Zoe Arnold

Zoe Arnold

To whom it may concern,

It has been brought to my attention that people are photoshopping images found on my blog and elsewhere on the internet. The artwork below for example was something that I commissioned artist Nikki Pinder to do in 2007. She made a matching banner for my blog which at the time was called "Lady Lavona's Gypsy Soup". All artwork (commissions & collaborations) found on my blog, ect. with my name on it is owned by me and is protected under copyright laws the artist possesses.

reshaping my life...

Tina Imel Fine Art

Strange Dolls

Strange Dolls

Thomas Kuntz

"Thomas Kuntz is a contemporary artist fighting to bring ancient arcana and modern technologies together as weapons for aesthetic enlightenment. Thomas has been working constantly as a professional artist since 1986, but his private projects tend to feature the mysterious, uncanny, sometimes darkly horrific and bittersweet sad aspects of human nature. He has devoted a lifetime to acquire the skills of designer, sculptor, mechanic, automatist, animator, model maker, painter and conceptualist."



"In the new world order marketplace of branding, globalization, automation, compartmentalization and the subsequent general shrinkage and decline of craftsmanship, Thomas is in fact a dying breed. His inspirations span the centuries and are cross-pollinated in subject matter and approach. Dada-surrealism, mechanical engineering, architecture, atom-age kitsch, erotica, exotica, classical renaissance, horology, anthropology, artificial life/androids and anatomy to name just a few. It is not uncommon to see his projects packaged with a strong dose of "gallows humor" theatrics and magick."

from Thomas Kuntz

Colette Calascione

I was browsing around Wurzeltod, admiring Suzanne's fancy new layout, and I came across a painting by Colette Calascione. Then I realized how long it had been since I had a look at her portfolio so I followed the link to her website...Oh Desire, will you ever leave me be? This painting really belongs hanging in my boudoir...

Dan Hillier

This is one my favorite pieces by Dan Hillier! It's an original pen and ink drawing. Most of you might be more familiar with his Dark Victorian hybrids, which only hint at genius...so you must go explore the rest of his online gallery to see his marvelous dark imaginings for yourself! Three of his designs (Mother, Father and Child) now adorn the covers of Modofly's amazing Moleskine pads and are available here.

Jamie Baldridge

To say that Jamie Baldridge is an imaginative genius is an understatement. His book The Everywhere Chronicles is at the top of my wishlist! The Everywhere Chronicles is available through the prestigious publishing company, 21ST Editions.



Only 50 editions exsist...33 regular editions at $7500 each and 17 Museum editions at $14,000 each! A beautiful custom made clam shell box, holds a handbound book. The book contains 12 bound prints, plus 1 fully signed and free-standing, pigment ink print for you to frame and display. Dark landscapes, odd characters, and magical surrealism are woven together by a curious fictional journal written by Jamie. Monotype letterpresss text is printed on the finest paper. The book is signed by the artist and publisher. No second editions will ever be made!

JULIAN DE NARVAEZ

Julian De Narvaez revisits the early 1900's and embraces my favorite aspects of the times: invention, and wonder! Things like hot air balloons, circus sideshows, and handlebar moustaches are fused with surreal landscapes, curious characters, and scenarios.

Exquisite Corpses

Polly Morgan is a Taxidermist based in the UK. She has done commissions for the likes of Kate Moss and counts Jude Law as a collector and friend. All taxidermied animals are either road casualties or were donated to her by pet owners and vets after natural or unpreventable deaths.

Marcin Tyszka

Well darlings...I'll let the pictures speak for themselves! www.marcintyszka.com

The Doily...Reinvented!

It all started with the Neo-Victorian "gothic collection" by Thomas Paul that I fell in love with last year. A set of serveware featuring silhouettes and doilies. Then I saw found Vintage framed doilies in my favorite little Etsy shop, Mon Petit Fantome. (Which by the way, will be showcased in an upcoming issue of Domino Magazine featuring 15 lucky Etsy Artists! Yay Chad!) Anyway, these guys were onto something because now it seems there are doilies everywhere I look this Spring.. I love it! Look, more framed doilies below!


Granny's doilies never looked so good! This curtain is my favorite! Be sure to check out Sweet Paul's Design, Craft & Food blog for more goodness!



I've seen them sewn onto pillows, totes, clothing, ect...I love this glass bowl wrapped vintage doilies...also by Sweet Paul

Little Haunted House on the Prairie

I want to tell you about one of my favorite Etsy shops, Mon Petit Fantome The aesthetic is Gothic American Folk. Like if Dorothy Gail from Kansas was a goth chick. Or if the Addams Family lived in the early 19th Century West...Little Haunted House on the Prairie! The country style of the early 19th Century period was relatively simple compared to the Victorian styles of the era because prairie women didn't have access to as much in the way of lace and decoration as the East and West Coast women did. I adore everything in this Petit Fantome's shop...check it out! If you like something you better scoop it up, things go so quickly! I LOVE this silhouette...


