helen mirren by lord snowdon
Helen Mirren by Lord Snowdon, 1995 for Vanity Fair
So the other day Alexandre, my sweetest neighbour Alexandre, lent me the first 2 “seasons” of Prime Suspect with Helen Mirren. I had seen some of the episodes on French television a few years ago and my recollection of the series was that it was quite good but mostly it was worth watching for the female detective played by Helen Mirren.
And sure enough, the thing is a bit dated now, but then there’s her.
Helen Mirren.
I love her. Totally. Absolutely.
I looked for a picture of her to post here, at first couldn’t find anything with a mention of the photographer – because who cares, right – until I stumbled on this article by photographer Amber Rima on her blog Sprinkled In Pink.
This portrait by Lord Snowdon was featured in the exhibition that took place at The National Portrait Gallery in London from February to May 2008 entitled “Vanity Fair Portraits / Photographs 1913 – 2008″. (The exhibition is about to open in Canada. It will be at the Royal Ontario Museum from September 26, 2009 to January 3, 2010.)
But back to the Mirren/Snowdon picture. Something funny happened and browsing the web I found myself living my own little version of “Blow-Up”, for I found on the site of the Chris Beetles Gallery a version of the photograph with a different “framing”. Also the coloring is quite different. It seems much more orange. See below :
Helen Mirren, 1995 by Snowdon.
It is not unusual for the press to cut into the pictures, to reframe them, so Vanity Fair kept the square format but zoomed in on Helen Mirren. My guess as to the different color tone, is that their version being less yellowy feels a bit more modern.
(There has been a retrospective of Snowdon at the National Portrait Gallery in 2000 and you can see the photo of Helen Mirren with the same warm tone and framing as the one @ the Chris Beetles Gallery.)
Now the funny thing about all this, is that I found a different photo of the same shooting on this article at the Daily Mail Online and she’s actually smiling :
Helen in her dressing room, 1995, by Lord Snowdon.
Photograph of Helen Mirren © Snowdon.
Snowdon @ the Chris Beetles Gallery.
Vanity Fair
You can buy the book Vanity Fair: The Portraits: A Century of Iconic Images @ the Vanity Fair Store.
&
96 images from the book are available for purchase as gallery-quality custom prints here.
doubleparlour : cassandra & ernesto velasco
Maiya 2 by doubleparlour.
I had included them in my review of 100 great artists @ Etsy and their art (see for instance their “creatures of habit”) still emerges from that selection as among the most powerful. I had not been in their shop for quite some time, but I discovered today that they also made small polymer clay sculptures and truly amazing ones.
The one above is named “Maiya 2″ for there was a first Maiya – very similar but with a different mood – which sold recently.
I also love this Toshiro immensely :
He’s described as :
A boy who dreams of flying kites and running away from home.
Doubleparlour, born in 2007, is a creative collaboration between Ernesto and Cassandra Velasco. You can find them on myspace.
pounce #4 : roadside projects
The Camera by roadside projects @ Etsy.
This is actually Part 001 of Project #001 (a series of psychological portraits) by artist Jayme McGowan.
This is “a one-of-a-kind, three-dimensional box construction intricately crafted with cut paper, watercolor, and ink in a handmade frame with glass front.”
You can also find Parts 002, The Letter + 003, The Headphones & 004, The Costume in the shop.
one red robin’s wonderland of softies
Doddi Bear #4 by One Red Robin.
Jhoanna Monte Aranez is one of those women with so many talents that you could spend hours browsing through her blog, her flickr in awe and admiration at her skills and seemingly endless inspiration. But then, of course, this is what inspiration should always be about, an endless round of springing ideas and creations.
I had wanted to blog about that Doddi Bear for quite some time now – every time I came across it in my favorites it really stood out, it has everything I love – and when I settled to write about it yesterday I realized it was no longer available, and couldn’t find it in the sold items either. It turns out that Jhoanna “recently sent her off to someone as a thank-you for a wonderful thing they did for her”!
She has made 5 Doddi Bears and only one is still available in her shop :
But – among other things – she also makes the most amazing doll-girls such as this one (sold too) :
I could go on and on and post many of her creations and really had to stop myself from posting more photos for I tell you she is such a creative woman, so I beg you, check her blog, check her flickr and of course her Etsy shop for there are wonders ahead…
the time is now
Boy’s Play in Forest by The Time is Now @ Etsy.
Found this one on her Flickr the other day. Just love it.
This is a print of an original acrylics on wood painting.
pounce #1 : be happy now @ etsy
Baby wuth mum by Be Happy Now @ Etsy.
I discovered this great tool of Etsy only very recently and I’ve found a great artist today using it so it has inspired me to start a series of articles.
It’s called “pounce” and you can either browse through shops that have not yet made their first sale (the official line is : “Recently updated shops that have not yet had a sale”, so I do not know if it works with shops that have been here a long time and have not sold anything…) or else browse through shops that have just made a sale. I chose the first and stumbled upon Be Happy Now and I love her sense of color. She uses watercolors a lot, but not only for there is also this amazing carving painting that I absolutely adore :
This particular one listed there is called “Original Carving Painting” and I was confused at first with the word “original” associated with “carving” so I asked Jenny exactly what she meant by that and she replied that it was the first one made with the metal plate. So more are to come, which is good news for of course just as I was writing this article, 4 items including the ones I put photos of had already been sold !
Her prices are unbelivably cheap and I think she could really sell her original watercolors and her other artwork for more…
She also has a Flickr.
100 great artists @ etsy you might want to visit…
So last week I got the most crazy idea that I would compile a list of 100 artists @ Etsy and I immediately set to work.
I wanted to write a few words about the “why” & “how” of the affair, but I realized nobody would actually care, so to keep things simple let’s just say that I have discovered many great and talented artists through Etsy, and it is getting more and more difficult each day to browse through their shops since there is no way to tag or organize your favorites into categories on the site and I figured a “memo” or “post-it” article would be of great use, not just for me or for people already familiar with Etsy, but also for people who would like to discover new artists but do not have the time to extensively browse the internet or Etsy for that matter….
the art of junkyard sam
TreeSpot (limited edition print) by Junkyard Sam @ Etsy.
While “searching for mushrooms” the other day, I discovered this great artist Junkyard Sam @ Etsy.
Even though I am very much attacted to Lowbrow Art, his work at first sight might not exactly be what I am more drawn to for it has a kind of “cleanliness” about it – probably due to the use of computer in the process as well as to the fact that Junkyard Sam used to work in the game industry – which might have deterred me a bit.
However, examining more carefully the works presented @ Etsy, I could not help but feel something compelling in his art. There is indeed definitely a universe here, a brand new world created and opening before us, for us to walk in and encounter strange creatures… And if you read Junkyard Sam’s introductory words which go :
Welcome to the land of “Tong Picnic”, a world where strange people befriend animals to travel across bizarre lands full of good citizens and scary monsters!
plus the titles of his works as well as the descriptions, you realize that although this universe might be unknown to you, it does exist to some and is indeed very real, since the land and the creatures that inhabit it all have names.
Meet T’nip Whirl :
A Portrait of T’nip Whirl (limited edition print).