|| vintage botanica ||

 

Vintage Botanica illustrations are some of my very favorite imagery.

The attention to detail of the representations are not only informative but posses a unique lovliness. I collect herbalism, botanical, and gardening books and many of them have beautiful full color images of the plants in study. These images are some I have collected while meandering cyber space as I do not have digital versions of my print collection.  

 

 

 

 

 

 



|| snow and weaving ||

 

 

Me and my trusty Doc Martins.

 

On Monday, there was a terrible winter mix that hit Tulsa. For Midwesterners who see all four seasons in a week, the one most renowned for disabling our daily schedules is ice. Going out and about that morning as an individual with particularly good driving skills, I wasn't worried about the ice and snow blanketed roads. However, at some point, the house key fell off my broken carabineer and successfully left me stranded outside.

 

Luckily, I have been wonderfully welcomed into a lovely creative community at the Workshop at Made in the Pearl district. Making my way there with snacks, hot chocolate, and yarn, settled in to learn how to weave. I would have probably just gone home and been lazy had my house key not fallen by the way side.   

 

 

Using a simple "how to" from the adorable, creative and informative blog by Elsie and Emma "A Beautiful Mess" and a borrowed lap loom, I successfully tried my hand at weaving. It seemed to me to be much like knitting but simpler, and allowing for easier freedom of pattern design.  Below is the final product - approx. 8in wide and 12in tall (excluding the fringe). You cant tell the actual size very well from the photo. It took me about four and a half hours with a lot of trial and error.

 

I'm proud of the final product and am very excited to make more. Learn different patters, collect more yarns (but of course!) and continue my knowledge of fiber arts. Lap loom sets online are pretty expensive, however a friend gave me the dimensions for building a home made one. I know what Ill be building this weekend! All  in all - you should try your hand at weaving, its super fun and anyone can do it!  

|| charles freger ||

"Painted Elephants"

Recently I have discovered and fallen madly, completely, and utterly in love with the work of masterful portrait photographer Charles Freger (www.charlesfreger.com). His series focuses upon the uniform of the individual and the subtle positioning of the subject in contrast to its background.

In my mind, Freger's work can be considered a delightful visual ethnography. Every subject no matter how magnificently adorned or simply dressed receives his careful, attentive eye.  With curiosity and respect, his captures portray the essences of expressive cultural practices.

 

Freger's series "Wilder Mann" is an expose and collection of unique European Pagan cultural practices and traditional dress. Below are some of my most favorites.

 

"Wilder Mann"

 

"Wilder Mann"

"Wilder Mann"

|| vvhitch hunts of medieval europe ||

Torture techniques included thumb screws,
iron maidens, witches shackles, the rack,
and having their finger nails removed.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, Europe experienced a mass hysteria towards those suspected of being vvitches or practicing vvitch craft.  Historically this period in Europe has been referred to as "The Great Witch Craze" which in the very title emits a disregard of the severity of the brutality that took place. Unspeakable torture and cruelty was done to women and men suspected of consorting with the devil or evil spirits. Evidence points towards a grossly under discussed gender genocide.

 

The following is an excerpt from "A Brief History of Witchcraft Persecutions Before Salem" by Linder Douglas:  "Over the 160 years from 1500 to 1660, Europe saw between 50,000 and 80,000 suspected witches executed.  About 80% of those killed were women.  Execution rates varied greatly by country, from a high of about 26,000 in Germany to about 10,000 in France, 1,000 in England, and only four in Ireland.  The lower death tolls in England and Ireland owe in part to better procedural safeguards in those countries for defendants."

Women burning at the stake. Often times the victims would be drowned or hung before being burned.

A wood cut of a "Witches Sabbath"

 

The North Berwick Witch Trials of 1590