got to look forward to is sickness and purgatory?” (Johnny’s quote from the film “Naked”, 1993)

“But let your statement ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Anything more than these comes from evil.”
(Matthew 5:37)

“The embrace of poetry,
Like love’s impossible, perfect fit,
Defends while it lasts
Against all the misery of the world.”
(Andre Breton, The Road to San Romano )

The grounds of Gwydir Castle near to Llanrwst, County Conwy, in North Wales. Artist: Ben Abel.

Picture: よりそう by Kaz Kaz

Picture: Untitled by Théo Gosselin

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Picture by elise.buch (instagram)

Burg Hanstein, instagram.

Two pictures above by: darya darcy (instagram).

Instagram: elise.buch.

Marz Doerflinger (American, b. CA, USA, based Olympia, WA, USA) – Waiting for the Chinook, Paintings: Pastel

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By Xing Jianjian.

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Picture By takikropka.

Two pictures above by: Ellen Tyn (@liskin_dol).

Instagram: sofie.in.wonderland.

Crescent Moon Crimson Sky

Life and death or the creeping shadow. 1873. Illustrated title page.

Kusakabe Kimbei (1841-1934) – Chrysanthemum

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Autochrome photo of flowers made by unknown French photographer, 1910s.

My Inspiration for October 2021

My biggest discovery this October was the wonderful poetry of the 19th century Romantic Hungarian poet Sandor Petofi and I wrote a post about his romantic poems here. I very much enjoyed the intense vibrancy of nature all around me, just strolling around and gazing at the trees in all shades of brown, yellow, red and green gave me such intense pleasure, especially because I am aware it will all pass way too soon… If only we could skip winter and skip from autumn to spring. I watched the film “Love Witch” (2016) again and enjoyed it, not just the film but the aesthetics and the costumes as well. It’s a real eye-candy. I also enjoyed Eugene Delacroix’s oriental scenes and his drawings and paintings with Hamlet, Gericault’s paintings of horses, 1970s fashion sketches, the Oriental costume design sketches by Konstantin Korovin (from 1901) and Valentina Khodasevich (1934) which you will see bellow, and Karl Bryullov’s scene from a harem where a girl is changing her clothes.

“Thou art the sun, but I the night,
Full of deep gloom, deprived of light.
But should our hearts together meet,
A glorious dawn my life would greet.” 

(Sandor Petofi, How Vast This World)

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“October” digital painting by Justin McGuire

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“Cali Grass” by | Arpan Das

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Vogue UK, May 1985 – Photographed by Albert Watson

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My Inspiration for September 2021

This month my favourite things were the amazing, vibrant paintings of horses by the German Expressionist painter Franz Marc, then the delightful illustrations for the Wind in the Willows by Arthur Rackham, Constantin Guy’s watercolours of fancy Parisians and ladies in crinolines, illustrations by Sarah Kay and Hollie Hobby, covers of the Art Nouveau magazine Jugend, and illustrations by Theophile Steinlen. Violin and cello music to colour the crisp autumn air. I am really excited for the colours and richness of autumn this year! As always in late summer and early autumn, there was a bit of nostalgia and trips down memory lanes before I sail my boat into the groovy orange, mauve and crimson waters of October so I rewatched some of my old favourite films such as “Love Witch” (2016) and listened to some of my old favourites such as Bryan Ferry’s 2HB. It’s nice to revisit old favourites but one must be cautious not to sink into the sweetness of memories and miss out on the present and its possibilities.

“That old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air … Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year’s mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.”

(Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose)

“I have taken to celebrating the anniversaries of my sensations, the anniversary of something that was delightful at one time, of something that actually never occurred. I am reduced to celebrating anniversaries because I no longer have anything with which to replace even those silly, flimsy dreams. For dreams… have to be renewed too.”
(Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s White Nights)

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Viktor Semenovich Vilner, Embankment, Scenes from Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”, 1971

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Picture by Nishe (Magdalena Lutek)

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Picture found on: mireia arpa on Instagram.

