I was reminded of it as I traversed the Hume Highway from Melbourne to Sydney on Monday.

Driving through previously devastated bush fire areas of Victoria, great swathes of bushland were busy regenerating, but none so fast as the bushes crowned by the fluffy golden bloom, whose showy bracts of flowers were gleaming golden in the midday sun, wattle.

The rich fragrance they emitted pervaded my car, through its air conditioning, and I was forced to wind down my window to breathe the heady fragrance.

It brought flooding back memories of the very popular fifties flower, fashioned so elegantly into a stunning brooch and presented to a very young Elizabeth II, Queen of a Commonwealth of nations seeking to encourage the endeavour and enterprise for its peoples.

On that occasion it represented Australia and its young, but rich cultural heritage, one that spoke of both its indigenous and migrant races.

It is the green and gold our heroes have worn ever since. We wear it proudly at great sporting events nationally, and internationally, as well as at other great occasions.

So why doesn’t anyone, except those whose hair is going grey, seemingly know little about it? I suspect it has something to do with the fear campaign of the 70’s, when some people were found to be allergic to it. At that time it was quickly, violently and systematically destroyed by councils everywhere as parents rightly feared for the safety of their children.

But a climate of fear doesn’t ever produce anything positive or benefit humankind. While a little fear may be good for all to keep us safe, in the long term it usually only results in a ‘loss of societal memory’. In the future that may often turn out to be to the someone else, who has not been warned’s, detriment.

Since the golden wattle was crushed it has become obvious that there are so many other natural, and man made mendicants, perfumes and fragrances, lotions, potions and pills, which cause far more allergic reactions than the little yellow flower ever did.

I suspect the initial, now embarrassing response by authorities, has meant it has been put into the too hard basket. It has been swept under the carpet to be buried and forgotten, rather than brought out in the open so we can not only educate everyone about its potential dangers but also about its many positive and beautiful features.

In Australia we need a more appropriate day for celebrating collectively, the rich land of resources and opportunity, that in the twenty first century people of so many different cultures share.

Rather than it be held on a day that meant conquest back in a less enlightened time, why don’t we change it.

As we are in the midst of great generational change why don’t we put it on the agenda. It seems a right and proper thing to debate and do. So the question is: should, the 1st of September, the first day of Spring, Wattle Day,  become our ‘national day’?

I for one cannot think of a single reason why anyone should want to vote against such a proposition. The season itself, Spring, offers everyone an opportunity for self examination. It is a day for coming to terms with embracing change and moving forward both individually and as a nation.

This plucky little yellow flower represents the greatest characteristics of both our country and its multicultural mix of peoples.

Like its indigenous people the wattle is sturdy and true.

It is of the environment and nature.

It regenerates and brings forth new life.

It is reliable and, already has a place in our heart.

It is on our coat of arms and a decorative device on the awards and honours we strive to achieve.

Like all its people it endures in both sun and shade.

I do hope you are celebrating Wattle Day. In all its golden glory the Wattle is the perfect symbol of Australia and its culture.

It is also a shining symbol of hope that the golden age is constantly before us, not behind us.

Carolyn McDowall, 1st September 2010

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A line up of limousines blocked the way up the tiny street as locals were given a taste of what is to come in the historic suburb of Redfern, now well on its way to redefining itself and revitalizing its future.

In homage to Thomas, who as a young American interior designer arrived on Australian shores 20 years ago, everyone was sipping classic Martini’s, described by influential American writer of the first half of the 20th century H.L. Mencken as “the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet”.

Everyone present would have felt what they experienced last night was more than worthy of a sonnet as they celebrated Thomas and Martyn’s vision, and viewed an incredible work in progress, which was lit by discreet spotlights and candles covered by giant glass domes.

Each group arriving gasped as they emerged out of the darkened street into an historic building re-defined as the complete modernist experience, one French architect La Corbusier would have very much approved of, as it allowed everyone to enjoy a spiritual uplift as they moved through its many spaces.

At the entrance a giant relaxed Buddah serenely sat on the end of a long rustic table loaded down with scented blossoms. It was a splendid scene of understated elegance, one these two clever creative men know just how to deliver. As Martyn said in his speech, we haven’t finished yet, and our opening night celebration is yet to come.

There are four levels, including a special outdoor sheltered courtyard on level one. From the ground floor to the top floor large white crystalline spaces continually gave way to more intimate caves, some painted with a dark charcoal colour that threw deep olive lights in the flickering candlelight. Each area brought together masterpieces of contemporary art with exciting furniture and objects of fine quality and craftsmanship in a display that was both contemplative and inspiring.

The evening was all about launching Thomas’s first book, Residence, which provides an insight into his multifarious talents in creative decor so that his clients enjoy the art of living. It is indeed a splendid publication and many of them were there to support him.

It has been quite a challenge for Martyn, Thomas and the rest of their team of family and colleagues who surround them. Revitalizing heritage spaces sensitively requires real skill and an investment in cultural development. But, based on what everyone experienced, they are certainly more than up to the task.

Both rhyme and reason have come together in reinventing the Redfern Municipal Electric Light Station into a great new Sydney fine and decorative arts gallery of incredible grace and style.

Carolyn McDowall August 31, 2010

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This is a collective term for style movements in art and design, that took place during the latter years of the nineteenth, and first forty years of the twentieth century in the western world.

World War 1 was a great divide in the new age of modernity. By the 1920’s vast social and community changes crystallized into an era of care-free release, which was initiated by the end of the first global warfare.

Women, in some cases rebelliously, cut off waist fabulous waist length hair and sported a fashionable bob, traumatizing Victorian generation parents for whom symbolically the loss of such beauty went hand in hand with a loss of virginity, and possibly the soul.

From the pyramids of Egypt to the beat beat beat of the African tom tom a new fashionable modern style emerged across all the arts. This included architecture, interiors, fashionable couture and fabulous works of art.

