Sunday, October 25, 2009

Halloween Countdown!!!

Halloween is almost here! My friend Stephen is throwing a super fancy, invite only, Masquerade Party at his boutique, Bonnie & Clyde's. Absinthe will be served...danger! Stephen actually hired me to read the Tarot, so basically I get paid to go to a fabulous party! The theme is "The Masque of the Red Death" (1842) a short story by Edgar Allan Poe and later made into a movie starring Vincent Price. The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague known as the Red Death by hiding in his abbey. He, along with many other wealthy nobles, has a masquerade ball within seven rooms of his abbey, each decorated with a different color. In the midst of their revelry, a mysterious figure enters and makes his way through each of the rooms. When Prospero confronts this stranger, he falls dead. Stephen is actually creating 7 vignettes with live models, to reenact a modern "Masque of the Red Death" tale.



It's a dress to impress occasion! Full costumes are optional, but masks are required! I realize the story of "The Masque of the Red Death" is set to the Renaissance period, but I may go with the Victorian or Elizabethan Era. I'm leaning towards the Elizabethan Era! The only thing I'm certain about is that I'm wearing all (or mostly) black and a Venetian Plague Doctor Mask. Some inspirations...

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Saturday, October 24, 2009

Do You Believe in Ghosts?

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Frater Chaovsky

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Cyril Helnwein Photography

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

For Strange Women

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A while back, I wrote about Jill McKeever's line of handmade perfumes and adornments, For Strange Women. This is a follow up post to tell you all how happy I am with my purchases! I finally got around to ordering the Moss & Ivy perfume oil that I had been coveting. It's a deep a green mossy scent balanced out with sweet notes. I think this scent would smell delish on men too! My next purchase was Rosewood Lip Balm, let me tell you, I AM IN LOVE! I'm somewhat a lip balm connoisseur and this is my new favorite! The texture is perfect and the scent of Rosewood never fails to sooth my soul! I'm going to buy the Astral Projection perfume oil next! For Strange Women was a featured seller on Etsy recently, you can check it out here. Jill gave my blog an honorable mention as one of her favorite Internet haunts and mentioned my etsy shop too...how sweet was that!?

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

De profundis clamo ad te domine

The veil is getting thin dear ones, only 10 days until Halloween! Are you ready!? I thought I'd post something for the spirits of lost souls and hungry ghosts, be they living or dead. SOPOR AETERNUS & THE ENSEMBLE OF SHADOWS expresses the profound suffering of the Anima Sola through dark visual narratives and haunted ballads. The music playfully fuses elements of classical, baroque, medieval, and even electronic music, the essence of SOPOR AETERNUS & THE ENSEMBLE OF SHADOWS always remains entirely »GOTHIC«.

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Officially founded in 1989, the Germany based SOPOR AETERNUS & THE ENSEMBLE OF SHADOWS is one of the last of the very few dark groups/projects in Europe (in fact, on this planet), who have based the sacred trinity of their music, poetry and visual appearance on the explicit emphasis of the highly individual expression of pain, isolation, depression, token suicides and the desperate search for the »sacred reunion«; all conceived and acted out by SOPOR's sole protagonist … the transgendered and utterly beautiful Goddess (and likewise tragically Butoh-esque creature) ANNA-VARNEY CANTODEA. Despite the fact that to this very day ANNA-VARNEY still refuses to perform her magic(k)al work live in front of a human audience, SOPOR AETERNUS & THE ENSEMBLE OF SHADOWS have long gathered cult status in underground circles worldwide.

ANNA- VARNEY's ritualistic/Jungian art is not necessarily rooted in the grounds of a commonly accepted sense of aesthetics … which is one of the many aspects that gives his/her work its serious and most unique character. Strongly recommended to be approached only with an open heart and mind, the profound darkness (and occasionally subversive humour) of ANNA-VARNEY's multi-layered (yet fragile) art is mainly intended as a spiritual healing-process for the wounded soul.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Ellen Rogers Photography

Ellen Rogers is the last of a dying breed, a photographer who uses film! All her work is analogue and the only digital equipment she uses is a scanner to scan the end result. Her beguiling photographs exude a dramatic sense of timelessness, as though created decades ago. She manifests haunting, ethereal images by experimenting with traditional darkroom processes...black magick!