And these cute little owl pillows!


And this fancy black hooded capelet...SOLD!


The Fantome behind the curtain is a cool fellow named Chad Merritt. He also makes lovely ghostly atmospheric noise for melancholy days with bandmate Tracy Uba. The project is called St. Mary's. Listen HERE! After a little chat with Chad, I found out he used to live in Chicago, just blocks away from me...small world! My old neighborhood is called Ukranian Village. Anyway, it occured to me that he must have named the band after St. Mary's Catholic Church on Augusta Blvd. I used to live right across the street. The head priest would parade around the block with a procession of church go-ers on Saint's days and Easter...while singing and playing odd instruments, like bells and the accordian. I miss the Church bells on Sundays...

P.S. Chad, if you are reading this...I hope you'll make a Raven silhouette soon!

SCRIMSHAW

Recently a nice gentleman named Robert Chaplin stopped by my blogspace here and dropped me a line. In turn I visited his blogspace and made a new discovery. Robert is an amazing artist and uses his blog to share his newest work. He posted one particular piece that I love...an awesome etched piece of vintage ivory. I have seen such things before, but now I know what this lost artform is called, "Scrimshaw". Usually the pieces I have come across have nautical themes, ships, whales, ect. It all makes sense now... Scrimshaw artistians are usually sea faring people. The artform goes back to neolithic times. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it became the craft of sailors and whalers. Scrimshaw can still be found amoungst the Eskimo people, but otherwise "Scrimshanders" are a dying breed.



One of my favorite sites to visit is Black Sheep and Prodigal Sons, Purveyors of Dark and Uncommon Goods. Founder, Derrick Cruz is a self taught Scrimshander. He offers dark romantic men's jewelry and functional Art Objects...rich with symbolism. And I know that inside every Black Heart beats one passionate and Blood Red! The best things get tarnished over time!




When asked about the significance of the company's name in a recent interview he said "The phrase Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons jumped out at me while reading Kafka was the Rage by Anatole Broyard. I sympathize with this story. When I left Brooklyn to live in the Village, I felt as if I had acquired a new set of relative...uncles I had never met before...men who lived in odd places...who had shunned family life and been shunned in turn, who were somewhere between black sheep and prodigal sons of a paradoxical kind. An aura of scandal, or at least of ambiguity, hovered over these uncles...there was a flaw in their past, some kind of unhealthiness, even a hint of insanity...my favorite writers...i felt them waiting, almost calling out to me...they were all the family I had now, all the family I wanted. With them I could lead a hypothetical life, unencumbered by memory, loyalties, or resentments."




His scrimshaw pieces are carved out of pre-banned vintage ivory piano keys. You really have to visit his site...every collection has a beautiful narrative to accompany it. Each piece is presented in artfully crafted box that looks like an old a book.

Phrenology

Phrenology is the Occult science which studies the relationships between a person's character and the morphology of the skull. It is a very ancient object of study. The first philosopher to locate mental faculties in the head was in fact Aristoteles.
Several typologies have been defined, linking physionomy with character. The study of the face, physiognomony, has been particularly studied by the 18th century.


In the early 19th century, Phrenology gained a rapidly growing interest. The Victorian period saw the emergence of Phrenological parlours which were closer to astrology, chiromancy, and the like, than to real scientific characterology.


You can always find porcelain Phrenology busts on ebay like the one pictured below...


But look what I found, I love it! http://www.thehomeport.com/

Grotesque Beauties

The art form known as taxidermy has a little place in my heart. A morbid curiosity, I know! But before you shake your animal loving head in disgust, let me explain. The taxidermy revival has brought a new breed of artisians with it called rogue taxidermists. They restore vintage taxidermy, and use found animals...eh hem, roadkill! Some also take on commissions to do pet memorials. Yes, you too can immortalize your pet when he/she dies!

I'm particularly interested in a certain genres of taxidermy. First, Crypto-taxidermy is the creation of imagined species, like winged cats, jackalopes, and unicorns, ect... This sort of thing was popular with the Victorians who would display these creations in their Curiosity Cabinets (Wunderkammer) You would also find these kind of creations in traveling circus sideshows. Popular sideshow attractions such as two headed animals, or mumified bodies of mermaid creatures, half monkey, half fish... Second, Anthropomorphic taxidermy is where stuffed animals are dressed as people, engaged in human activities, a Tea Party perhaps! Check out these "Grotesque Beauties".



This one is my favorite, it's Esmeralda, the Fortune Telling Chicken!

Disce Mori

Mourning jewelry mirrored the lives and times of the people who wore it. It was a souvenir to remember a loved one, a reminder to the living of the inevitability of death, and a status symbol, especially during the Victorian era. Mourning jewelry reached its height of popularity in England after the death of Prince Albert in December 1861. Queen Victoria went into deep mourning, which was imitated by her subjects when faced with their own bereavements.