This is the period when function over form began its rise to be at the forefront of contemporary design. Russian-born French painter and designer (1892-1990) Erte however, expounded romanticism. His witty lyrical flowing visions of the human figure achieved a striking effect His aesthetic message linked blazing colour with a tantalizing taste for the exotic, erotically tinged…begging an answer to the question. Who is in the cage?

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The confirmation of ‘design as art’ appeared in the aftermath of an International Exhibition of Arts held at Paris from April to October in 1925. Its protagonists, according to Modernist author Alastair Duncan, were escaping the’ tyranny of historical styles and a calcified culture’.

Did they succeed? Were their styles original as claimed? And, are they still informing the evolution of art, design and style?

In the 1930’s, lured by the romantic classicism of Paris, many people arrived on luxury liners and locomotives. These had been reduced, by graphic artists, to fabulous fashion statements of line, form and colour. They were seductive images all about speed and power. Paris, the home of those who lived life as art,  became a meeting ground for both the ‘ancients’ and the ‘moderns’. The future was now.

Many people, who have not enjoyed an arts education are often astounded when they discover the modernist movement borrowed from the past in order to fashion the future. It was how its designers enthusiastically interpreted its individual elements that was the change, as they effectively made art design and style appear new. While everything may have appeared new a style that has been, or is indeed now is, successful in its aesthetic has usually conformed and complied with the ‘rules of taste’ of its time, which is in its turn is governed by fashion.

British author John Edward Horatio Steegman (1899-1966) brought out his publication ‘The Rule of Taste’ in 1936, when he was employed at the National Portrait Gallery (London).  He was examining the Georgian era in England. [1714-1830] and had great difficulty in defining what constituted “taste”, claiming it ‘expresses both an immutable quality of discernment, criticism and perception’, and… ‘an active sensitivity to temporary fashions’.

James Laver, who wrote the forward for its 1966 re-publication, posed the question ‘How can “Taste”, which is sensitive to temporary fashions be described as immutable? [not changing or be able to be changed]. And, are taste and fashion mutually incompatible?

Internationally, and con-temporarily a mixture of art, science and technology is informing fashionable design, art and architecture, especially the construction of buildings both domestic and commercial, from Dubai to downtown L.A, from London to Melbourne. For many just their clever creative conception is hard to comprehend, like the Dynamic Tower planned for Dubai, which will be perpetually in motion. It will also be the first skyscraper designed to be self powered, having a care for the environment.

Materializing out of the societal revolution of the sixties, where flower power was all pervasive, the environment and its conservation is now of global concern. Recycling as much as we can from the past is a way of moving forward.  To ensure it happens we just have to make it fashionable and palatable to potentates, princes, politicians, priests, patrons, poseurs, partners and plebians.

Maximalism, as the name itself suggests, presents all sorts of design possibilities and will perhaps help us meet the challenge.

Works of art and design, admired for centuries, reflect the evolution of humankind spiritually, socially and culturally. They will continue to work effectively and be recycled as long as their proportion pleases the eye, their subject challenges the mind, engages the spirit and connects with the soul.

Today in many chic wine bars and restaurants around the world antique crystal chandeliers illuminate the contemporary scene. Stunning recycled textiles, such as the extraordinary Kaitags (Hali) from Dhagestan, which are masterpieces of craft as well as powerful statements of culture, are appearing instead of traditional paintings on the very best walls.

Smart eye-catching antique oriental carpets, a manifestation of a weaving tradition that dates back to the ancient empire we know now as Persian, work brilliantly over tables, on walls, or on floors such as the wide plank nailed timber floors seventeenth century European society admired.

The world of costume too has been busy fashioning its folds and foibles to suit simple style statements, reducing the amount of fabric used, although that has not always translated to a reduction in price.

Costume encompasses all we wear so jewellery fashioned from recycled gems, seeds from nature or other fashion items are now becoming many a bosom while hats have gone from being extravagant pieces of fabulous fluff to being just plain fancies. Shoes have also been transformed, from extreme platform stilettos to elegant ballet flats, which as Karl Stevanovic on the Australian Today Show pointed out recently ” takes a confident woman to wear”.

Costume also includes the previously unmentionable undergarments. They have equally been on show on a scale far beyond those who founded the world of fashionable couture could have possibly imagined.

From skinny self sacrificing super models to those demanding the use of ‘real people’, costume accommodates a desire to be noticed. It is the look at me, look at me syndrome, which has been in play for thousands of years. Today ‘fashion’ collectively reflects a western society in which privacy has been stripped completely bare.

An original modernist the Swiss born French architect Le Corbusier (1834-1898), ensured that space became a recognized aspect of design and that those who inhabited his buildings experienced its reviving spirit. I am not sure however that he wanted space to become a fashion statement of luxury, power and status, requiring it now to be well managed in the future so it can benefit the greater good in our overcrowded world.

Fashion now needs to drive the social consciousness of our creators, connoisseurs and collectors world wide.

Fashion needs to challenge the responsibilities we each carry as individuals and as members of a global society.

Fashion wants us to understand and discover what we owe; to ourselves and to others. And, as it changes in this century and for this generation, fashion now must become an attitude, a way of life we choose.

Yes, today, fashion is definitely more than a frock.

Carolyn McDowall, August 2010

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The mirror has occupied a unique place in the imagination of humans for as long as recorded history. It has been described as the ‘matrix of the symbolic’ accompanying the human quest to know and understand our identity. Many myths, legends and superstitions are associated with the mirror and in all cultures they are associated with truth. In antiquity the eye served precisely to characterize one’s beloved ocule mi, my little eye.

In the pupil was an image of the one who looked into it. Gazing at one another to see the reflection of each other in the eyes was an aspect of love. It was in Eve’s eye, described as the mirror of love, that Adam first learned to know himself. From that encounter ‘reflection, concentration, self construction and reproduction were said to have been born’.

