The world of Ernst Haeckel

Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (February 16, 1834 – August 9, 1919),^[1] also written von Haeckel, was an eminent German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician, professor and artist who discovered, described and named thousands of new species, mapped a genealogical tree relating all life forms, and coined many terms in biology, including phylum, phylogeny, ecology and the kingdom Protista. Haeckel promoted and popularized Charles Darwin's work in Germany and developed the controversial recapitulation theory ("ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny") claiming that an individual organism's biological development, or ontogeny, parallels and summarizes its species' entire evolutionary development, or phylogeny. Source:Wikipedia


His observation drawings are real works of art. Judge for yourself:

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Mayan culture

Rediscovering Maya Deren's universe

I was flicking through the cinema programme in Lausanne, when a picture caught my eye. I don't know who the person is, but it was taken by Nan Goldin A documentary of her work is being shown in my city. I'm not that fond of her work. There was this picture of a woman who reminded me of another more talented artist whose name I had shamefully forgotten.
How could I forget Maya Deren?!
A beautiful, mysterious, dark looking, talented video artist. I remember studying her work while on my foundation course at Central St Martins in London. I had never seen anything like it, especially by a woman. And to think she did it in the 1940s!!
I particularly love Meshes of the Afternoon. It's abstractedness, its poetry, aesthetics, and Maya herself.

I vividly recommend checking out her work.
It is most worthwile.

New drawings

Here are my latest drawings.
See more at www.okya.co.uk/samantha_allflatt or on Facebook pages.

Fab Furniture

I never tire of looking at Art Nouveau design. This exquisite sofa would look perfect in my living room, if only I knew where I could find it! I'm thinking of having it made by an ebenist. It's a timeless piece of beautiful craft. Art Nouveau is the new contemporary.

with it I could put this wallpaper on the walls

News about my kitten

Heathcliff is well. I brought him to a different vet this afternoon to undergo surgery on his leg.
He was crying when I left him, and I miss him lots, but hopefully he'll be home by tomorrow evening.

(note: this picture is not of my cat, but of one who looks just like him)

Wuthering Heights indeed

Yesterday, my 7 months old kitten, Heathcliff, fell off the kitchen window sill, which is on the second floor.
He must have hit hard on the concrete and perhaps even on the steps leading to the building entrance. I found him disheveled and bleeding.
He's spent the night at the vet. I'm very scared and anxious as to what the damages are.
Here's to Heathcliff, my poor little cat :-(

(these two cats are Somali, the same breed as my kitten)

Here are things he likes:
He loves Pumpkin seeds
and yoghurt, all things fruity and sweet
but especially my morning cereal!

Wild Things

Maurice Sendak's famous children book is about to come to life as a film directed by Spike Jonze. The trailer should be online soon.

I really can't wait to see it. Judging from the pictures, it looks like Jonze has done a pretty good job.





film pictures from www.cpluv.com

Halo of Skills

James Aldridge

Aldridge is a British artist, whose practice includes oil painting and paper cutting. His themes are of flaura and fauna, inspired by the landscapes of Scandinavia where he currently resides.


(left "Halo of Flies" 2007)

I've been a quiet admirer of his for several years, having seen a show of his at the David Risley gallery in East London back in 2005. The afore mentioned gallery moved to Copenhagen at the end of 2008, but not before showing Aldridge latest body of work, which totally blew me away. The new paintings were bigger and more elaborate that ever before; the paper cutouts were darker and more detailed, showing off Aldridge's amazing scissor skills.

What I love about his work is the multiple layers of colours and shapes; the themes of nature, life and death. His paintings are colourful, yet the colour is never bright or light. It is a little grim and dirty. There is often a mix of living and dead animals. I'm fascinated by that association.
His cutouts are more gothic, not only because they are black on white, but because of the numerous skulls, ravens, moths and entertwining lines that make most of the work.
To me it is simply stunning!

It's a shame his work is too expensive for me to purchase.























( left: "Prayer" 2008, below right: "Blood, Smoke and Thorns" 2008)















(below: "Trinity" 2006)

Grand Design

Joris Laarman
Dutch designer











www.jorislaarman.com