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My Inspiration for August 2021

The best book I read this August was Takanobu Ishikawa’s “Romaji Diary” and I have already written a book review about it here. There were passages and thoughts that I found extremely relatable and other parts of the book felt more like dipping my finger into the sea of reverie… My other inspirations are, as you can see from the pictures, many lovely late 1960s and early 1970s fashion pictures, portrayals of circus and the sea in art, the Stone Roses, red colour, I really crave red these days, in art and other places, Pre-Raphaelite art as the gateway to the season that awakens the soul; autumn…

“And I feel so lonely and vulnerable and strange…”

(Anne Sexton, from A Self-Portrait In Letters)

“My poor friend could not understand the deep yearning and pain in life. Feeling unbearably lonely, I returned to my room. Ultimately it’s impossible for a man to make another man understand him fully. In the final analysis, camaraderie between one man and another is merely superficial. Realizing that the friend who I had thought understood me as thoroughly as I had him was unable, ultimately, to understand the anguish and pain at the bottom of my heart made me feel unbearably dreary. We are each separate, each alone! This thought left me indescribably sad.”
(Takuboku Ishikawa, Romaji Diary)

John French – Jean Shrimpton for Mary Quant (London 1964)

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Mike Berkofsky – Jane Birkin Wearing a Dress by Laura Ashley (19 Magazine 1970)

Picture by Olha Sheludiakova, found here.

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Picture by Marina Marić, found here.

Alexis Waldeck – Donna Mitchell (Status & Diplomat 1967)

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Barry Lategan – Maudie James and Louise Despointes (Vogue UK 1971)

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Ford Abbey and Gardens (by Annie Spratt)

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Found in the Internet Archive by AnitaNH

Dresses from Foale and Tuffin (Woman’s Journal 1971)

Dresses by Colin Glascoe (Woman’s Journal 1971)

By Laura Makabresku.

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Stuart Brown – Models Wearing Pourelle Ensembles (19 Magazine 1969)

My Inspiration for July 2021

These sunny July days I very much enjoyed listening to my old favourite songs by Pearl Jam but also discovered some stuff by Chris Cornell, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains; especially the hauntingly beautiful live version of “Love, Hate, Love”. I am mildly obsessed with cactuses, both in paintings and in desert scenery, prairie dresses, 1970s Sarah Kay illustrations, vibrant, childlike, colorful paintings by Fauvists, Gauguin’s Tahiti-phase paintings, flower paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe… I got my hands on quite a few fascinating books this month (finally!), amongst them are the recently published and thought-provoking book “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters” by Abigal Shrier, Uncommon by Owen Hatherley; a book about the band Pulp, their aesthetic, lyrics and place as perpetual outsiders on the music scene, As I crossed a Bridge of Dreams; a wonderful novel written by a court lady in the 11th century Japan, The Bilingual Lover by Juan Marsé; both comical and sad at the same time, The Way to Paradise by Mario Vargas Llosa; a novel which explores the lives of Paul Gauguin and his grandmother Flora Tristan; they both had in common the urge for freedom, and they both tried to break the chains of civilisations, each in their own way. I am also more than half-way through Erich Fromm’s “Escape from Freedom” which is very interesting and especially so in the age we are living in, here are two quotes I enjoyed:

“We are proud that we are not subject to any external authority, that we are free to express our thoughts and feelings, and we take it for granted that this freedom almost automatically guarantees our individuality. The right to express our thoughts, however, means something only if we are able to have thoughts of our own; freedom from external authority is a lasting gain only if the inner psychological conditions are such that we are able to establish our own individuality.”

“Freedom is not less endangered if attacked in the name of anti-Fascism than in that of outright Fascism. This truth has been so forcefully formulated by John Dewey that I express the thought in his words: “The serious threat to our democracy,” he says, “is not the existence of foreign totalitarian states. It is the existence within our own personal attitudes and within our own institutions of conditions which have given a victory to external authority, discipline, uniformity and dependence upon The Leader in foreign countries. The battlefield is also accordingly here—within ourselves and our institutions.”

“The days are long and weigh on me. I am suffocating.”
(Albert Camus, from a letter featured in “A Life Worth Living”, c. 1940)

Sasha Kichigina photographed by Ina Lekiewicz for For Love & Lemons Spring 2020

Instagram: elise.buch

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Model Ingrid Boulting photographed at Lacock Abbey, “Summer at Source”, by Norman Parkinson for Vogue UK, July 1970

Red Avadat, Red Munia or strawberry finch, picture found here.

Moret-sur-Loing, France (by J.P. Renais)

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A Cactus Garden in California⁣, c. 1902⁣, Source: Beinecke Digital Collections⁣

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Dan Kozan, from Creative Black Book: Photography (1985)

Cuba, picture found here.

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Miss Moda 2020 in Elle Mexico December 2019 by Dennis Tejero

Towers with Faces at the Bayon Temple, Angkor wat complex, Cambodia. Picture found here.

Red and White Campion Meadow & Wild Campion Meadow
by Alan MacKenzie