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Narcissus, a painting attributed to the Baroque Master Caravaggio - Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica at Rome

Mastering reflection was one step towards an evolution that began with an observation by ancient Greek Philosopher Aristotle in 330 BC. He questioned why the sun could make a circular image when it shined through a square hole. In the words of contemporary French historian Sabine Melchior Bonnet, it was part of a cycle that climaxed with the ‘democratisation of narcissism’ in the nineteenth century.

Over the centuries a mirror became a metaphor for eye catching deception. What is it that the eye is really seeing?  Does the image it reveals have a foundation or consistency. When you move away from the mirror the image is lost, much like a shadow? Is it magic…how does it work? Was it really the Greek God of fire and metal Hephaestus who invented the mirror?

Know thyself is an ambitious ideal and a continuing dialogue between philosophy and love. It was well known in ancient times when writers mention that this, and other aphorisms were written the walls of the proneos (forecourt) of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.

In Ancient Greece looking at one’s reflection could mean losing one’s soul, and the ancients put forward all sorts of hypotheses concerning the formation of such images. Narcissus in mythology was the son of the blue nymph Leiriope conceived when the river God Cephisuss raped his mother.

He grew to be very beautiful but took no notice of other people because he did not care about anyone except himself. The beautiful nymph ECHO was one of many maidens who fell in love with him. She had lost her voice, except in foolish repetition of another’s shouted words but when she tried to declare her love he sent her away. After witnessing his callousness, as one story goes, the Greek Goddess Artemis caused Narcissus to catch a glimpse of his own reflection in a pristine pool of water and fall in love with himself. This made it impossible for him to ever consummate a love of his own or possess a beloved, just like all those suitors he had turned away and rejected. His grief was so great he plunged a dagger into his breast and where the blood fell to the ground beautiful pure white flowers sprouted…

…there are many myths and legends associated with the paintings on ancient Greek vases. They reveal secrets about ancient Greek civilization, including the daily ritual of the ladies ‘toilette’.  We know ladies painted their faces with white-lead paint using hand mirrors that consisted of circular pieces of polished bronze or a combination of other metals, either without a handle or with one that was often richly adorned.

Etruscan Engraved Mirror

The earliest known mirror, from a cache world-wide of about 3000 such mirrors, dates from ten centuries before the Christ event. It is Etruscan, a thick disc made of metal alloys to which a small handle was attached by means of three rivets.  As in all ancient mirrors it was polished to a high degree on one side to obtain a reflection.

Mirrors engraved with figurative scenes date from the so-called Saitic period between 663 and 526 BC.  It is clear from comparison with other ancient Greek mirrors from the same period the Etruscans occupied part of which we now know as Italy and were not only inspired by Greek art in a general way, but also frequently copied Greek models.

They did this with such great care and precision today it needs an expert to reveal the difference. Mirrors found were an important aspect of Etruscan burial sites, perhaps as funerary offerings like in the burial of the Pharaohs of Egypt when everyday items were included for the journey into the afterlife.

Much of the mythology associated with mirror images relates to offering a moral message. They may also have had a further meaning ‘extending beyond cosmetic needs’ for that of ‘cult’ ceremonies and rituals.

This would explain why some subjects recorded on ancient mirrors would not be suitable for a ‘ladies’ mirror but instead be used on a mirror used by a man.

Greek Geographer Pausanius, whose travel guide was published in the second century records that a mirror decorated the entrance to the temple of Lycosura considered the most ancient city of ancient Greece, and indeed perhaps the world.  The Mirror was supposedly a reminder to those entering that in order to be receptive of the message of the Gods they needed to shed their own appearance and reveal their souls beneath so they could be refreshed and healed. Before leaving they were able to re-clothe themselves with a new identity and go forth into the world with a sense of direction, motivation and purpose. This whole idea is mirrored if you like, in the ceremony of Christian baptism, where one must go through a symbolic ritual of dying from the life you are currently living and after being immersed in water reborn again into a new life.

Roman Engraved Silver Mirror

During the Roman Empire men used mirrors and, not only its elite aristocrats. Servants too acquired mirrors at that time and their owners took great care to protect them from rust, stains and scratches by using fabric coverings and remnants are still visible on some specimens that exist today. Besides metal Romans valued a black transparent volcanic rock called obsidian for its reflective powers. Archaeologists have established that mirrors used by the Emperor Nero in his ‘domus aurea’ were made of a reflective phengite a mineral that reputedly ‘gave off such a dazzling glow they overpowered the natural light of day”.

Light was an intangible phenomenon by which our own world was made visible. Symbolic of goodness, revelation and beauty light became the focal point of philosophical argument and theories in all the different religions and cultures of the world.

Today we associate glass with mirror. However it was a long time before metals and glass were brought together to make what we would contemporarily call a mirror. Glass in its earliest form was not blown, but moulded, using tools to shape and form it. An ability to make tools to mould and carve materials at will meant that hunter gatherer man, as well as being able to form weapons for survival purposes, could expand his skills and make artifacts that by extension are at the beginning of art.

The terminology of glass was recorded on cuneiform tablets from the ancient Sumerian city of Nineveh seven centuries before the Christ event where three different furnaces for metal are described. Receptacles for melting raw materials are also mentioned in Egypt in the Amarna period during the reign of monotheist Pharaoh Akhenaten.

The beauty of Roman Glass

To explain the origins of glass many writers turn to a picturesque story written in the first century by Roman writer and commentator on natural and social history Pliny the Elder. He tells how merchants encamped on the sands of the River Belus placed their cooking pots on cakes of natron, a native hydrous sodium carbonate, they were engaged in transporting. In the morning they found the sand and soda had fused together forming a new substance, glass. Pliny also talks about the ‘makers of glass’ with reference to the inhabitants of Sidon in Lebanon. The only other early written reference we have is by Alexander of Aphrodisias in the third century.

We do know the Romans were producing glass in some quantity from the first century by the fragments and vessels found in the ruins of Roman sites and at Pompeii where glass vessels are clearly depicted in wall paintings. Whether the ancients were familiar with glass mirrors is a matter of debate amongst scholars. The Romans became very proficient at blowing glass and used lead to strengthen it. Most archaeological evidence of glass mirror dates from the third century and comes from Egypt, Gaul, Asia Minor and Germany.