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Saturday, October 17, 2009

HELP WANTED: Position Filled

I received at least 12 emails regarding the design project I talked about in the last post! I viewed all of your websites and blogs...it was so hard to choose someone, everyone is so amazing and talented! I plan to reach out and thank each of you, but I thought I should post something here first before anymore emails come in! Nicomi "Nix" Turner is going to work on this project with me! We already know each other and have many shared interests, which is nice! She sells her artwork under the moniker "The Specimen Jars" on Etsy and is also a fellow member of Etsy's Cabinet of Curiosities Team. Her first solo exhibit titled In Vein, got stellar reviews. Nix is currently busy working on her latest series titled Maidens and Crones, which should total 20 pieces upon completion! She will be showing in Portland throughout the month of November with notable artists such as Gris Grimly and Daniel Martin Diaz! Check out the details below and make sure to take a peek at her blog to see what else she's up to!

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Friday, October 16, 2009

HELP WANTED: Beautiful Packaging...

I'm looking for a Graphic Designer/Kindred Spirit to help me create product labels for my handmade Bath and Body Care Products! I know exactly what I want in terms of aesthetic (colors, fonts, imagery, ect.) but I need someone to help me put it all together! I can pay cash, do a shop credit or trade! Please email me at ladylavona@yahoo.com

Here's some packaging I'm crazy about!

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1. LE LABO 2. Mast Brothers Chocolate
3. Tokyo Milk 4. Sweet Petula 5. Fringe Alchemy Soaps

Thursday, October 15, 2009

I Love DJ Vadim!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Decadence and Decay



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Eily O'Connell Jewelry

Monday, October 12, 2009

winter wonderland...

Have you seen Gareth Pugh's new collection? It brings to mind the tragic beauty of Japanese Ghost Stories. The Obake (spirit or ghost) is often the main character in the bizarre, avant-garde Japanese dance-dramas, called Kabuki, as well as folklore inspired art and literature, like manga and anime. There are different types of Obake, for example Yōkai are a class of supernatural beings ranging from demons to supernatural creatures that possess part animal and part human features. Yōkai generally have a sort of spiritual or supernatural powers like shapeshifting. Another kind of Obake is the Yūrei, the soul of someone who has died in violent manner such as a tragic sudden death, murder or suicide, they are influenced by powerful emotions such as a desire for revenge, love, jealousy, hatred or sorrow. If the proper rites and rituals have not been performed, or the emotional conflict is left unresolved, the Yūrei will persist in haunting a particular person or place until their purpose is fulfilled, and they can move on to the afterlife...

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Next we have John Galliano. He also worked with the grey palette for his Winter collection, but the results are rich! It conjures images of Ice Caves, Snow Queens and even Theda Bara's provacative costumes in Cleopatra! The rest of his collection is gorgeous as well and reminds me of Russian fairytales and Balkan Gypsies!

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Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Maïssa Toulet's Cabinet de Sorcellerie

French artist, Maïssa Toulet created an amazing installation inspired by Witchcraft, Voodoo, and Folk Magick! It's a drastic contrast from her last body of work that I wrote about, Cabinets de Curiositie, which demonstrates a modern surrealist sensibility. Check out all the details of her Cabinet de Sorcellerie, on her website! It's like exploring the inside of a Wood Witch's cabin! Très Magnifique!

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Sunday, October 4, 2009

Ann Wood


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It was love at first sight when I saw Ann Wood's dreamy ghost ship and her whimsical, cardboard castles. And now I'm officially smitten! Allow me to introduce you to Chillingworth, the Owl. I've been dreaming of owning one of her raggedy owls...but will she ever make one as perfectly wicked as this ol' fella?

