surreally extravagant - gala & dali

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I love these photos of them... make me think of the crazy '20s and the wildly beautiful coasts of Spain! Their romance was most unusual... only natural for such extraordinary individuals. There's no need for words about Dali and Gala, she was the perfect muse. She had a sensitivity for art and possessed an intellectual and physical beauty that didn't inspire just Dali... she was part of the surrealist group, most of which were in love with her.
It must be great to have a bunch of artists writing about you, painting your picture...
They seem like they had fun... which is what is all about, isn't it?

35mm

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beautiful photography by sylvain-emmanuel

folie a deux

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'I run away from reality. I always did...' he said to me.
I ran away from him last summer. I traded one illusion for another. Just a different sort of fairytale. When the magic faded I ran away again... Wanting to finally figure things out and 'get real'.
Why do we feel more alive when we're chasing a dream?

'Maybe it is crazy. But if we're in it together and we're happy, what else do we need?' he said to me.
I surrendered and we went to get ice-cream. The best ice-cream place in town. The menu was so long it could have given you a good read for days. So we smiled and just asked the waitress to recommend us something. She observed for two seconds our love-soaked gazes and she showed us page 36 in the menu, a feast of tropical flavours, an exquisitely baroque icy dessert called 'Folie a deux' !



Folie à deux (English pronunciation: /fɒˈli ə ˈduː/, from the French for "a madness shared by two") is a rare psychiatric syndrome in which symptoms of a delusional belief are transmitted from one individual to another, two people "morbidly predisposed" to delusional psychosis mutually trigger symptoms in each other.

But maybe falling in love is in a way a delusion shared by two.
Just like many other illusions we need to keep us going. We all like to escape reality, even for a little time, in books or films or peculiar hobbies. For some is just for fun, for others it's a necessity. I suppose the key is to balance fantasy and reality in a way that none overtakes the other.

Heavenly creatures is a film set in the 50's about two girls with an intense fantasy life, following a true story.





The film is very good at building the characters and truly makes you understand their justification for their acts. It is about escaping reality in a fantasy world in which they start believing so much that they would do anything to protect it.

pics source

10 current obsessions

1. Odd self portraits

Yes... I did quite a few actually. I have a whole series in mind... I'm not self obsessed, I swear...it's just that late at night when I usually start drawing I have no other model :P

2. Serial killers

This one is an evergreen obsession of mine, reignited by a visit to Oxford where I got a new book with rare pictures... I'm a walking encyclopedia when it comes to serial killers. I still don't know if that's good or bad...

3. English country houses

I can't get enough of them... I never miss a chance to visit one...and I just got a new book about English architectural styles to keep me going :) pic source

4. Victorian dolls

This one started by looking through a book for collectors in a charity shop. I am fascinated with all the details and period clothing. I made some drawings, maybe I'll post them later... pic source

5. Circus

And by that I mean daring acts, life on the road, freak shows, burlesque costumes... the whole atmosphere... like in the 'Imaginarium of doctor Parnassus' - pic source

6. Rose incense sticks

I'd like this smell to soak into every inch of my room... pic source

7. Sunflowers

I had a bouquet in my room for a few days and I started to understand Van Gogh's series - pic source

8. Weird animals

I love to watch documentaries about rare or unusual animals... I love knowing lots of peculiar details about them :D

9. Puzzles

Me and my sister bought 5 only in the last month... and I've got a new puzzle mat too! This is what I've been doing all day today actually :D pic source

10. Baggy jeans

Yeah, well... they're just comfortable! But I hope I'm gonna get over this one pretty soon... pic source

So this is pretty much what keeps me busy all day, or the things I want to get back to all the time. I somewhat hope that posting them here is gonna have some sort of cathartic effect... Do you have any current sticky obsession, something you can't seem to get enough of?

je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais...

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I'm looking forward to seeing this film - 'Serge Gainsbourg (vie heroique)'. His music is legendary and so is his wild lifestyle. I want to get swept away for two hours in the world of this french controversial genius with a drinking problem and gorgeous lovers... great music and great style... sounds promising. I am always interested in biographies of artists...












His music was always progressive and raised questions with its often double meanings and sexual content. He even got some death threats and the Vatican cited his song 'je t'aime...moi non plus' as offensive.

Considered one of the ugliest men in French music, he had some of the most beautiful women of the time : Brigitte Bardot, Juliette Greco, Jane Birkin. And his unusual features inspired this blog Draw Serge! which is a place where lots of illustrators, more or less famous, post portraits of the great Gainsbourg. Have a go at your own version of Serge!



and I leave you with one of my favourite songs from him...

red and green

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I can never seem to get enough of this colour combination... it's so fresh and lively!

pic sources 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7