Digs in Egypt have uncovered mirrors made and backed with lead that have glass with a convex curve behind the lead over which a coating of gold or tin had been applied. Variations on this process prevailed it seems for centuries well into the Middle Ages. Exploitation of light in the East was always through carved tracery of stone made possible because of climatic conditions. It was only in Europe that the introduction of an optimum amount of light was required because the climate of the Middle Ages was one of a preponderance of dull days.

Window refracting light St John's Cathedral, Brisbane

Great expanses of glass became the hallmark of what has since been termed Gothic architecture, whose other characteristics include pointed arches, stone tracery and external buttresses. It was during the Abbot Suger’s rebuilding of the Royal Abbey at St. Denis near Paris in the eleventh century the golden age of Euorpean Gothic architecture and use of glass stained with colour began.  Neo-Platonic theory, to which Suger subscribed meant that he produced a style of architecture lit by ‘radiant windows’ to ‘illumine men’s minds so they may travel through it to an apprehension of God’s light’.

This was only possible by his age because of the advances being made in France in glass making techniques and an ability to colour glass. Before the advent of this uniquely Christian art form windows were only utilitarian. Monks like Suger were aware coloured glass not only sent an image of deep spirituality but also drew the faithful to read the messages of the stories it told because it dazzled them with its radiance.

One can only try to imagine the effect of such brilliance on a medieval mind emerging from a state of written illiteracy – it must have been quite staggering. In Cathedrals around the world reflected colours are an evocative reminder of the rainbow and God’s covenant with man following the flood, according to Genesis.

Going to church for medieval people not only meant inner spiritual instruction and comfort but also entry into a magical kingdom where a mystical experience made man more receptive to God.  A contrast in our own day would be with computer generated special effects in movie cinemas. There we are transported to another world where we can forget our difficulties,  mind numbing challenges and allow ourselves a break from the humdrum reality of everyday life.

During the twelfth century a monk named Théophile recorded contemporary glass making techniques.  This was at a time when commentators viewed science and the supernatural as intimately linked, with the transformation of half solid, half liquid, molten glass into a transparent and rigid substance viewed as some sort of magic or alchemy. In his writing he refers to French glass-makers being considered masters of the art and a recipe….two parts beech tree ashes to one part sand.  Their methods of glass blowing involved procedures he states ‘as inherited from the ancients’. The technique of applying a silvered backing to mirrors evolved slowly and from the thirteenth century small mirrors were being exported to Genoa and from there all over the Mediterranean world.

Lady and the Unicorn - Sight

In the thirteenth century a Franciscan monk from Oxford in England John Peckham wrote a treatise on optics mentioning glass mirrors covered in lead. The famous medieval poem Roman de la Rose also dedicated a great stanza to the ‘marvellous powers of the mirror’.

Germans figure among the possible inventors of modern glass-making process with two glass makers from Murano in Venice declaring they were the only ones to know ‘the secret of making mirrors of crystalline glass, a most valuable and singular thing‘.

The technique of blowing glass was recorded quite methodically by a secretary to the Duke of Lorraine in the early sixteenth century. He describes how ‘an iron attached to the end of stick’ was pulled out so ‘that the glowing timber which, once blown and rolled out on a plank became so round and swollen it took the form and size of large, average and small mirrors as needed’.  The worker then ‘applied lead ‘with great skill in order to reveal the lustre’.

The Venetians challenged the glass-makers of Lorrain to be the first to perfect glass making and over three hundred years they would rise to such prominence that no one believed they could ever be overtaken. From the middle of the fifteenth century glass-makers from Murano knew how to make a glass so pure, white and fine they called it ‘crystalline’ because of its similarities to rock crystal, whose transparency and shine it resembled.

However the reputation the Venetian republic established in glass-making attracted workers from northern Europe and eventually it wiped out all competitive initiatives from abroad.

...who is the fairest of them all...

The Venetian Republic nurtured and treated glass-makers like artists, rather than artisans, granting them privileges such as the right to marry the daughters of nobles with many families gaining celebrity status.

However it also imprisoned them on the island of Murano to keep a monopoly on supply by guarding the secrets associated with its production.

As they were perfecting the technique of cylindrical blowing the Venetians improved silvering by the addition of mercury and tin and arrived at a ‘divinely beautiful, pure and incorruptible object, the mirror’…’a beautiful and useful invention’.

A Mirror so I can admire myself
You must give me one of the ivory ones
And the case that is noble and genteel
Hung from silver chains.

In the sixteenth century in France King Francois 1 owned a Venetian mirror decorated with gold and precious stones. A lover of luxury and Italian art at his court at Fontainbleau Francois acquired 25 more. Just one cost 360 ecus of gold and he started a fashion his courtiers followed and soon everyone was investing in this fascinating new object.

In the sixteenth century one of a Lyon group of writers Claude de Taillemont, whose motto was “one’s duty is to see” said ‘the pupil of the eye transports me to itself so that I enter in the center where I see myself clearly’. During the medieval period ancient goddesses such as Aphrodite the Greek Goddess of Love, or Venus her Roman counterpart, had been a focus of fear of nudity, luxuria, or sensuality, as well as paganism. During the Italian Renaissance  she returned to her original role as universal mother and creator of all living things.

...what is the truth

Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) painted her as a contemporary lady and placed her before a mirror, a symbol of truth (it does not lie) but reflects pride (Satan’s image), as well as vanity and lust. Rubens used the mirror as a symbol of idle dalliance and as an allegory for the battle for her immortal soul. The power of love was meant to transform the soul and became a popular theme at this time in art works.

He used pearl earrings to illustrate the darker and lighter sides of passion, the white pearl highly visible, the black pearl teasingly reflected only in her mirror. She is a truly luscious lady wearing, well nothing at all really, except a gold bracelet decorated with arrows, a sign that Cupid has been around endeavouring to use the power of love to disarm her strength.

