Feeling Better!

-

Popular posts from this blog

Update: April 2023

-
Image
                                                      I've been off the blogging scene for a while as I've been having chemotherapy but that's finished now, thank goodness.    I did not retreat from The Times, Below the Line however, in fact that has been prolific, there seem to be so many things to get annoyed about, I'm talking politics of course and mainly Bloody Brexit.           I have republished some older posts from artycelia.com but left in place all the Brexit (Brexiety) posts. We are nearing the 25th anniversary of The Good Friday Agreement, and I think it's important that we remember our (not mine obviously!) decision to leave the European Union and the precarious position it has left us in. Despite politicians telling us that they 'got Brexit done,' they obviously did not. It seems to me that the politicians, especially Boris Johnson, had no clue what Brexit meant. We find ourselves in an uncomfortable place here in Blighty. We have a severe cos
Read more

Coco Chanel

-
Image
  Coco Chanel. Photographed by Cecil Beaton 1937 In 1918, when Coco Chanel presented her first collection of gowns, she heralded a new type of glamour that became instantly classic. Her vision was modern, streamlined, and elegant. Like Chanel, who broke every rule, classic glamour doesn't adhere to strictures. Yet you know it the instant you see it. And what might be trashy on someone else (marabou feathers, sequins, an asymmetric dress) is pure perfection on those who, thanks to their confidence and inherent style, personify glamour. For further instruction, take a tip from Chanel herself, and her immortal line: " A girl should be two things- classy and fabulous," A perfect definition of classic glamour. " Nature gives you the face you have at twenty; it is up to you to merit the face you have at fifty." Coco Chanel. "I am not young, but I feel young. The day I feel old, I will go to bed and stay there. Jaime la vie! I feel that to live is a wonderful thin
Read more

The Aim of Life

-
Image
                       An artist's life involves great swathes of attention. Attention is our way of connecting and surviving. Paying attention to the minute details in our lives makes our lives extraordinarily large. Henry Miller championed this attention and his artistic and literary career stand as a legacy to his vast vision and scrutiny. 'The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.'   'The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.'  'Develop interest in life as you see it; people, things, literature, music- the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls, and interesting people. Forget yourself.'   Henry Miller was born in 1891 and died in 1980.  Shortly after his eightieth birthday he authored a beautiful essay about ageing and the key to living a full life. For
Read more