Mucha Do’d It – And So Have I

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As many others who came of age during the 1960’s, I first became familiar with the art of Alphonse Mucha, via the logo and poster works he created for JOB cigarette papers. Although originally created in 1898, in my ignorance (which I was not alone in), I had considered this work as symbolic of the Haight-Ashbury ideal “Flower Child”. It was not until the publication of E.L. Doctorow’s novel, “Ragtime”, in 1975, that I learned not only the name of the artist and the year he created that poster, but also who the model was that inspired him and the history of her infamy. Of course, the model I’m referring to, was Evelyn Nesbit, who first came to the public’s attention as the “The Gibson Girl”, then one of the “Floradora’s”, and finally as “The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing”.

Evelyn’s physical beauty was greatly complimented by the skills of photographers such as Rudolf Eickemeyer Jr.Alfred Stieglitz, and Andrew Pitcairn-Knowles, which then lead to her becoming a favorite model (both from life and from her famed photographs) not only for Gibson and Mucha, but also Aubrey Beardsley and others. As sought after as she was, Evelyn was hardly alone, as the so-called “Edwardian Period” boasted and then promoted a number of strikingly beautiful young woman who’s likenesses made it onto not only works of “fine art” but then quickly exploded into the realm of commercialism by being adapted into poster-art that endorsed various consumer products and trading cards. Some of the most well-known of these beauties, in addition to Evelyn Nesbit, included Lily Elsie, Maude Fealy, Gaynor Rolands, Clara Bow, and Bessie Love. While their names may not be as familiar these days, undoubtedly their photographs and the art they inspired are just as well known and appreciated 100 years later as in their heydey.

Feeling in good company then, I have created my own interpretation of these timelessly classic beauties for my own enjoyment and hopefully, for yours. For your reference, you can view some of the original photographs which inspired my work at these sites: Edwardian Ladies at the The Thinking Tank and Vintage Spirit.

Free Icons of the Day

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Evelyn Nesbit

“Miss Evelyn Nesbit (Mrs. Harry K. Thaw)”

Lily Elsie

“Miss Lily Elsie”

Maude Fealy

“Miss Maude Fealey”

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Too Loose Nouveau for the 21st Century

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I’ve gone back to playing around with trying to develop clip art and icons derived from Art Nouveau and Edwardian themes and influence but with some unique twist bringing that genre into the 21st Century. Tonight’s offering are a couple of my latest experiments. (they go along with a couple of earlier posts: ‘IconDoIt Lautrec’ and ‘Sneak Preview’ ). I think some of these might work well either as enameled pins and other accessories and perhaps a series of greeting cards. Any thoughts?

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The following images are either full or reduced size previews. Simply right-click (or control-click) on the preview to save the image(s) of your choice to your desktop. (Unless otherwise noted, downloads are 512px X 512px in .png format). Create Commons license applies (see sidebar for details)

Too-Loose

“Too Loose to Trek”

Margaret

“Margaret Rose LaVie”

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This post will give you the Willies!

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This week was pretty heavy for me. Some research I’ve been doing for a friend has really put me to the test and I came face-to-face with the realization that I am probably never going to get rid of this “chemo brain” completely. While my friend has been gracious and seems quite pleased with the results of my efforts so far, he didn’t know me before I got sick and so has no way of knowing that the “old” me would’ve accomplished 5x as much and the depth and quality of my research and writing would have been far superior. I’ve heard some people say that being a perfectionist is a bad thing – but I’ve never understood that point of view, as long as I don’t expect others to be perfect (which I don’t). Of course, I’ve never been perfect but if I hadn’t expected it of myself, I would never have been able to learn and accomplish what I have in the past. I’m not neurotic about it. It’s that the efforts involved in trying to be perfect was just a challenge I really enjoyed and I really miss having the physical stamina and the mental ability to focus at the same level I used to.

sigh…

In any event, because of the strain of this week, I really needed to do something light and fun and playful. Since my brain was too shot to dredge up an original idea, I went searching for some kids coloring pages and found a delightful abundance of sites with just what I was looking for. The absolute best site I found (based on variety, originality, and just in general fun) was one coming out of France. You should check it out as it’s just a delight. http://www.coloriage-enfants.com/ – As to the character I selected, the website indicated his name is “Winni Windel”. I was unfamiliar with the character and so did a search and came up with literally hundreds of websites and blogs for Winni Windel coloring pages or animations but only one single website that is a likely candidate for originating this adorable “diaper baby”. The site is for Steffen Soulejman Janus, who is “an internationally interactive specialist. He was Co-Founder of foco design studios in Germany and Switzerland and acted as CEO, Senior Project Manager and Creative Director for the company. For the past ten years, he set new standards in nonlinear interface design, online communications, branding and sales….” And he’s got a hell of an impressive list of clients! As to Winni, under his projects page is posted an online design study for diaper character Winnie promotion” completed in 2001 that he created for Optipresent Media AG, Munich Germany. The finished project can be found at Windel Winni Reloaded. It’s in German so you may need to use a translation plug-in or just enjoy the pictures. According to this site (unlike the hundreds of others – but obviously more authoritative) the character is named “Windel Winni” and not the other way around.

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Winni Windel - Sleepy

Winni Windel - Glee

Winni Windel - Electrifying