Mirrors were fascinating and rare objects at this time. Through their lens until today the material world worked its way well into our consciousness, affecting the way in which we perceive others, as well as ourselves. From the sixteenth century onward the mirror was an indispensable hand tool for the toilette of well born ladies. The Venetian mirror however was still a very rare object for more than two centuries and owning one became a symbol of high status.  At the same time painting and literacy shared an objective for that of increasing the value of an image.

For the greater portion of the population it was mainly polished metal mirrors that remained widespread. They were sold at the market or by street vendors who would cry out Little mirrors shiny and snug…ready to reflect your ugly mug! And- I sell purses, belts and laces, I know how to tie up your shoes and have mirrors for the sweetest faces

In the sixteenth century flattery was recognised as a deceptive illusion, and this was all bound up with vanity. It was considered better to please someone than alienate them in a social setting where personal expression was now considered to reflect one’s own power and glory. Supplying the French court and nobles with mirror became an important concern for Venice as it seemed they could not resist the seduction of its novelty. Catherine de Medici installed a cabinet lined with 119 Venetian mirrors following the death of Henry II and visitors could view their portrait multiplying before the mirror. The Chamber of Mirrors became the height of fashion and there was great rivalry between the ladies of the court who could not imagine herself without a chamber of mirrors of her own.  From the late sixteenth and into the early seventeenth century Henry IV, the Great of France encouraged glass makers by granting titles of nobility whether they be French or foreigners and many took up his offer. Venice kept itself informed of their progress but in the end none of the scattered efforts was conclusive and French dealers still continued to import their wares from Venice.

During the reign of Louis XIV (1638-1715)  the furniture inventories of the crown recorded 563 mirrors and it was Louis XIV’s able 1^st Minister, Colbert who decided to concentrate his efforts and found a glass industry. He granted Sir Nicolas Dunoyer, the son of one of the king’s butlers and a tax collector in Orleans a warrant to establish the policies and procedures of the new company, which would eventually become the Royal Company of Glass and Mirrors.  However this would not happen before a lot of intriguing, spying at Murano and other matters of industrial espionage had taken place. From 1666 French writer, essayist and philosopher Voltaire wrote ‘We began to make glass panels as beautiful as those of Venice, which had previously furnished them to all of Europe and soon we made some whose size and beauty were never imitated elsewhere’

The Signing of Peace in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles by William Orpen

In the Comte de Saint Simon’s Memoirs of his time at Versailles he describes the court as a multitude of voyeurs all observing each other’s secrets…’As we were walking in his small hallway, I saw in the mirror at the end of the passage that he was laughing while lowering his eyes, like a man enjoying the conversation he was overhearing’. The mirror allows nothing to hide in the shadows and inset into all the walls and doors they became a theatre of reflection and artifice. When the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles was presented to the public in 1684 everyone found something to say in praise.  What more perfect symbol could be found for the dazzling reign of the so-called Sun King himself.

Everyone could admire himself or herself from head to toe. Seventeen false window casements opposite seventeen real windows were covered with 18 mirrors placed side by side, unframed, joined by finely carved gilded copper frames. There were 306 panes of glass blended to give the appearance of being part of a larger single pane…the hall vanishing in the radiance of shimmering surfaces and bursts of light. Some visitors described it as the ‘architecture of emptiness’. Reality and reflection supported each other reciprocally.

It cost altogether 654,000 pounds to produce the effect although it is not known how much of this was spent on the glass. Over the years since it has reflected many great moments in the history of the world. At the time however Colbert, Louis’ 1^st Minister, that great entrepreneurial master of ceremonies used it to launch the Royal Mirror Company and its success gave considerable momentum to the young industry and in increasing public awarenes of the decor possibilities of the mirror.

By using mirror the French designers could now reflect nature as an element of interior décor, choosing the best location for the installation of glass. The aristocratic society of the court were passionate about emphasising the optical and visual as it was all associated with light that element so desired indoors on dark days and dark nights.

Jeanne-Antoinette, Marquise de Pompadour

When Francois Boucher painted Mme de Pompadour, Louis XV’s mistres,  he also used mirror to reflect the fact that she was exceedingly proud of the nape of her neck…

The metaphorical distance between the polished surface of a mirror from antiquity to one made of glass for the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles in the C17 is immense. It is probably about the same as that of between the plaited rushes used in window insets of medieval houses to that of plate glass display windows of a modern department store.

Mastery over the reflection was only the first stage of a cultural revolution that would influence the relationship between man and image for evermore.

Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as the ability to produce larger sheets of mirror became a reality. It promoted the compleat gentleman, helping him to refine his image and bodily adornment and also served to establish the reputation of the beautiful soul, just as a rich frame set off the beautiful mirror.

Regency Convex Mirror c1810 courtesy Martyn Cook, Martyn Cook Antiques, Sydney Australia

“Ribbons, lace and mirrors are three things the French cannot live without’ said a Sicilian visiting Paris.

Mirror that has pleased me so well
Mirror ever since I have seen myself in you
Deep sighs have killed me
And I am lost myself
Just as handsome Narcissus became lost

In the nineteenth century the mirrored boudoir serving as a stage for dual narcissism, one in which each lover is both voyeur and exhibitionist trying to attract the gaze of the other.

The clever convex mirror also came back into popular use in interior decor allowing the user to see what was happening behind them. They had a wide field of view and if you were dabbling in the art of intrigue it could be very handy and, they also reflected the light from candles elegantly.

The Mirror in history was at first an instrument of social hierarchy and aristocratic ideal. Then, as it became commonplace, it served as a symbol of equality feeding our narcissistic need for recognition.

What role will the mirror continue to play in our future or will we always remain haunted by what is not found within it?

Mirror Mirror on the wall….who is the fairest of them all?

