rose colored glasses.

the conjoined sparrow claw ring & the lydia ring have each been re-imagined in rose gold.

xoxo

love & violence.

sterling version of a thousand sorrows.

xo.

the ocean that beats against your heart.

 detail shots of ray caesar's works i took this past saturday night at his opening at jonathan levine gallery. it always amazes me how there so many details in each of his works that you may miss when viewing them online. viewing them felt like taking in spiritual artifacts, a feeling of an ocean rising in my chest.  i love how certain pieces of art can provoke a visceral reaction in me. . . anyway, if you're so inclined, take a peek at my full review with photos over at hi-fructose.

xo

conjuring.

the stunning and heart piercing work of caryn drexl keeps me hypnotized on a snowy, sleepless night.

xo.

messages from the other side.

these images are photographs of milk being vibrated by the sound of beethoven's moonlight sonata by sara naim & i'm completely captivated by them. the work strikes me on many personal levels. maybe it does for you too.

xo.

the weight of a penny.

kate mcdowell part ii. exploring inner landscapes.

xo

the prophet.

milk-skinned & fresh faced new mom hallie is one of my favorite fashion bloggers and was an early supporter of bloodmilk. i love the way she wears her prophet owl claw wrapped around twice so it hangs over the heart. take a peek at more of hallie's stylings over at her blog halcoholic. 

xo

now.

there is something about january in philly that causes me to lose my center of gravity. i feel as if i've been floating through the last few weeks unfocused. of course i've been working on orders and writing, as well as inhaling books thanks to the new found ability to read in the dark, but i feel as if i've been incubating somehow. this is a strange feeling because there is no "big project" on the horizon. i won't be painting for a show for a while & there are no large writing projects looming. it's a new, unnamable feeling that has me downright spooked. & curious. 

 during this time, i've also been thinking about new jewelry in an abstract sense. i signed up for a wax carving class to sharpen my skills & have been collecting images for a new line. doing this often includes culling images that foster the environment i imagine my jewels in and the type of clothing i imagine it paired with. lately i've had my eye on magical, occult symbols and witchy silhouettes. i like the idea of jewelry possessing many functions aside from their aesthetics; my knife jewelry can literally protect you & my planchette necklace is fully functional. i'm hoping to make more objects that can be used to invoke and conjure. for now, these are just some of the images that are inspiring me.

xo

the snake that eats it's tail.

a while back i mentioned researching carl jung and the idea of becoming whole, rather than fragmented. a complete psyche, meshed with it's true nature. these ideas were conjured in lieu of my review of artist korin faught's work, which you can read in hi-fructose volume 18 if you're so inclined. korin often paints doubles  & pairs her femmes with occult symbols. the above, 'infinity' is my absolute favorite.

xo

dark passengers.

i know black swan has been making it's rounds on the internet, as it should, but i wanted to weigh in. (although i feel it is a bit odd to do so here, but the identity of this blog is becoming decidedly more personal these days) 

the first time (& only time as i can remember) i saw a live performance of the swan queen was when i was in grade school. the swan queen glittered on stage in the darkness, so far away from where i was sitting. i was mesmerized by her. i mentioned to the girl sitting next to me how nice the ballerina must be since she's so beautiful. the little girl was baffled and told me firmly, as if i were out of mind, that people who are beautiful aren't necessarily nice.  & that i should be careful not to make that mistake again in the future.

even now, with so many years passed & with my strange inability to remember hardly anything, i remembered this. thinking of it, i don't know why i associated beauty with niceness, with goodness, & it still surprises me how this girl knew so well otherwise.

anyway, i associated this movie with that early life lesson. not everyone who appears to have beauty and talent can hold it together. i adore dopplegangers as you know, & of course the inclusion of rodarte was amazing. but nothing compares to the moment at the end where i stood up in the lights to leave as everyone else, and almost stumbled because i felt quite deranged. 

cruel hearts. . .gentle hands . . .

do you love ray caesar as much as i do?

then take a peek at the preview of his new solo show 'a gentle kind of cruelty' that opens this saturday at jonathan levine gallery i posted on hi-fructose. we can have a ritual swooning together. more ravings after the opening . . . .

xo

light as a feather.

hypnotizing & weightless levitations by brooke shaden.

thanks d.v.

sleep well.

i recently saw an episode of oddities featuring laura flook in all her strange beauty. her clothing features glorious victorian flourishes and i long to pair it with some bloodmilk.

xo.

held.

i've always been obsessed with abandoned ruins. things once lived in & now in a ghostly state of emptiness. things here have been in a similar state. everything has slowed down & i feel like i've been hibernating, analyzing the wreckage of the past. check out more work by richard nickel jr's photographs here.

xo

eyes I dare not meet in dreams.

the space between winter and summer always makes me long for sookie stackhouse. (yes, it's a guilty pleasure.) & always thirsting for fresh inspiration. the folks over at all hollow sent me a link to their site which features an on going project that comes in monthly themed bundles & included this vampire series. the rest of their site is equally intriguing take a peek.

xo

to be a feather again instead of a plummet

i'm kinda obesessed with ex-pat writers even though i know all the boys get flack for being sexist etc etc. hemingway's 'a moveable feast' is my bible for when i miss france. (i spent a large, memorable chunk of time there) & fitzgerald also transports me back to the south france when i'm in need of a fix. but it's zelda fitzgerald that particulary haunts me, her tragic life as partially mirrored in 'tender is the night.' there's something about amy earle's new paper doll release that reminds me of her. . . . 

xo

architect of doom.

always in the mood for kiki smith.

xo

fill it with your cosmos.

3. the heart is what i imagine i give. each time this gift is returned to me, then it is little enough to say that the heart is what remains of me, once all the wit attributed to me is take away: the heart is what remains to me, and this heart that lies heavy on my heart is heavy with the ebb which has filled it with itself. 

 - roland barthes 'a lover's discourse'

xo

hush . . .

a sneak peek at new ray caesar's piece 'beloved' for the upcoming group show 'in the nursery' at 

corey helford gallery on january 29th. ray is also showing 'a gentle kind of cruelty' this month at jonathan levine gallery & i can't wait to see a whole body of work in person. 

xo.

odd couples.

these new days of the new year are spent recalibrating. one of my resolutions (besides my longstanding, up hill battle to quit drinking coca cola. seriously.) is to not spend so much time on the internet and dig a bit deeper into the books on the victorian supernatural i was given for xxmas and to work on new jewels. i'm terrible with change but it's the month to try my hand at it .....  

as usual, i'm interested in the push and pull of the grotesque vs. the beautiful. these works by greg eason , mimic the shapes or suggested textures of the odd pairings of images & yet seem to be connected only by metaphors. for me it's a symbol of the dawn of a new decade, leaving the past behind and moving towards to the future. 

xo