In the United States the use of mourning jewelry increased with the outbreak of the Civil War. This coincided with the black jewelry used in England in sympathy with Queen Victoria's widowhood. For the first year, a woman who was in mourning was not allowed to exit her home with out full black attire and a weeping veil. Her activities were initially restricted to church services. But mourning attire was the perfect way to show the wealth and respectability of a woman.




The earliest examples of mourning jewelry were found in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. Black and white enameled heads or skulls were often set into rings and brooches. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was a status symbol to present mourning jewelry to friends and families of the bereaved.

I am particularly in love with hair brooches...beautiful jewelry in which one would keep a lock of hair belonging to the deceased.




I am smitten by modern interpretations of Victorian jewelry. One of my favorite designers is Julia deVille of Disce Mori. If you love the Steampunk aesthetic, you will love her web design! Her work is not limited to jewelry, she also offer elegant leather gloves, spats, and taxidermy art objects!

Tasseography: Tea Cup Fortune Telling

Tasseography (also known as tasseomancy or tassology) is a divination or fortune-telling method that interprets patterns in tea leaves, coffee grounds, or wine sediments.The terms derive from the French word tasse (cup), which in turn derives from the Arabic tassa (cup), and the Greek suffixes -graph, -logy, and -mancy (divination).



Tasseography has probably been around as long as there has been tea - over five thousand years. Tasseography probably had its origins in ancient China. The Chinese would often read the dredges of their cups for symbols, omens or unusual patterns.


Just as psychological analysis grew prodigiously during the Victorian era, tasseography became popularized as a parlor game. But the practice distinguishes itself from amorphic fortune telling, mystical, occult or other magical activities. Specifically, tasseography is not an application of magic, but rather a tool for tapping into the subconscious by applying meditation to pattern recognition and symbolism.

My 9 year old daughter, Maya and I started reading each others cups after Hot Chocolate. She's actually very good at it! All you need is an open mind and a nice white cup. There are different methods for reading so I suggest doing a little research. I found quite a few sites that posted interpretation of symbolism. Check out this tea set for two below. Gorgeous, fine Japanese porcelain has tea leaf reading hints inscribed on the inside of the cups, and the saucers bear a handy dictionary of symbols and their meanings. Two oval cups, accompanied by lovely rounded-oblong saucers.




And I love this design...inspired by the classic turkish coffee telling, wong and co-conspirators have produced a series of cups and saucers with fortunes suspended in time in 22 Kt gold. available in 3 styles of cups.

All I Want for Christmas!

I love Kerry Kate's October Effigies! This Boudoir Doll is currently in her Etsy shop. If you buy it before I do, I'll forgive you.


I also really really need this Classic Working Replica Gramophone. It plays 78 RPM Records!


I've had these amazing Silhouettes plates by Thomas Paul on my list forever!

How to Make Victorian Terrariums

Terrariums are small, self-maintaining, self-enclosed ecosystems. They can maintain themselves as long as you select the right plants and give them the right amount of water. For the instructions here, I use jade plant and a pear plant...Orchids would be lovely too!

If your a beginner, try a terrarium kit like Carnivorous Creations. It contains a seed packet of a variety of beautiful, exotic, carnivorous plants like: Venus Fly Trap, Cobra Plant, Yellow Trumpet, Hooded Pitcher Plant, Sweet Trumpet, Purple Pitcher Plant, Maroon Sundew Plant, Pink
Sundew Plant, White Sundew Plant.





Materials:
Rocks or marbles for drainage (for a fun alternative, try glass beads, dainty wood or bark chips)
Large Apothecary Jar or Terrarium
Dirt with peat moss
Plant specimen (something that loves a moist environment, such as jade, a pear plant or a fern)
Sheet moss (available in craft, hobby and gardening stores)

Tools:
Small spade or trowel
Scissors
Spray bottle
Watering can

Instructions:
Put your rocks in the bottom of the jar for drainage. Next, top that off with a wee layer of lovely dirt, rich with nutrients, mixed with peat moss. Pull your plant specimen out of its container and place it in the jar. Add a little more dirt around the edges to secure it if necessary.

Cover the dirt with some moss that has been sprayed with water to bring it back to life. This is best done by tearing the sheet into small pieces and placing it around the base of your plant. Water your little miniature garden lightly, and put the lid back in place.

Keep an eye on it for the first few days. If the jar fogs up, that means there is too much moisture in there. If this happens, take off the lid and leave it off for a little while to let the moisture evaporate. But be careful, you don't want it to dry out completely. The key to a self-maintaining terrarium is the right amount of water. Once you've figured that out, you'll be able to leave it for extended periods of time without having to add water.

It's fun to experiment with plants and containers. Larger apothecary jars and smaller specimens will make it possible to use more then one plant, which can add variety to your display. Have fun!