When Styles Collide

[akirlu]

Well, the tree is decorated, and the fireplace still works. How's that for cosy? I'm having a bit of trouble reconciling the Very Modern wall clock with the Swedish Traditional tree, but what is life and art but the deafening collision of conflicting influences? Hope you're safe and warm and well fed wherever you are this Solstice night.

Comments

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

The statuary is also a deft touch . . .

Looks most festive!

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Yep, it was the, what is that? It's too long for a bust. Whatever it is, that's what stuck out to me.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I call it an odalisque. It was a directed exercise in my life sculpture class and I'm particularly pleased to finally have a mantel broad enough to display it safely.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

You made that? Wow, that's good.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Sculpture is probably my strongest suit, art-wise. Pity I could never find a way to make a decent living out of it.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Well, the odalisque is plaster and therefore a bit fragile -- it would be tricky to pack it away just for the holidays even if I were inclined. I grew up with nudes in the house -- both parents believe in original art -- so it wouldn't normally occur to me to edit it out. Besides, it's one of the very few remnants of my days as an art major, so I have a certain sentimental attachment. Most of my sketches and things fell victim to bad storage and black mold.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Oh, for me, it wasn't that it was nude, but that the light is on it, making it the whitest thing in the picture.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

You're right the light does make it stand out. (One of the things that pleases me about having painted the walls a color -- they started out white -- is the way the sculpture stands out against it now.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Yes, eclectic is good. Among other things, it speaks much more precisely of the people who live in a place if the style is a mixture. Besides, who can afford to keep replacing things to keep everything in the same idiom?

[athenais.livejournal.com]

That is a fabulously decorated tree. I envy you the topper!

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Thank you! You know, I can't remember where or when I found the topper. It's handwoven straw, but I've had it for so long that I would guess I may have found it in Olvera Street in Los Angeles, because Mexican Christmas markets were my best source for straw ornaments until IKEA came to town. Straw decorations are trés Suedois.

I still miss the little porcelain-headed angel that my mother threw away years back. I guess it was a bit cheesy, but I earned it by being a good student in Mrs. Rudolph's (yes, really!) 2nd grade class.

[jophan.livejournal.com]

And both flags and real candles. Very traditional! I have forgot to ask, have you noticed these yet? Lovely, high-quality production.

God jul!

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

God jul!

Yes, I do a Veddy Swedish Tree -- though finding the various traditional ornaments has been the work of years. All those cheap bits and bobs get expensive and rare once you transit the Atlantic. But it Must Be Done, you know. It's one of those things you usually get in emigrants, one way or another. Some aspect of nostalgia gets sealed in amber as homage to the homeland. My mother makes dopp i gryta and a jillion different cookies every Christmas, for instance, despite an avowed indifference to all things Swedish.

Yes, I have all the Moomin re-issues that are out so far. I've been very pleased with the production quality, not to mention being able to show them to my anglophone friends.

[jophan.livejournal.com]

Christmas is one of the areas where nostalgia rules, ethnic or not. I assume your mother does the traditional Swedish Christmas things not because she nostalgic about Sweden, but because they simply belong to her ingrained Christmas traditions. Hmm, dopp i grytan. I wonder whether jlms will get that this year or not. I didn't grow up with it, but to her it's important.

[eleanor.livejournal.com]

It's lovely and cosy and the competing styles make it all the more real. However, Morgan can't help but wonder why Sarah doesn't have a stocking.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Sarah's stocking has alas gone AWOL in one of the jillion and one Christmas boxes. I reckon I may have time on my hands to make her a new one, though.

[eleanor.livejournal.com]

Well, just as long as my doggie-friend gets treats!

[apostle-of-eris.livejournal.com]

I always admired Liberace for his integrity. (Is he the inventor of What you see is what you get?)
Supposedly, after he died, the people inventorying his home for the big auction were driven nuts because he'd have Faberge and Woolworths right next to each other.
You own home is supposed to please YOU.