Adrienne Ségur

Somewhere in Burgundy, we went to a book sale. There was a very unique book with beautiful, delicate yet modern illustrations: Il était une fois, vieux contes français de Charles Perrault.

That is where I found out about Adrienne Segur. Wikipedia gave me a short biography. This website is the best I found in english about her. And here is an article (fr) about an exhibition honouring Adrienne’s work: link 2 .

But internet is not very talkative when it comes to her life and work, which is a shame because she must have had a very interesting and rich life !

Adrienne Segur (23 November 1901 – 11 August 1981) was a French children’s book illustrator. Segur’s illustrations were made known by the publishing house Flammarion in the 1950s and 1960s and appeared particularly in The Fairy Tale Book, the English translation of Il Etait Une Fois published in 1958 by Golden Books, Simon and Schuster.

Segur was born in Athens, Greece, in the family of French writer Nicolas Segur. Around 1932 she married the Egyptian poet and thinker Mounir Hafez. (…) In 1936–1939, Segur was the director of the children’s column in Le Figaro where she made all the illustrations. Segur died in Paris, France in 1981.

 

Hot Sugar

Hot Sugar (aka Nick Koenig)‘s music is not as sweet as his name although there is some fruity feeling coming out of it. It seems that my English is too poor to express what I feel like when I listen to it because it is a full experience where the five senses are summoned.

In a 2015 interview with NPR, he described associative music as “try[ing] to capture sounds the same way a photographer would capture an image: If something looks poetic, I’ll record it”

So much beauty to see, to hear, to touch (synesthesia involved.) So many colors, explosions of joy, of sadness, of vulnerability, of power; it’s insanely well composed and authentic. I could not choose one song. Sit down or and just listen to the whole albums God’s Hand (2015) & The Melody of Dust (2017). 

Here are a few comments I found under his youtube videos :

“this makes me feel a deep unsettling happiness like falling forever into a purple ocean”

“this makes me think of what kind of music stars would make and a warm night on a beach with a lover”

“this makes me cry. why though?”

“painting with watercolours to this right now feels like the droplets of pigment are absorbing a little bit of this musical masterpiece”

“I’m dreaming ? Or this album is 2 good for this world ?”

“This just changed my life… again.”

You see, the internet can be a happy, genuine, benevolent, lovely place when, in a middle of nowhere, something really beautiful and powerful pops out. Thank you Hot Sugar for your contribution to make the world a better place.

Please, give me another cup of Hot Sugar.

Girls crushes

Short hair don’t care

Three girls with short hair.

• Zoe Elise Bullock alias @zeliseb. I do not have a lot of informations about this girl. I found her on Instagram. She is very beautiful with a unique style and a face you won’t forget.

Zoe Elise Bullock

• Pasha Harulia. A eighteen years old model from Ukraine, becoming more and more famous. No need to ask why: just look at her.

for Zara

for Zara

by Chloe Le Drezen

Minsk Studio

Unkwown

• Victoire alias @vikyjune, a fifteen years old girl in high school, dreaming about becoming a photographer.

@vikyjune

 

I+I+I

Lack of inspiration? Check these websites, they are going to make you happy and full of new ideas! But don’t procrastinate too much and find time for action.

• Women Who Draw

I spend a lot of time on this website… All these female artists are so inspiring! My passion? Reading the “About” part or the biography behind the visual.

Women Who Draw is an open directory of female* professional illustrators, artists and cartoonists. It was created by two women artists in an effort to increase the visibility of female illustrators, emphasizing female illustrators of color, LBTQ+, and other minority groups of female illustrators.

• Extraordinary Routines

I went through (almost) every interview, this is how much I love the concept and the sincerity of this project. It is for everyone but if your are a creative person, you must take a look at it. Check also The Design Files if you have not already.

Extraordinary Routines is an interview project dedicated to discovering the daily routines of creatives.

Finding out how someone spends their day is not about glorifying productivity or finding the perfect routine, but rather shining a light on how people we admire really get through their day – the imperfect moments and hurdles, as well as the triumphs and achievements.

From morning rituals to sleeping habits, creative spaces to creative slumps, Extraordinary Routines highlights that it’s how we deal with the seemingly ordinary parts of our daily lives that makes them extraordinary.

http://www.prueaja.com.au

• Wit & Delight

Lifestyle, tips, design, fashion & style, culture… This website has a lot of ressources. The creator of Wit & Delight has very good taste in general and I like the way she writes. There are also some articles about motherhood and I think it is how I ended up there.

Wit & Delight became Kate’s way of considering all areas where style is concerned, serving as a platform for her thought process in developing her own personal style.

• More suggestions / my internet favorites: Create Magazine, Freunde von Freunden, It’s Nice That, People of Print, The Selby.

Pregnancy in January

Pensive girls, abstract & landscapes

1) Cathy Cullis 2) Xuan Loc Xuan, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner 3) John William Goodward, Curlowe 4) Charles Wilkin, Mouni Feddag 5) Carl Wilhelmson, Misato Suzuki 6) Devon Aoki by Mario Sorrenti, Petra Collins 7) George Spencer Watson, Antra Svarcs 8) Photo of Jane Burden Morris, Monica Barengo 9) Olga by Picasso, Bertha Lum 10) Fairfield Porter (& last painting), Anne-Sophie Tschiegg. 