Carolyn McDowall, August 2010

You may like to tell your friends to Watch the Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhe2Fg7STpY

You may also care to view Fashion, more than a frock

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In England, during the second half of the nineteenth century, painter, writer, textile designer and social activist William Morris (1834-1896) became the motivational leader of a revival in arts and crafts that encompassed all the visual arts, especially architecture and interiors.

The Arts and Crafts movement he led in England had ramifications world wide. Morris believed in a Utopian style of socialism and his affinity with natural handcrafted wares was doggedly pursued.

Like many of his peers William Morris was trying to help people find their way in a world moving forward at a very fast pace. He said ‘The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life’.

During  his lifetime Morris produced hundreds and hundreds of designs for textiles, including tapestries and hand woven carpets. His inspiration for their composition was both nature and the medieval world.

He wanted to find a way out of industrial ugliness, back to the joys of creation experienced in the ‘Golden Age’ of English history, which was perceived, romantically, as being a much simpler time.

Challenging industrial age leaders to produce handcrafted goods was indeed a lofty ideal.

However their was two realities. One was that it was profit driving the market for William Morris products being sold through Morris & Co, which he founded in 1861.

The second was that the aims he and his peers (like art critic John Ruskin and designer Auguste Welby Pugin) extolled ended up being an example of hypocrisy because so many manufacturers were producing a superior ‘hand crafted’ product in dirty, overcrowded sweatshops, where most of the workers were children.

The exploitation of working class children as cheap labour was vital to the economic success Britain enjoyed during the nineteenth century. For many working class families, it was far more important for a child to bring home a wage than to have an education. The combination of dangerous working conditions and long hours meant that children were worked as hard as any adult, but without laws to protect them. Children were cheaper to employ than adults, and easier to discipline.

With the tide of public opinion changing government legislation in 1844, 47, 50, 53 and 1867 regulated that no one could employ children under 8. In 1867 8 – 13 year old workers had their hours reduced so they could receive 10 hours education per week, again exploited. It would not be until the closing years of the century that the majority children began to be treated as children, not miniature adults.

Watch the Video

Or, read on…

In 1858 Morris’s friend and colleague architect Phillip Speakman Webb built the Red House for he and his family. When it was completed in 1860, it was described by British Pre-Raphaelite Painter Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) as ‘the beautifullest place on earth’.

Today the house retains many of its original features including furniture by Morris and Philip Webb, ceiling paintings by Morris, wall-hangings designed by Morris and worked by himself and his wife Jane, furniture painted by Morris and Pre-Raphealite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and wall-paintings and stained- and painted glass designed by Edward Burne-Jones.

It was designed to reflect a man’s house was his castle and,  for its time, it was completely revolutionary.

To complete the Red House Webb borrowed handmade red bricks from the Tudor period, inserted circular windows from the Italian Renaissance period, as well as small-paned sash windows from the English Georgian age. Many of the windows are surmounted by pointed Gothic (relieving/set back) arches as described in the treatise of first century Roman architect Vitruvius and used by sixteenth century architect Andrea Palladio.

Its steeply graded roof is reminiscent of chateaux in France and its hand laid roof tiles are made of natural slate. They acted as an electrical insulator, were fireproof and had an extremely low water absorption rate. The roof allowed water or melting snow to run into wide gutters and be recycled via a ‘well’ in the garden, which symbolically and practically became the ‘font’ of the house.

His ‘middling’ English house was, at least for Morris, a place ‘after his own heart’ a most noble work…more a poem than a house…but an admirable place to live in to’. It was refreshingly simple and Morris was well pleased with it. It was a kind of moral architecture if you like, paying tribute to England’s ‘golden age’, while reflecting the needs of a contemporary middle class citizen and craftsman such as himself. The Arts and Crafts styled building symbolized warmth and shelter, informality and welcome.

Between the wars the Arts & Crafts style burgeoned out into the suburbs of busy, bustling cities around the world calling upon rural traditions too, which signified order and stability.

St John’s Cathedral at Brisbane, Australia is the last Gothic Revival Style Cathedral in the world to be completed (2006) In the precinct is a number of buildings influenced by Arts and Crafts architecture, which was well underway in England when it was first being built (1906).

They included St Martin’s House, whose style was inspired by the philosophy of arts and crafts movement and The Red House. Built following World War I of red brick, relieved by detailing in stone, it has a slated high sloping roof, Georgian style sash windows, Italian Renaissance touches, including a Juliet balcony. There are also some delightful fanciful turret style chimneys at the roofline.

It has the addition of an extended room surmounted by medieval battlements. Originally the main operating room of the hospital, it was converted into an office for the current Dean of the Cathedral, whose desk is sited over the main plumbing grate. Set into an Italian terrazzo floor (now covered by carpet) this is where they hosed the blood after an operation. One could have a lot of fun with that…but we digress.

Morris and his associates introduced a new dimension to the reform of design and decoration. He explored, in particular, the techniques of traditional country furniture because it was not only the debased quality of contemporary furniture that alarmed him, but also the decline of ancient skills needed to produce a quality product. They produced a line up of furniture designs that were a distinct breakaway from anything else the industrial era had offered.

In America Gustave Stickley was a self appointed standard-bearer for the arts and crafts movement. Through his factory stocked with everything needed to create the home beautiful he promoted and extended Morris’s principles in both an artistic and socialist sense. He targeted the average American homeowner, whose limited budget called for a subtle marketing technique. He offered to ‘substitute the luxury of taste for the luxury of costliness’… employing those forms and materials made for simplicity, individuality and dignity of effect. His magazine The Craftsman evangelized through articles submitted by influential guest writer’s on such issues as style, home décor, urban landscapes and architecture. It was all about the home beautiful, and he supplied everything needed for those seeking to embrace the future in comfort and style.

