Bohemian Romance

A Bed of Roses by FashionFanatica featuring Tomas Maier dresses

Items in this set:
Cross strap dress, $645
Day dresses - Dresses - Womens - Debenhams, 4.50 GBP
chanel 2.55 in tue dye pink lambskin
Michal Negrin Victorian Roses Cameo Crystals Ring
Koh Samui Designer Clothing London | Fashion Boutique London, 36 GBP

I was thinking of putting together an event, a boutique art sale type of thing. So I googled "Bohemian Romance" since that's the sort of style I'm looking at putting together, and I found these gorgeous images....Enjoy!

The Sandman by FashionFanatica featuring Lipsy dresses

Items in this set:
Bubble Hem Corset Dress - Lipsy
Kaiya Eve Tutu
Peter Jensen - The Boutique - Topshop USA, $210
Pier 1 Imports - Furniture, Home Accents, Dining, Gifts & More, $2.48
polaroid frame

I'm not sure that this is exactly the Bohemian Romance style I have in mind...but I love how cute and funky it is...

A warm welcome to spring by FashionFanatica featuring Alice + Olivia dresses

Items in this set:
Alice + Olivia Pleated belted dress, $375
Butter-shoes-Deser-by-Butter-red-kitten-heel-with-bow, $140
Billybag – Designer Floral Handbag - Holdall
Large Fabric Flower Corsage, 20 GBP
H&M Ohrringe bunt

Please contact me if you're interested in participating in my yet unplanned event :)
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Falling for Vintage by FashionFanatica featuring TopShop dresses

Items in this set:
Topshop Daily Fix « Your Online Fashion Spot
Shoes
Beautiful 1930's Tapestry Evening Bag with Decorative Frame Beautiful...
Victorian trading Co. - www.victoriantradingco.com - Language of Fans
Goddess of Beauty Cameo Brooch, $125

By the way, I love her combinations of style and color...I'm totally inspired to create some paintings based on her vignettes!

Modern Dancehall by FashionFanatica on Polyvore.com

Items in this set:
miss_sixty_shoes.
Le Black Book - Natasha Gold Piped Clutch
Eye Shadow - Golden Peach - UrbanDecay.com, $16
La assemblage Particulière, Limited Rose Perfume
Daisy lowe image by mel-dines on Photobucket

La Divina

I don't really know much about Opera. I can't even honestly say I like the opera. I do, however, love the arias (I think that's what they're called) and I admire the passion behind the music.




Maria Callas as a performer was so amazing. I just finished watching a few youtube videos of her performances and WOW! The range of emotions executed with such fluid grace is heavenly. She is most worthy of the title La Divina.




Five years ago, my daughter and I went to a play written by Terrence McNally, entitled "Master Class". The plot synopsis is as follows:

"At its core is diva Maria Callas, a glamorous, commanding, larger-than-life, caustic, and surprisingly drop-dead funny pedagogue of a voice master class. Alternately dismayed and impressed by the students who parade before her, she retreats into recollections about the glories of her own life and career. Included in her musings are her younger years as an ugly duckling, her fierce hatred of her rivals, the unforgiving press that savaged her early performances, her triumphs at La Scala, and her affair with Aristotle Onassis. It all culminates into a monologue about sacrifice taken in the name of art." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Class

I had no idea how much of an impact this play had on my daughter who was 17 at the time. Though she was already involved in the musical programs in high school, she was moved to study classical voice in college as a result of this introduction to La Divina.

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–”I am not an angel and do not pretend to be. That is not one of my roles. But I am not the devil either. I am a woman and a serious artist, and I would like so to be judged.” Maria Callas

The Voice

There is a little theme that seems to play in the background of my life. It's about finding our voice. Literally, figuratively, personally, etc. Here's a thought, maybe it's true, maybe not. Women had to shut up for a good while when the patriarchal society was established. I'm no expert on history mind you. Feminism, women's studies, well, like I say I'm no expert. Still, there's something about my own life, my own story that needs telling and I'm still looking for my voice. Somehow I'm connected to all women past and present and I want to sum it all up in a profound beautiful artistic way. I'm still struggling with the big picture.

"He's comin' in for the kill like I knew he would. I'm not gonna run even if I should. Little does he know I'm ready for the duel, I've gathered all my strength but I won't be cruel. He's callin' on a god that he's always known, makes ya kinda sad that he has not grown. I wanna' introduce him to a foreign lullaby, take him to a place where it's safe to cry...and bleed bleed heart bleed. Bleed bleed heart bleed. Follow me down to the bottom of the deep blue sea.

The ladies up above seem to need a voice. The patriarchal times left them with no choice. Fueling the aroma of a dead man's soul, hard to comprehend the color of control. I saddle up my mule and I hit the road, a few of us still lookin for the mother lode. Bring along a potion to reveal the way, an atlas of the world if you decide to stay...and bleed, bleed heart bleed. Bleed, bleed heart bleed. Follow me down to the bottom of the deep blue sea.

We were mermaids once upon a time. A deeper shade of blue aquatic dancers. Can't go back to what we left behind. Do the stars above contain all the answers?