“A striking evidence of man’s faculty of transforming himself into a devil, if he will only, for a reasonable space of time, undertake a devil’s office.”

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Chillingworth was constructed out of an old Victorian Mourning Jacket! Fabulous, don't you think? Visit Ann Wood's blog for more crafty inspirations. Oh, and don't forget to check out the Design Sponge "sneak peek" featuring Ann's BEAUTIFUL home!

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Saturday, October 3, 2009

Supernatural SATYR Soap



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Getting back on track! I finally listed 8 different kinds of soap in my Etsy shop. This project is obviously still in it's infancy, but it's going to to be fabulous! I don't have photos of my labels yet...coming soon! Here's another peek at what I'm offering. This soap is called SATYR, inspired by an old Occult recipe for Satyr Oil thought to be a favorite of Aleister Crowley. Keeping my Vegan/Vegetarian friends in mind, I eliminated the Civet from the old recipe using a vegetal musk instead. This sweet, warm, earthy blend combines just the right amounts of Vanilla, Cinnamon and Clove oils, the perfect amount of Patchouli oil and leaf, and a dash of Cocoa Powder. This combination is believed by some to have aphrodisiac properties that evoke lust and passionate frenzy! The mythical man/beast known as Satyr or Pan, is a manifestation of the Horned God. He is the personification of the life force energy, the wilderness, fertility, sexual virility and the Hunt. He wanders the hills and mountains playing his pan-pipes, frolicking with Nymphs! But Pan of course doesn't just frolick with Nymphs...he's PANsexual!

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HYMN TO PAN by Aleister Crowley

Thrill with lissome lust of the light,
O man! My man!
Come careering out of the night
Of Pan! Io Pan!
Io Pan! Io Pan! Come over the sea
From Sicily and from Arcady!
Roaming as Bacchus, with fauns and pards
And nymphs and satyrs for thy guards,
On a milk-white ass, come over the sea
To me, to me,
Come with Apollo in bridal dress
(Shepherdess and pythoness)
Come with Artemis, silken shod,
And wash thy white thigh, beautiful God,
In the moon of the woods, on the marble mount,
The dimpled dawn of the amber fount!
Dip the purple of passionate prayer
In the crimson shrine, the scarlet snare,
The soul that startles in eyes of blue {V}
To watch thy wantonness weeping through
The tangled grove, the gnarled bole
Of the living tree that is spirit and soul
And body and brain --- come over the sea,
(Io Pan! Io Pan!)
Devil or god, to me, to me,
My man! my man!
Come with trumpets sounding shrill
Over the hill!
Come with drums low muttering
From the spring!
Come with flute and come with pipe!
Am I not ripe?
I, who wait and writhe and wrestle
With air that hath no boughs to nestle
My body, weary of empty clasp,
Strong as a lion and sharp as an asp ---
Come, O come!
I am numb
With the lonely lust of devildom.
Thrust the sword through the galling fetter,
All-devourer, all-begetter;
Give me the sign of the Open Eye,
And the token erect of thorny thigh,
And the word of madness and mystery,
O Pan! Io Pan!
Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan Pan! Pan,
I am a man:
Do as thou wilt, as a great god can,
O Pan! Io Pan!
Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! I am awake
in the grip of the snake.
The eagle slashes with beak and claw;
The gods withdraw:
The great beasts come, Io Pan! I am borne
To death on the horn
Of the Unicorn.
I am Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan! {VI}
I am thy mate, I am thy man,
Goat of thy flock, I am gold, I am god,
Flesh to thy bone, flower to thy rod.
With hoofs of steel I race on the rocks
Through solstice stubborn to equinox.
And I rave; and I rape and I rip and I rend
Everlasting, world without end,
Mannikin, maiden, Maenad, man,
In the might of Pan.
Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan! Io Pan!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

The Belles of the Black Diamond Field