Frida & Diego.

While I was in Atlanta I visited the High Museum of Art to see the Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera exhibit. Frida and Diego Passion, Politics, and Painting was an extremely powerful exhibit and told a love story that wasn't your typical one.
 
The exhibition was beautifully curated with the idea of weaving together the lives of them both. We follow Diego through his very first paintings, his early attempts at cubism, as well as his portraits and murals. Frida's work which primarily consists of a range of self portraits from throughout her life are highlighted. Some of my favourite pieces from them both are landscapes and still-lifes-- Diego's series of sunsets, and Frida of her home in Mexico.

The result of their tumultuous relationship is very present in some of Frida's paintings, both the physical and emotional pain were the focus of some of the most emphatic pieces.

It always amazes me how these artists can capture so much in a few strokes.

Bedroom Inspiration

This whole re-doing of my bedroom has become an extremely exciting project, even though I've two walls left to sand, refinish and then paint; all of which has actually created a bit of a halt to the entire thing. I am currently motivating myself to begin the sanding-puttying process by looking at all these amazing rooms, each of which has some aspect of what I want in my bedroom/office space/dressing room--it is still beyond me how I will fit all of that into one room.

I even expect too much from the walls around me!

Image Via So Shay

Image via MadebyGirl

Image via My Morning Inspiration

Colour Palette- Image via My Vintage Travel Trailer

Off the Bookshelf: No Excuses- 9 Ways Women can Change the Way We Think About Power

 My latest read has been a book that is a whole lot of feminist. No Excuses, in my opinion, is a book every woman needs to read. It is a straightforward look at power as an advantage and as a tool that can propel us to new heights.

It's always interesting to read other women's views on the state of our affairs when it comes to our advantages or lack there of in the real world. Granted that this book was written by an American and is chock full of American statistics regarding the women, I think it still very relevant to women from around the world. It was very interesting to learn that in the US women earn 78 cents to a man's dollar; and that on top of that unmarried woman earn 56 cents to a man's dollar--and this is in America the land of equal opportunity and all that great stuff-- so one can only imagine what its like for women in developing parts of the world.

The author, Gloria Feldt, talks about women as a collective shifting our views on power from an oppressive power-over, to an expansive and empowering power-to. I personally feel that any sort of information that can help women progress, is information that should be available to every woman who wants to have it.

This book is absolutely the starting point of the conversation my generation needs to be part of.

Abstraction: Liza Hathaway Matthews

I love the awe and excitement that comes with discovering new artists that I can obsess over. As you have seen I am a clear lover of contemporary abstract work--I am a huge fan of colour and texture and for that reason I love oil on canvas.
Liza Hathaway Matthews is an American artist, she has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in interior design and painting, and lives in Maryland. By merging colour and texture she creates the most beautiful stories.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

Emerald City

Pink Lemonade

Gazebo

Tapestry

The Bride

Images Courtesy of Oriets Fine Art

Bagging the Rich: Louis Vuitton

I just finished reading this article on PurseBlog.com about Louis Vuitton trying to raise their prices so as to attract a more high end customer, and I thought it an extremely interesting approach towards increasing sales as well as trying to change their clientele.
I think over the past two years it has been extremely clear who buys and wears Vuitton bags--everyone. Their bags tend to be heavily monogrammed. I think it's this monogram and its link to luxury that has taken the bag from the exclusivity of years prior, to the mainstream repertoire that comes with distribution within the mass market.

On any given day I can guarantee I will see an LV purse several times --from in school, to people in the malls, to women on the bus--I have become completely desensitized to them.
 So would I buy one? Absolutely not-- well at least not one that has Louis Vuitton plastered all over it, I prefer less ostentatious pieces, like this Balenciaga I wrote about last year-- and on top of that I couldn't afford to spend a semester's tuition on a hand bag, so I get mine at ZARA.

I do believe they are now trying to get back to the point of exclusivity as well to similarity of design of brands like Céline, and Givenchy, which are both owned by the same company LVMH-- and at a stretch they seem to aim to be on the same plane as Hermès, whom they claim raises the prices of their bags regularly. However, I'm not quite sure Vuitton can rank themselves on the same level as Hermès considering $5000 is the cost of Hermès' cheapest bag, and as stated by PurseBlog, when you're catering to high profile customers with great buying power an extra $500 added to their $5000 Hermès price tag, really wouldn't dent their pockets.

So, bottom line, Louis Vuitton is obviously feeling the pressure to increase sales and their level of exclusivity, whether this is the best strategy to use to go about it, and whether this tactic will work, can only be seen in the next two quarters. But guaranteed we might be seeing less and less of the monogram that initially made them so popular.



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Inspired.

1. The simplicity that comes with having a clear agenda.

2. A beautiful palette

3. Words of Wisdom

 

Images courtesy of CocoaandHearts.com, BenLiney.com

App of the Week: Google Keep

This can very easily be the first and last App of the Week post I do, just because so little in the app world excites me. However, I have come across one from Google that just blows my mind--and it is almost simple-stupid.If you've kept up with me over my time of writing, you'll know that I am a huge believer in writing things down and creating lists of needs and accomplishments. So for me to find a source of doing this that is organized, efficient, and aesthetically pleasing, and on my phone... well I have no words.
Google Keep, is basically a post-it system for your phone that you can colour code and makes your boring notes look extremely interesting. So for me, being able to take a photo or write a snippet down and be able to recall it two weeks later is gold.
Unfortunately (or fortunately?) it is only privy to non i-phone phones--lucky us!! So get to downloading kids, it will appease the most disorganized.

Blues-Clues.

I honestly think that cobalt should be the colour of the year, and this post isn't on the actual colour of the year, emerald, because I've written an emerald focused post last year--a little ahead of the trend.
Perhaps it will be next year, but in my opinion (to whomever may care), cobalt is this year's real star. I may be saying that because of how many pieces I've bought in the shade of electric blue, as well as how many I am continually drawn to in stores.
And on the runway it has been in collections from, Peter Pilotto, Mathew Williamson, and Mary Katrantzou--who by the way are hidden gems from mainstream media. So today I will share some of their looks.

I thought this may have been necessary, especially since its exam time and everyone gets extremely stressed, so just relax and breathe, and when you're being nice to someone else-- remember to be nice to yourself too!

The room renovations.

Alright, I drafted this post in October of 2012, and I started re-doing my room 3 weeks ago. So you can see how slow I am capable of moving when given the chance, but now I am full steam ahead. I have given myself a deadline of May 1st, but considering I have already painted two walls I think I am well on my way.

I'm making a drastic change from the deep purple of my cousin's teenage years to a light+bright minty green. I haven't quite got to the design and layout bit of the bedroom down, but I know I'll be investing in a writing/laptop desk, and a television for the copious amounts of news I watch.

Just thinking about a completely different look makes me extremely excited, so I am very happy to share the changes with you as they come.

Stay tuned!

                                                                                                                             
Old Colour

New Colour

Worst Trends of 2013

... in my opinion.

You know sometimes there are things that just grind your gears on a daily basis-- for instance people who curse every other word, or say like way too often. Well these trends do that to me, every single day.
Nothing's wrong with you loving them and rocking them out... but these are things I would not be caught dead...or alive in.

Finally...

 

I am currently in the final week of my final semester in Fashion Business, so I will be saying good-bye to you, and firmly planting myself in a position to fight for my freedom.

To everyone else in the midst of exams I wish you the best.

Stabrooke Views will reconvene on Thursday April 18th.

See you then!