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| Candle lit sandcastle by the sea, source unknown. |
Summer is a riot of flowers. This year on clothes as well as in the garden, and every year we are reminded how well Lord Leighton captured the heat of summer in his Flaming June.
But for me water flows through the season and paints it from the blue, green and shimmering palette of the rivers, brooks and seas.
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| Faded blue & green chest of drawers |
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| An Art Nouveau brooch from my collection |
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| Rich blue fringed velvet curtains |
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| Buckled sparkly shoes from Top Shop |
Silver and copper dusted, sea glass, the mermaid's tears, glowing in the sand. Surprising golden, violet or indigo skies. Always.
Strange Tempests gather. Inevitably Mermaids enter my thoughts.
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| shells & tealights in mercury glass |
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Edward Arthur Fellowes Prynne
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| Penelope Tree |
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| A superb John William Waterhouse Mermaid |
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| Dolce & Gabbana, 2014 |
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The Sirens - Edward Burne-Jones
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| Evening Dress, Mad Carpentier, 1940s |
But there is also that Midsummer Night's meeting. Water links summer themes, as does that other element, Air.
Heady scents and potions (and sometimes a spell or two) gently incline all to sleep.
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| A Midsummer Night's Dream by Chad Gowey |
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William Morris & Co, The Brook tapestry
Here: |
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| Titania by Arthur Rackham |
Of Pirates and Pan
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| Peter Pan and the pirate ship, James Coleman |
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Johnny Depp, Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean
The Curse of the Black Pearl |
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Galleon topped thatched cottage, image by me
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| Clothes by Magnolia Pearl |
Alice, drowsily beside the Thames, her dreams conjuring a tale from Mr Carroll.
"In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die;
Ever drifting down the stream--
Lingering in the golden gleam--
Life, what is it but a dream?"
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Lewis Carroll and the Liddell family
image by Lewis Carroll |
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| Bickleigh Cottage reflected in the river |
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| Alice illustration by Amber Alexander |
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| Swallows gathering mud for their nests |
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| Alice's Cottage, the pale blues |
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My Cheshire cat apothecary bottle
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And when she is grown,
will Alice remember? |
Meanwhile, Ophelia is gathering flowers for her watery grave.
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| Spring collection Dries Van Noten |
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| Ophelia by Kirsty Mitchell |
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| Ophelia, Theodore von der Beek |
Somewhere a woman waits, while a Tempest brews.
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| Miranda, John William waterhouse |
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| The French Lieutenant's Woman |
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From The witch's curse by W. S. Gilbert.
illustrations by William Russell Flint. Published 1912
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| Marikka Nakk Velvet Princess Coat |
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| Colours of a tempest by Fired Earth |
Shhhh! We must be still now, Faerie Revels and sweet potions have overpowered all and they lie sleeping.
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| Arthur Rackham |
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| Potent potions in tiny Czech apothecary bottles |
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| Velvet robe by Toast |
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| Sleeping Beauty, Henry Meynell Rheam |
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| Titania Sleeps, by Frank Cadogan Cowper |
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| Alice Liddell asleep by Lewis Carroll |
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| Undine, Arthur Rackham |
CREDITS**
LIFE IS BUT A DREAM
by: Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)
I have tried to find the source of any images I have used but some remain unknown. I will be pleased to credit should someone tell me.
