Inspiration Fridays: John William Waterhouse

Before there were mori girls, before there were hipsters, before there were blogs and tumblr and Etsy...

There was John William Waterhouse.

I love paintings- they are one of my favourite art forms.  I have no skill at painting whatsoever... just ask my boyfriend.  We have some awesome puff paint stick figure drawings rotting on our bookshelves somewhere.  But I appreciate them so, so much.  I especially love paintings with romantic themes.  As much as I appreciate very well executed work, I am a sucker for content, and I like to see pretty women, flowers, handsome men, and long, flowing dresses.  Most people like that type of thing.  I enjoy the type of painting that makes me want to take a book of Gothic poetry and sit in the park on a cloudy day for hours with a latte.  To be honest... a lot of things in life make me want to do that, but the work of John William Waterhouse definitely does!

The themes are from folklore and literature.  The women are pretty, and either elegantly dressed or delicately nude.  Curiosity and despair and prevalent and draw you into the painting, evoking so much feeling.  I respond very emotionally to his work, and I hope that you find it inspiring as well.  

All of these paintings are by John William Waterhouse.

Yeah.  I love his work.  I hope you enjoy it too!

PS.  I hope I wasn't too doom and gloom yesterday.  This upcoming "Apocalypse" just gives me a moment to highlight my main intention of this blog- pointing out that we all need to be a bit more optimistic and realize that our world is pretty darn lovely and awesome, and so are the majority of the people in it.  Have optimism, have faith, make beauty, make art, love one another, accept one another, and enjoy the ride tomorrow, kids.  Hopefully it won't be a bumpy one! 

~Emily

Inspiration Fridays: I'm Just a Hopeless Romantic

I really am.  Give me a soft kiss, some light colors and low light, and I'll be happy forever.

Unknown Source

but it's Ichimaru Gin and Matsumoto Rangiku from Bleach

 

Portrait of Elsa- Frank Bernard Dicksee

Unknown

Dorothy Mackaill

by op

Dawanda

 Persuasion-Leonard Campbell Taylor

Unknown

Reverie- Francois Boucher

Unknown...

Dear Umi

Thankfully, I have a boyfriend who understands just what a romantic I am.  Sometimes, when I've had a bad day, he buys me roses.  Red roses.  Usually a dozen of them.  This cheers me right up- very few things make me happier than roses from my lover.  He buys me them for no reason a lot too!  But I must admit, the idea of spending my days lounging against crumbling statues in a field of flowers, wearing a corset and my hair up in a fancy do, reading poetry and sipping tea sounds amazing to me some days.  Honestly,  it sounds great most days.  I've been trying to take some time to do something like this, despite the cold.  In summer and spring and fall I will sit in parks to read while sipping coffee, but this winter I've been going to the library.  It's been quite nice.  I'll go and pick up some Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Jane Austin, William Shakespeare, Fyodor Dostoeyevsky, or a recent favourite, Anthony Hope, and curl up in an armchair for hours.  Bliss.


What is not bliss is the number of unknown sources in this pos- if you know the sources for any of these beautiful pieces of artwork, please comment and let me know!  I'd like to give credit where credit is due.  If you own any of this art, and wish to have it removed, I will do so immediately.


Thanks!

Lock it Up

Who knew that a bike lock could look so lovely?  These things are all over the city, saving people's bicycles from being taken away, or taken apart while they go about their business.  I've never thought extensivesly about bike locks.  They are one of those more simplistic things that you use if you need to, and they rest of the time, mostly take for granted.  This one in Chelsea had the sun glinting off of it, and fashionable women walking past- it caught my attention.

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Like this?  Take a look at The Adventure.

The Hike

Danny and I were having a brunch picnic one day in Central Park, when we spotted these two ladies taking a walk along the rocks.  We were pretty impressed- both of us were wearing jeans and tee shirts, just comfy wear for walking around, laying in the grass, and frolicking.  Basically, I wore jeans so that I wouldn't have an embarassing moment if I slipped on a rock.  These women were both wearing miniskirts, and managed to navigate the sometimes treacherous rocks with ease.  

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Love this post?  Check out some serious rocks in Atop the Crags.