Alamar (2009) is a feat of calm, refreshingly ‘real’ imagery describing fresh experiences and feelings.

Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio traces the journey of young Natan who joins his father’s life for a shortly precious, undefined period of time.  The young boy follows his father and grandfather fishing for lobsters, grimacing at the alien animals with squirms and naïve movements.  The men share mornings and evenings on uneven floorboards through which glimmers of the water below shine and sparkle.  They share their days and include Natan in their fishing routine, the boy tries to help, gently fascinated but childishly easily distracted by his own tiny footprints or wild animals.

It was only ever shown on a maximum of 3 screens at the time of release;  I stumbled over it by chance in the school library, probably in need of exoticism.  What ‘Alamar‘ gave me was a breath of youthful energies and impressive photography of the coral reef of Banco Chinchorro off the Mexican coast.  It’s without a storyline and not a film into which one needs to read too much into.  Feel and listen, and it might just rock you to a gently simple and beautiful place.

“Step in, to my Office”

Just like a desk on which the sky never ceases to insist on being a part of everything…

(W-11)    Piece One

Tumbling, layered soft cabochons and loaf cuts drape over each other graduating and changing down the bust.

Dimensions and constructions, lines and shines…

Next up, a dive into the symmetries, colours and layering of 1910s ballet costumes, notably designs by Léon Bakst for Paul Dukas’s ‘La Péri‘.

Snow chick, quick sketch.

Work to progress.

1900-1905 Pendant by Georges Fouquet, Paris.  Opal Mosaic, Plique-à-jour enamel, diamonds in yellow gold.

A week glimpsing a fraction of ‘real‘ history to fit in with the project’s fiction.

It has been an privilege to work alongside live pieces of Fouquet’s Art in their Burlington Arcade setting. Subtleties such as textural and colour details could be observed from handling the pieces first hand in the view to making the ‘results‘ as accurate as possible… The experience has overall widened the range of techniques in my vocabulary to be used in future, although some aspects were challenging!  A suivre…

Much gratitude to Hancocks, London, for their ongoing inspiration and support: http://www.hancocks-london.com/acatalog/info_MEM115958AM.html

“Hancocks is like a museum except with one huge advantage; the display is constantly changing and if you have the means, you can take the pieces away with you!”

Poiret will be a source for design in the coming weeks: as he transformed radical ‘Ballet Russes’ costumes into innovatively unstructured and brightly embellished fashions, Paris followed and gradually, well, the Americas and colonies.  His clothes freed women from corsets while evoking exotic, non-Western cultures and a new alternative to conventions. 

Always following Man Ray, I am less  familiar with his portraits.  Here he captured the philanthropist and art collector Peggy Guggenheim wearing Paul Poiret, Jhumka drop earrings, probably from India.  Deep gaze and stunning silhouette.  

If  eyes ‘don’t fail me now…’, estimated finish date, Circa 2012.

‘Senna‘

Far from being a romanticised Hollywood biopic, ‘Senna‘ is a montage of original footage from Ayrton Senna’s career.

Brilliantly told, the story traces the Brazilian driver’s rise and determination within his field.  Interviews and conversations are recorded and played over imagery, which, with the foresight of Senna’s fate, are poignant and bear much weight.

Regardless of any current interest for motor-sport, the changes in the cars’ designs, technology, the clothing and the archival feel of the photography in the film are captivating and they can be observed chronologically.

A must see, especially if anyone, like me, remembers their dreams of becoming the first and best woman racing driver in the WORLD at the age of six.