Posts Tagged “botticelli”

Giovanna Albizzi Paying Homage to Venus and the Graces, Lemmi Villa Fresco, currently at the Louvre, Paris, France
This is really interesting…Botticelli was commissioned by the Tourbuoni family, during the Italian Renaissance, to paint 2 frescoes to honor the marriage of their son Lorenzo to Giovanna. The frescoes are currently in terrible shape because they were meant to be party decorations and were white washed after the marriage celebrations. It was in 1863 that the Lemmi family, who then owned the villa, uncovered the fresco during a renovation. If they hadn’t renovated, this fresco may have been lost forever. How many other treasures have been lost since then? You can read about it here.

2 of the Graces that I chose to paint
I applied a 1″ grid over my desired section, after I resized the painting to 4.25″ x 6″.

My painting on fabric, not yet sewn or quilted, 4″ x 6″

My painted section took quite a long time; though I did find it rather enjoyable. I haven’t spent as much time this week in my studio as I had hoped. I also had to come to terms with the fact that I probably wouldn’t achieve the antique craquelure of the fresco, but will see what I can do with thread once I quilt it this evening.

The aftermath…I am a messy painter!

I had the most bizarre dream early this morning. It woke me up around 5am, so after trying in vain to go back to sleep I decided to get up and research some dream symbols while having my first cup of coffee of the day. So, in my dream, I was with my former landscape architecture studio peers. Only they were on a school fieldtrip and I happened to bump into them at the zoo. While we were making idle chit chat, the most amazing colorful large beetles began swarming all over my left arm. I would try to swat them away, and they wouldn’t budge, and then the beetles started crawling under my sleeves. These beetles were magenta, cobalt blue, orange, yellow, emerald green and black. Panic started to creep in and that’s when I woke up. According to Dream Moods when a person dreams about bugs, it is symbolic of anxieties and fears.

Weird, since all I have been thinking (obsessing) about the past few days is the possibility of a family relocation. My husband has an interview on Monday morning in Steamboat Springs, CO (population 9,354 as of 2005) for possible employment with Routt County. We’ve decided to make it a family affair and go up for the weekend. We’ll tool around and try to ski on Sunday. I’m a fair weather skier so if it’s too cold or snowy, I’ll head on over to the hot springs instead. Despite trying to stay away from the internet, I spent the last 2 days looking at real estate, schools and other facts that would affect our lives. I have to stop worrying about it though because first he has to be offered the job.

Tags: botticelli, dream symbols, fabric postcard, steamboat springs

Quilted, Painted, Fabric Postcard: Botticelli
Reverse of fabric postcard after stitching, but before finishing

Finito! I was going to wait until Monday to finish stitching, but fortunately, my husband decided to make dinner and a batch of margaritas. So, here it is painted, stitched and ready to go. And, I didn’t even sustain an injury while operating small machinery and drinking! This particular one isn’t for sale. It happens to be a New Year’s gift to my Mom! Happy New Year’s Mom!!!

I included the reverse of the front of the postcard just because I loved the line quality of the thread.

Tags: botticelli, fabric postcard

But, before I tell you 6 weird things about myself…I want everyone to head over to Diana’s blog, aka The Lone Beader, a talented lass and bead artist who hails from MA, who also happens to be a stagehand. She recently had her work featured Thursday as the Art of the Day on EBSQ. She makes amazing bead art and currently has a work in progress on her blog and today’s post really made me laugh! I practically spit my coffee out all over my computer when I first popped over! But you have to read the past few posts to get it.

Okay, 6 weird things about myself…this is hard because I think I’m soo normal!

1. I like to eat cold left overs…sometimes more than the original food!
2. I could eat rice everyday, 3 times a day…we buy it by the bushel!
3. I have 3 favorite pairs of knickers…I suppose everyone does…why? comfort, color, style? I’m not sure, they just are.
4. I have a strawberry shaped and colored birthmark on my left knee and in the summer when I wear shorts, people always ask me if I fell or something. I don’t notice it anymore and am always surprised when someone mentions it.
5. I have very blond hair naturally I might add…to the point that everyone thinks that I color my hair. Sometimes I say I do color it if asked…people believe that more and move on (it comes my Scandinavian heritage).
6. Because of that…I decided to dye my hair red a few years ago…I had red hair for about 2 years and loved it! I felt sassy! I should see if I can find a photo of me with red hair to share.

These little tidbits seem so personal…but it is me and about me, so here they stand!

Meanwhile, I have picked my next famous painting to paint and stitch…a Botticelli, actually a portion of a Botticelli fresco…this one is Giovanna Lemmi paying homage to the three Graces. I’m only doing 2 of the Graces…. I saw this at the Louvre years ago and really loved it.

Here’s the whole fresco

Here are the 2 Graces that I am going to concentrate on Tags: botticelli