They found him on the beach washed ashore they said. A garland made of pearls wrapped around his head. Standing in the distance you could see here there. A melancholy smile and a vacant stare...oh bleed, bleed heart bleed. Bleed, bleed heart bleed. Follow me down to the bottom of the deep blue sea." Words and music by Susan Brown

This painting is a tribute to Maria Callas...though it certainly doesn't capture her true beauty...

Making a Difference....

Sometimes I forget what's important...I wish life would just come at me a little different than it does. The reality though is that life isn't a tidy little package that suits my every mood.

Where am I going with this? Well, heck I don't know. What's a blog for? I'm thinking it needs to be more than just a place where I post pretty pictures. I want to move and inspire others. So, even though I don't have lots of readers, I will try to bring something to the table that is...valuable.

Making a difference is important to me. I have a cousin, his name is Ray, and he has been in prison most of his adult life. He had a little penchant for burglary. He loved to break in houses and steal their valuables. From the time he was a teen into his early adulthood this was his way.

I don't want to condone what he did, but I want to tell you that he was the sweetest kid you ever could meet! Stealing aside, he had a caring heart.

I haven't seen him since he's been locked up. That's been a little over 30 years! He's been on my mind lately and I've been talking about paying him a visit. I have been attending a seminar series and during the course of this event we were asked to invent the possibility of "making a difference". I realized that I really want to make a difference with the prison system. I want to bring an education to the inmates that will truly "transform" their lives. I honestly know very little about what goes on in these institutions, but it seems clear that they aren't being reformed. Rather, it seems they are breeding more criminals.

I'm choosing to take this on! This is huge, I realize...but I need my life to be about more than just painting pretty pictures. There is another area where I want to make a difference and I will write about that in another post...

Peace and Love,
Susan

मोनिका दोल्लिसों

सन फ्रांसिस्को १९६७

For some strange reason my blog title is in a different language...It's supposed to read "San Francisco 1967".

Anyhow, that's the year I first visited this city. I came here with my Father and siblings to visit my Uncle. I was so awestruck! 9 years old, and utterly smitten with everything that is/was San Francisco. Visually, I mean there are no words in my vocabulary to describe the impression that was left on me.
I decided then and there that I wanted to be an artist, musician and hippie.

My guess is you would have had to be there. Seeing the swarms of colorful flower children was much more concentrated in San Francisco than your average town, including San Diego (where I lived)China town was out of this world!

During that visit I was introduced to an artist named Gilbert Johnson. Walking up the stairs into his apartment was a painting which captivated me.

So, I am currently staying with my Uncle and having the opportunity to live in the city (temporarily) and experience it for a short while. When I first moved in back in November, he pulled the painting out of the closet and I felt as though I had come full circle. It's been 43 years since seeing the very painting that inspired me to be an artist. I also had the chance to be reintroduced to Gilbert and he showed me more of his work.
I've included that painting in this post as well as other images/posters of Gilbert's.





I'm amazed as I look at his work and how much I was influenced by his style/subjects. I don't in any way compare his skill level to mine (he's way more skilled) still, there are similarities.

Meeting Gilbert again brought me back to that time in the 60's...he most definitely reminded me of the hippies...

Please be sure and visit his site. www.gilbertjohnsondesigns.com

Mixed Media

I've been working with other elements in my painting these days...paper, jewels, stuff like that. I still have to put roses in there somewhere....enjoy!

rose gardens

I hope I don't get in trouble for using these images I found on the web...they're just so gorgeous I couldn't resist!










I love roses!!!

Pink Haired Ladies

I'm back....

I've been away in my own world, and I like it there...I guess I'm not really a "blogger" at heart. However, I love to read and look at the pictures on other blog sites. Plus, I still want to share parts of me including my art and music. So, while I probably won't have lots of inspirational commentary, I hope you'll enjoy some of the paintings and stuff.

A little update about my current projects: Wait, before I go there let me clarify that I am a little nutty and tend to be greedy for creativity. I want to do it all...at the same time I can't stand being a person who goes on about their accomplishments, etc.

Well, I'm doing a series of Marie Antoinette paintings and loving it! Also, here's another Geisha...

Peace and Love,
Susan

Farm Noir...

That's the name of this series of paintings I recently completed. It was somewhat cathartic, getting away from my usual romantic floral themed paintings. It may not seem that the angel painting is compatible with the farm theme, however, something told me to include it. I was commissioned to do this series by Susan Ellison from the store Blue Springs Home
She was inspired by the bedding by Matteo

On Death

"...For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?


Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance."
Kahlil Gibran

It's the anniversary of the passing of my friend Jeff. I was present in the room when he died on 06/06/06...that's right :)This is a picture of Jeff. He was a cool dude. He had some pretty feet and he would paint his toe nails blue. I loved him.

Life is a series of deaths actually. I have always been fascinated with the topic. Well, it would be more accurate to say I've always been fearful of it. I'm not really fearful anymore. I like to stay open to the endless possibilities that await us after this life...