Sabine Weiss, Photography

Sabine Weiss has been looking through her camera lens with a curious eye for 45 years. She was there in the 50's and 60's, documenting, with her humanist style. The Swiss-born photographer has also shot many fashion pieces for Vogue, and celebrity portraits. She has concentrated on black and white shots which she claims have allowed her to document "man and his surroundings" with more "calmness and simplicity and a fullness of light".

One biography states, "Her camera is akin to a fairy’s magic wand which enabled Weiss to suspend time and freeze any particular moment she wants to capture."

(C) Sabine Weiss

(C) Sabine Weiss

(C) Sabine Weiss

Corrida, 1960.

Lyon, France (black cat)

© Sabine Weiss , 1950

(C) Sabine Weiss

(C) Sabine Weiss

1982, Little Egyptian

(C) Sabine Weiss

Anniversary Embroidery

My sister and her husband celebrated their 2nd wedding anniversary July 19th. I'd been working diligently behind the scenes to get my gift finished in time, but it was hopeless. I've just been too busy, so I ended up giving them their gift one day shy of a month late.


I embroidered their initials with a scrappy flower onto a tea-dyed embroidery fabric with a wooden embroidery hoop which I painted white to contrast the dyed fabric. I chose orange to compliment the black and white because on a recent trip to Ikea with my sister, she purchased orange curtains and an orange throw for their bedroom. I hope they enjoy it, I certainly enjoyed creating it for them!

Here are some details:






And the finished product:

70's Yarn SUPERSTAR!

Have you ever stuck your face in a mish-mash mound of brightly coloured yarn and let the vibrancy wash over you? If you haven't tried it yet, I suggest you do. It's quite a sensual experience..........





I finished a project today, which I shall divulge at a later date. I had pretty much the entire contents of my supplies boxes strewn across the 10'x10' work area and had to spend some time cleaning and organizing it. I came across this "vintage" (truly, this stuff is probably at least 30 years old) yarn from either my grandmother or great-grandmother that I forgot I had stashed. The colours were super 70's and frankly, awesome.

I believe the yarn was primarily used to create some pretty groovy floral embroideries. Like this sample:



And I even scored two almost-completed designs! The first one:




The second one:


I totally dig 'em.

Apple Faces... bored much?

You've heard of apple bottoms... well now you get some apple heads.

Free Clothing Swap Lamp Gets Powned

Several months ago I picked up two large lamps for free from a clothing swap at my mom's church. They had enough redeeming qualities to let me see potential in them, so I took one and my mom took one. The lamps had that 70's look as if they tried to make the lamp look like a giant fancy candlestick and candle, and eventually I got frustrated trying to find large enough lampshade (lampshades are expensive!) that would compliment the intricate design. And even if I found one, I was afraid that the silvery-pearl glaze, frosty flower design, and brassy base would still look more "tacky" than "antique-y".



Finally, a few days ago, I found a gigantic, beautiful lampshade for $6.50 at MCC Furniture Thrift store! It perfectly covers the "candle-look" on the neck of the lamp that was apparently so popular in 1970's lamp decor... I was very pleased, but not as pleased as I was when my friend gave me a can of gloss cream coloured spray paint she wasn't going to use. I decided to spray paint the tacky right out of my lamp.

The finished product!

The result? I love it! The details are still visible, like the flower design on the bowl of the lamp, and the intricate filigrees on the base and neck actually stand out more than they did with all the distracting shimmer glazes and silver-brass. I think the result looks solid and clean, but still holds on to the "antique" appeal.