Girl’s crush

This crush is a special one as we are going back in time.

Back in 2002, R’n’B was really cool and was the most popular type of music: Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Usher, R. Kelly and of course Aaliyah (whom died in 2001 without me knowing her existence until then) were huge. Justin Timberlake also released the song “Cry Me A River” in 2002, big time. Timbaland was a big deal. I am just drawing a little background here, to help you visualize in what kind of world we were living. 

So we are in 2002, I am thirteen years old and I just moved in another high school. I am meeting some awesome friends. One of them totally is a R’n’B fan (and loves Michael Jackson too). Soon I followed her into this parallel and new Universe, as I was just listening to old french singers, classical music, piano and a bit of world or pop music.

One day, I am hearing Fallin, from Alicia Keys. And I see a picture of her. And a clip.

 

Let me tell you I completely fell for her (didn’t we all?): her face was everthing I liked and she was just too cool, too beautiful with these braids and her piano. The song was great, with her soft yet powerful voice and this awesome voice choir. And the piano.

Afterwards, I never really became a big fan (I did like her collaborations with E.V.E, another cool girl) although I have to say she is a great singer. 

But I never forgot her face and this song, Fallin. 

Today I saw this picture on the internet (she is releasing a new album), which reminded me how beautiful she was – and still is. 

Halo

As always when I go through my files to find inspiration, I noticed a pattern. Something that did not surprised me because I have always been very curious about everything sacred. For me, the most powerful pieces of art (the one who touches the soul and the heart) are often, if not unconditionally, related to the Sacred. Of course in history, sacred has to do with religion, because religions are an endless source of creativity. Yet for me, all things powerful, beautiful, beyond greatness, beyond human understanding, that can reach the bottom of our heart and our deepest feelings, are sacred. Nature is sacred. Music can be sacred. Art, as a part of nature, is sacred. 

The pattern I was talking about is the following one: Halos, also known as aureoles, nimbus, glories, or glorioles. I do not want by any means to give you an history class so let’s read what wikipedia has to say.

A halo is a ring of light that surrounds a person in art. They have been used in the iconography of many religions to indicate holy or sacred figures, and have at various periods also been used in images of rulers or heroes. In the sacred art of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity, among other religions, sacred persons may be depicted with a halo in the form of a circular glow, or in Asian art flames, around the head, or around the whole body, this last often called a mandorla. Halos may be shown as almost any colour, but as they represent light are most often depicted as golden, yellow, white, or red when flames are depicted.

In this post, it does not matter whether you believe in God/gods or not. I am only sharing my favorites “Halo” pictures (not referring to a Beyonce’s song, although it certainly is her best one.)

Our Lady of Lourdes 1920 Eric Gill 1882-1940 Transferred from the Library 1979 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/P08080

The Soul and the Bridegroom 1927 Eric Gill 1882-1940 Transferred from the Library 1979 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/P08142

 

Images: Sandro Botticelli, Unkown “Ecce ancilla domini”, Icons XVIIth, Elisabeth Sonrel, Abbot Handerson Tayor, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Gabriel Wüger, Eric Gill, Lauren Celiwin, Jean-Paul Gauthier, Surachai Saengsuwan, Thea Lewis, Cameo The Lable, Marco D’amico, Rookie mag, Natalie Foss, Takato Yamamoto. 

 

 

Back to back

Collage: Sterling Hundley, Adara Sánchez Anguiano, Yuliya, Caitlin Shearer, Disney, Ransom LTD, Utamaro Kitagawa, Design à emporter, Fredrik Holmér, William Rothenstein, Rodin, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 40 media.

Girl’s crush

For a long time, I wondered what “flawless” truly meant. Then I saw Alicia Vikander. The swedish actress has it all : skin (her skin oh my god…), eyes, hair, body, career and… boyfriend. It was so hard to choose only a few pictures because she ALWAYS looks great and perfect. I have got a massive girl’s crush (the strongest since Gemma Ward many years ago) thanks to her and her beauty. Notice that at only 26, she played in Anna Karenina and was with Mads Mikkelsen in Royal Affair. Epic.

Links Dazed & Confused, Pinterest, Ragdoll, Mark Homa for V magazine, Mail Online.

Peaceful nightmares

“London College of Fashion has just announced Warpaint: Alexander McQueen and Make-Up, which will explore the late designer’s spectacular approach to catwalk beauty. And in the true spirit of McQueen’s innovative genius, it’ll also include a little bit of technical wizardry with the inclusion of some augmented reality.”

Alexander McQueen did great things. When you look at these pictures, you see so many things, not just clothes and pretty girls. He sure is an inspiration.

Warpaint opens on April 30 and runs till August 7 at the Fashion Space Gallery, London College of Fashion. Via Dazeddigital, http://bit.ly/1P2SP3C.