― Virginia Woolf, A Writer's Diary
[ text ID: Yes, I deserve a spring–I owe nobody nothing. ]
First hints of spring at the Yakiyama Kōjindō (八鬼山荒神堂), a modest chapel enshrining the fire & hearth deity Sanbō-Kōjin (三宝荒神) at the top of Yakiyama Mountain (八鬼山) in Owase, Mie Prefecture
Photograph by こーへー (Kōhē), an Owase-based photographer (see source)
The Songbook of Flowers (Jeannie Foord)
“Jeannie Foord was a Scottish artist known for her rare prints of flowers. The presentation of the stems and blooms extending beyond, or cropped within, the confines of the surrounding neat line reflects her familiarity with Japanese wood block prints. Each floral print is signed and dated within the plate with a chop mark, another reference to Japanese print makers and a device that was used by artisans of the artists of the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movements. Foord’s botanicals inspired artists of the period who used her designs in their stained glass, fabric and woodworking.”
Sample Works:
1. Briar Rose
2. Gorse
3. Red Campion
4. Rest Harrow
5. Phlox
6. Lilies
7. Forsythia
8. Narcissus
9. Bluebell
10.Clematis
The "lararium" in ancient Rome was a small domestic sanctuary in which offerings and prayers were made to the lares, the protective spirits of deceased ancestors, who watched over the proper functioning of the family and home. It could be located in different spaces of the houses, for example in the atrium (main courtyard of well-to-do Roman dwellings); in the most humble, which did not have it, it could often be placed in the kitchen, near the central fire. There could be more than one larario in the house. Each family worshiped their tutelary gods with offerings and daily rituals. If they were not carried out, they believed that they were exposed to various misfortunes. Family relics were also kept in the larario. The offerings were varied, but mainly flowers to decorate it, wine, incense, cereals, honey, perfumes, fruits, cakes or animal sacrifices. The master of the house dedicates a prayer: "May this home be for us a source of goods, a blessing of happiness and good luck." (Plautus)
The Restlessness of the Spirit Series 2 (Warriors/Damiyo/Samurai)
1. Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Samurai
2. Katsukawa Shuntei, “Wada”
3.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Kashiwade no Hanoshi
4. Jiraiya battles a giant snake with the help of his summoned toad. Woodblock print on paper. Kuniyoshi, c. 1843
5.Oniwakamaru and the Giant Carp Fighting UnderwaterOniwakamaru and the Giant Carp Fighting UnderwaterResults for “Oniwakamaru and the Giant Carp Fighting Underwater”
6. Saitō Oniwakamaru on a Carp
7. Utagawa Kuniyoshi - oban tate-e. Nagasaki Kangayu-saemon, holding a large bow, riddled with arrows, and enveloped by a dragon. Edo Period
8. Woodblock Print of a Samurai Warrior Pre-1800
9. Young Samurai with katana by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
10. Samurai Hashiba by Hisakichi 1860
Sopwell Hall Estate, Ireland
For sale with Sotheby’s International Realty
Cupid Chastised " 1613
By Italian baroque artist Bartolomeo Manfredi ( 1582-1622 )
Oil on canvas . Art Institute of Chicago, USA
Cupid Chastised depicts a moment of high drama: Mars, the god of war, beats Cupid for having caused his affair with Venus, the goddess of love, which exposed him to the derision and outrage of the other gods. Venus implores him in vain to desist.
“Peace and rest at length have come All the day’s long toil is past, And each heart is whispering, ‘Home, Home at last.”
— Thomas Hood
“It is in the home that we form our attitudes, our deeply held beliefs. It is in the home that hope is fostered or destroyed. Our homes are to be more than sanctuaries; they should also be places where God’s Spirit can dwell, where the storm stops at the door, where love reigns and peace dwells.”
— Thomas S. Monson
Patrizia Pareo (Argentinian/Italian, b. 1959), Interno con Vasca, 2002. Oil on canvas, 80 x 120 cm
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