A Snippet of Style...

Peonies by Julie Toy

via {frolic}

Eclectic flowers....

Gorgeous floral inspiration from Housemartin, the gorgeous blog of floral designer Ink and Peat....

Kenyan portraits

El Molo Woman. El Molo, Lake Turkana, Kenya

"The El Molo are the smallest ethnic group in Kenya, numbering about 300 people. They live on lava rock of the southeast shore of Lake Turkana. Their dwellings resemble igloos, built from what scrub vegetation of the volcanic wasteland has to offer.

The tiny population fishes the lake for giant Nile perch; occasionally they hunt crocodiles and hippos. The El Molo drink water directly from the lake which brings them many medical problems."

Samburu Woman

"The Samburu are related to he Masai although they live just above the equator where the foothills of Mount Kenya merge into the northern desert. They are semi-nomadic pastoralists whose lives revolve around their cows, sheep, goats, and camels. Milk is their main stay; sometimes it is mixed with blood. Meat is only eaten on special occasions. Generally they make soups from roots and barks and eat vegetables if living in an area where they can be grown."

El Molo Woman. El Molo, Lake Turkana, Kenya






Samburu Man resting outside a butchery in South Horr.





Turkana Woman. Loyangalani, Kenya.

"The Turkana are Kenya's third-largest tribe and the second largest group of nomadic pastoralists (aftter Maasai). The majority live in Turkana District of Rift Valley in the arid northwest of Kenya. Most of Turkana are cattle herders, some engage in small-scale agriculture and fishing on Lake Turkana. They speak Turkana which is similar to the Maasai language and is considered to be of Nilotic in origin."

Incidentally the images are completely wrong for the book cover, but they are gorgeous none the less.

Frantisek Staud has also taken photographs of the (tiny) Scottish island I grew up on, which amuses me given the big wide world he has travelled and photographed. My island is not on the average list of 'must-see' places, even among the 'must-see' Scottish islands. It should be, but it's not. It's too hard to get to, the tourist industry is too under-developed and no celebrities have been married or opened restaurants there. But it is heaven on earth and one day I will share some pictures of it.

All images and italicised words from www.phototravels.net and copyright of Frantisek Staud

Elsita...

Elsa Mora is a woman who makes dreams out of paper. And metal and petals and pencils and ink.

Elsita moved to America from Cuba, taking with her a unique talent for creating tiny worlds within objects. Whether a dress or a bumble bee sculpted from paper, an illustration infused with magic and romance or a necklace that seems to tell a story.

Her blog too is a magical place, a place where small children and family mingle with art and sculpture. A place where the unreal world of Hollywood becomes familiar and friendly.

Here are some of Elsa Mora's exquisite creations, pieces that I can't believe were made by human hands. Surely they were crafted by fairies and pixies and magical creatures of the woods...

I love these flower people, inspired by Elsita's young, and oh so adorable son Diego. Diego loves plants and flowers and leaves and Elsita made these little folk from elements of the plants he loves the most.

How can such narrative fit in a simple necklace? All of Elsita's work is filled with story, with character and place and time. I may not know what the story is but the whispers of it that I hear from this necklace make me smile.



Healing Heart. A print from Elsita's Etsy shop. So sweet, so sad, so simple, so perfect. A print for every girl who has ever had her heart broken and who has found the strength to pick herself up and try to heal. A print that reminds me of a girl I know, a girl with long dark hair and red shoes, a brave and strong girl who is doing remarkable things to heal her heart....

Can you believe that these sculptures were made with human hands? With the same sort of fingers and thumbs that rest at the end of your very own arms? Do you feel as I do, that no matter what time and patience and practise you put into it, your hands would never be capable of such a thing?




The Jungle, a necklace made for a night at the Oscars, a night at the Oscars for Elsita and her husband, for her husband is a very talented man...






Another piece of magic, inspired by and created with Elsita's children. Elsita and her mother are making a book, a beautiful book filled with love and stories, filled with art and family. A book that will be given to Elsa's daughter Natalie.

Read, you will surely agree that a mother and a grandmother could not make a gift more meaningful, more destined to be treasured forever...

(all images from Elsita.typepad.com)

Janne Peters II

Tee by Janne Peters. Too pretty for words!
(images from www.JannePeters.de)

I'm in love...

with a photographer.

From the ever cheerful and inspiring blog Decor Amor I came to find Janne Peters, a German photographer whose work is so exquisite, so delicious, so..... yum (for want of any more eloquent adjectives) that I am going to save some for future posts as they're just too good to eat, I mean look at, all at once. Remember when you were a child and you nibbled your Easter eggs one tiny bit at a time because when they were gone you weren't getting any more? (perhaps that was just me, I hear some children like to eat them with joyful abandon). Despite my best efforts they never lasted more than a day though, I would have one tiny nibble after another, every five minutes until the whole thing was gone. My small and futile attempt at self control.

Anyway, today I present Oriental Style, by Janne Peters...





I will try to save the rest, for to post them all would be like drowning in honey.