All his life Morris tried to recreate the idyllic, almost medieval life; self sufficient, financially secure, practical in close contact with nature.  Morris described the Cotswold village of Bibury in Gloucestershire as ‘surely the most beautiful hamlet in England’. In this he was both inspired and supported by art critic John Ruskin, whose thoughts had a profound influence on Victorian attitudes.  Morris tried to make his vision of beauty, an actual part of everyday life. He saw modern mechanical industry destroying ‘mans natural purpose and sense of life’

John Ruskin said he believed that working with the hands and producing arts and crafts were essential to the moral fibre of the home. Objects were meant to be fashioned with great pride, integrity and attention to beauty. He sincerely feared without such a focus the quality of family life would be severely degraded and diminished.

Morris agreed. He said “If I were asked to say what is at once the most important product of Art, and the thing most to be longed for, I should answer, a beautiful House. And that included everything and everyone inside it.

By now Morris and his family had a retreat in the countryside at Hammersmith overlooking the Thames. Kelmscott Manor is where he established the Kelmscott Press, the last great enterprise of his life.

Between 1891 and 1898 it produced 53 books (some 18,000 copies). The books Morris produced were modeled on books of the fifteenth century, such as those of printer Nicolaus Jenson of Venice, whose examples inspired the Roman ‘golden’ font Morris used.

Noteworthy for their harmony of type and illustration, the main priority was to have each book seen as a whole, re-awakening the early ideals of illuminated book design. He wanted to inspire other printers in standards of production at a time when the printed page was generally at its poorest.

Numerous other presses were set up to perpetuate Morris’ aims, including the Doves, Eragny, Ashendene and Vale Presses. The enterprise was the culmination of Morris’s life as a craftsman in many diverse fields as he set out to prove the high standards of the past could be repeated – even surpassed – in the present.

William Morris died before the end of the century and did not live to see the success that the Arts and Crafts philosophy of he and his peers had on both sides of the Atlantic and in British colonies like Canada and Australia.

By 1901 the population of the United Kingdom was 41.5 million with twenty percent living in poverty. Emmelline Pankhurst founded the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1903 and it became a focus for militant action in the campaign for women’s suffrage. It was not until 1904 that the Children’s Act of 1904 officially banned employment of children between nine PM in the evening and six am in the morning.

A reaction to the  de-humanizing affect of late nineteenth century industrialism revived the artisan guild system, which was similar to that of medieval times. Its members were promoted as being merry and jolly and the offered an interesting role model for those searching for a panacea to escape the ills of the age.

The remedy lay in creating and constituting a new philosophy of life for the worker and so a traditional hero was revived. Britain’s great legendary medieval hero, Robin Hood, who had championed the working class man and his honest labour.

Robin was merry, his men were merry and, putting him forward to project an image of artisans happy at completing a days hard work, was instantly appealing.

His  popularity and merry image was re-affirmed when a movie emerged from the new glamorous, Art Deco loving capital of America, Hollywood in 1938 in a world torn asunder. Australian born Errol Flynn starred as the romantic hero Robin Hood romping through the movie, with his merry men and the lovely Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marion.

They both smiled a lot, as did his men,  and his merry disposition was completely infectious. In the movie the virtues of hearth and home in Sherwood Forest were about Spartan design and not only would this help reinforce the attitudes and philosophies, fashions and passions of the Arts and Crafts movement as it continued its merry way, but it would also help everyone survive the global conflict to come.

‘We are here to lead you back to the realities of life’, Morris had said, ‘to show you how to use your hands and your heads, which machines have already made over half of the population lose’.

The social ideal of the arts and crafts movement is ongoing. It was “The Art that is Life”.

Carolyn McDowall August 2010

Watch the trailer of Robin Hood, it should give your day a ‘boost’

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Modernism is a term the art and design community of the contemporary western world has adopted to describe a diverse range of architectural and interior decorative styles, as well as applied and graphic arts, which were created between 1880 and 1940 on an international scale.

Modernism demands that there is a distinction between interior architecture and decoration and a preference for open planned living. Modernist interiors are meant to be devoid of applied decoration. they seek to concentrate solely on geometry, uninterrupted lines and form.

In our WHAT IS Series we deal with each style of the Modern Movement separately (see below). However, it is always good to remember design styles overlap each other at their creation and, at their demise. They are

Arts and Crafts 1875-1915
Art Nouveau (1880-1910)
Wiener Werkstatte (1903-1933)
Bauhaus (1919-1933)
Art Deco (1920-1940)

International Style – Le Corbusier

Modernism historically
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Britain’s manufacturing power was threatened by rivals America, Germany and Japan. At home industrial unrest, growing feminist and socialist movements were part of a general, and protracted crisis.

The population of the United Kingdom was 41.5 million in 1901, twenty percent living in poverty. Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1903 and it gained an international focus for militant action in the campaign for women’s suffrage.

In Britain the Children’s Act of 1904 finally banned employment of children between nine at night and six in the morning This was a decade where the expansionist and imperialist features of the previous century were displayed to excess, one in which the political tensions and economic frailties of the present century before World War I became apparent. Radical change was required.

At the great International Exhibition of the Decorative Arts held in Paris in 1925. (The Exposition Des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels – Art Deco for short). Swiss born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (1887-1965) known as Le Corbusier, expressed a view that architecture had lost its way. “We must start again from zero,” he proclaimed. Le Corbusier preached his own doctrine and defined his own recipe for a new style of architecture.

Spanish draughtsman, painter and sculptor Pablo Picasso’s first wife Ukranian-Russian dancer Olga Stepanovna Khokhlova  (1917) is only one of the many women who shed their restricting corsets, cut their hair, raised their hemlines and set out to find what feminine freedom was all about following World War I.

Olga and Corbusier both wanted to be an integral part of this brave new world.

Significant Dates for Modernism
Compiled by Frances Laverack for the
Australian Academy of Design and Decorative Arts
Sydney (1992 – 2000) Brisbane  (1997-2005)
The Culture Concept (2005 – )

Image: Sensational Glass Table by courtesy Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

1851
Great Exhibition in London.
William Morris and John Ruskin in England
Violet-Le-Duc in France rejected the excess materialism on display and laid the foundations of the Aesthetic and Arts and Crafts Movements.

