Flower Market the morning of the Flower Battle, a carnival tradition in Nice
La Grande Bataille des Fleurs sur Mer
le Grand Corso Carnavalesque
la Place Masséna Nice
9 février 1904
In mid-February the ancient Romans celebrated the Lupercalia, riotous circus very close to the carnival celebrations we know today. Before abstinence and fleshless days - Carne Levare (remove meat), one last celebration is needed where all excesses of the flesh are permitted. Another possible explanation of the origin of the word carnival comes from the term Carrus Navalis (ship cart), the name of the roman festival of Isis, where her image was carried to the sea-shore to bless the start of the sailing season. The festival consisted in a parade of masks following an adorned wooden boat, that would be comparable to the floats of modern carnivals.
For today's Flower Battle and Grand Corso dancing in Nice see Carnaval de Nice and for information on Mardi Gras and carnival history and traditions throughout the world see Carnival.
Perhaps more than anything else, the quality of light determines the atmosphere of an interior. Nothing could be worse than uniformity. Luckily in a three-dimensional room, complete uniformity is rare - though overhead lighting on its own can be ghastly. Certain decoration magazines suffer from uniformly lit photos that give an impression of vacuum-packed air; suffocation is the penalty for looking too long. Most real life rooms have the benefit of old Sol's caressing beam through a window for at least a few hours a day and so much the better if it angles through a tangle of branches or winks through a billowing curtain.
The objects I'm illustrating today can't exactly be called light fixtures. Rather than lighting a room, the dynamic of these objects is shadow play. Like the light that filters into a room through the swaying branches before the window pane, they compose lively, expressive shapes in their surroundings. They are made by Ombre Portée (Cast Shadow), a company founded in 1998 by Eric de Dormael et Sylvie Janvier to create sculpture based on light effects. Individually they are well-made, highly seductive objects whose purpose is not to provide light so much as it is to decorate. They cast shadows, send reflections, sheen and shimmer into the surrounding space from cleverly constucted structures.
leo-g sconce
These light sculptures are made by hand in the owner's Paris atelier. Quality and creativity are key; they are one-of-a-kind pieces or small limited edition series, each one a combination of light, poetry, and technology. Sculpture, including monumental pieces, can also be made to measure for particular architectural projects.
le cardinal
zwartepik 3 sconce
dulcinée
lunes
sagaie lineaire
bois dormant
Sometimes the lines between fine arts and decorative arts become blurred. An emotion is created and we end up seeing things in a new light.
The Ombre Portée site illustrates many more styles of their work.
"When we're short on idées, we say la la la la la lay..."
Or so it goes in the song L'ame des poetes. And from someone who was never short on ideas or clever words. So - since I've been waiting for the right moment to share some wonderful songs -the time has come to propose a musical interlude with songs from Charles Trenet, the singer song-writer who said,
Je fais mes chansons comme un pommier fait ses pommes.
I make my songs like an apple tree makes its apples.
The nearly 1000 songs he wrote and performed over his 75 year career were joyful, fresh, and full of poetry. This be-hatted music hall legend was known as the Fou Chantant and his repertoire often included use of onomatopoeia and tongue twisters in lyrics as well as soulful poetry sung in his rich, round voice. He insisted on performing mostly his own songs at a time when this was rare. He did also perform songs he had composed with lyrics by the poet Verlaine.
photo alain2x
Charles Trenet was born in Narbonne on the 18th of May 1913 in this "dear old house with the green shutters" where "there are memories lying in every drawer." The house was undoubtedly one of his great sources of inspiration and haunts some of his more nostalgic works. He said of his first home,
je dis toujours de mes autres maisons qu'elles m'appartiennent, mais celle de Narbonne, c'est la seule à laquelle j'appartiens...
I always say that my other houses belong to me, but the house in Narbonne is the only one I can really say I belong to...
You knew I would get something in about the HOME if I could, didn't you?
Here's a sampling of songs, some from films others that are simple recordings like this first one that is especially beautiful.
L'ame des poetes
Longtemps, longtemps, longtemps Long, long, long ago Après que les poètes ont disparu After poets are no more Leurs chansons courent encore dans les rues Their songs echo still through the streets La foule les chante un peu distraite The crowd sings them absent mindedly En ignorant le nom de l'auteur Without knowing the author's name Sans savoir pour qui battait leur cœur Without knowing who made their heart pound Parfois on change un mot, une phrase Sometimes we change a word, a phrase Et quand on est à court d'idées And if we're short on ideas On fait la la la la la la We say la la la la la la....
Romance de Paris - le jeune et beau garçon !
Le soleil a rendez-vous avec la lune
Quand j'étais petit
Que reste-t-il de nos amours?
For more, follow to Mam'zelle Clio and click on animation flash.