1859
Thonet Bros. of Austria first produced the “No. 14″ bentwood chair.

1873
“Principles of Design” published in England by Christopher Dresser.

1874
Emile Galle takes over family glass and faience works at Nancy, Alsace  -Lorraine, France-

1875
Liberty & Co. established in Regent Street, London.

1882
Antoni Gaudi begins the Sagrada Familia Church, Barcelona.

1888
Guild of Handicrafts founded in England by Robert Ashbee

1889
Emile Galle triumphs with his first major glass and furniture exhibit at the Paris Universal Exposition, showing cameo-cut glass for the first time.

1892
Georg Jensen exhibits his first silver pieces in Denmark.

1893
“The Studio” magazine begins publication in England.

1894
Louis Comfort Tiffany creates the “Magnolia” vase for the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Rene Lalique exhibits his first jewellery at the Paris Salons.

1895
Samuel Bing opens “L’Art Nouveau” shop in Paris. “L’Ecole de Nancy” begins to function as a group.

1897
Charles Rennie Mackintosh begins work on the Glasgow School of Art.  Munich Werkstatte founded. Archibald Knox begins work for Liberty with his “Celtic Revival” metalwork. Founding of the Vienna Secession with Gustav Klimt as president,

1899
Darmstadt’s Artists Colony founded in Germany with Peter Behrens and Josef-Maria Olbrich as founders.

1900
Parisian Exposition Internationale acts as showcase for French art nouveau designers. Hector Gulmard designs Metro entrances for the Paris system.

1902
Turin International Exhibition features Vienna Secession, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and fantasy room by Carlo Bugatti of Italy.

1903
Wiener Werkstatte founded by Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser           (extant until 1932).

1904
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple opens in U.S.A. – the first building designed entirely for poured concrete construction. Emile Galle dies.   Georg Jensen opens Copenhagen shop. Wiener Werkstatte exhibition in Berlin. Otto Wagner designs Post Office Savings Bank in Vienna.

1905
Josef Hoffmann and the Wiener Werkstatte begin work on the Palais Stoclet in Brussels. Samuel Bing dies. First Fauvist Exhibition in Paris.

1906
Founding of Wiener Keramik under Michael Powolny.

1907
First Cubist painting – “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” by Picasso. Founding of Deutscher Werkbund. Eileen Gray settles in Paris.

1908
Rene Lalique begins glass production with perfume bottles for Coty.

1909
Diaghilev founds “Ballets Russes” in Paris. Peter Behrens designs AEG Electrical’s factory and appliances in Berlin. First Cubist exhibition at Parisian Salon d’Automne.

1910
Austrian Werkbund founded.

1911
Atelier Martine opened by Paul Poiret in Paris, using untrained talent of schoolgirl designers. Maurice Marinot begins glass production.

1913
William Moorcroft leaves Macintyre Potteries and starts his own factory at Cobridge in the English Midlands.

1914
Outbreak of World War 1. Walter Gropius conceives the idea of the Bauhaus in Germany.

1915
Suprematist Manifesto published in Russia by Malevitch. British Design and Industrial Association formed.

1916
Le Corbusier designs the Schwab house in Switzerland.

1917
Gerrit Rietveld designs the red-and-blue “De Stijl” chair in Holland.

1918
War Ends. Spanish Influenza sweeps through Europe and in Austria kills Otto Wagner, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Koloman Moser.

1919
Bauhaus founded in Wiemar by Walter Groplus. First Parisian exhibition of African Art.

1920
Marcel Breuer joins Bauhaus.

1921
Maurice Dufrene sets up “La Maitrise” studio boutique at Galen’es  Lafayette in Paris.

1922
Tutankhamen’s tomb opened in Egypt,

1924
Bauhaus moves to Dessau.

1925
Parisian “Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et industrials Modernes” acts as showcase for “art deco”. Two pavilions, the Russian Constructivists and Le Corbusier’s “L’Esprit Nouveau” show the first public glimmerings of Modernism in France.

1927
Colonial Exposition in Paris.

1928
Le Corbusier, his brother Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand design their tubular, chromed steel adjustable chaise longue exhibited at the Salon d’Automne in Paris.

1929
Mies van der Rohe’s “Barcelona” chair first shown at the Barcelona International Exhibition,in the Modernist pavilion he designed for the Bauhaus.

1930
The French Modernists band together and form the Union des Artistes Modernes (UAM). Initial members included Rene Herbst, Robert Mallet -Stevens, Raymond Templier. The Chrysler Building was completed in New York.

1932
The “Normandle” launched – lighting and glass panels by Lalique, lacquer -by Jean Dunand, murals by Jean Dupas and Paul Jouve, furniture by Jules Leleu.

1933
Bauhaus closed. Many designers, including Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer, move to the United States.

1935
Clarice Cliff Exhibition at Beard Watson’s, Sydney.

1936
Surrealist exhibitions in London and Paris.

1937
Paris International Exhibition acts as showcase for “surreal classicism”.

1939
Outbreak of World War 11.

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“An eye for an eye, and the whole world would be blind”

Born in Lebanon Kahlil Gibran was the leader of a Lebanese Literary Circle in New York, where he died in 1931. His poetry has been translated into over twenty languages and he is considered the third most widely read poet in history, behind Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu. His drawings and paintings have also been exhibited all over the world. I was given a copy of his wonderful legacy to humankind “The Prophet” by a friend just over a decade ago. It has never left my desk since.

…”Almustafa, the chosen and the beloved…was a dawn unto his own day…”

In The Prophet Kahlil Gibran puts forward an attitude and way of life we can choose. It is challenging about the responsibilities we carry as individuals and as members of a community and global society. He provides a beautiful insight into what we owe; to ourselves and to others. It is a treasury of counsel about living a life shaped by tolerance, warmth and love. It is a work that goes from generation to generation.

Many would say today that this also encompasses both our personal or professional lives. Herein for me has always been the problem. How do you separate one from the other without giving a false impression of who we really are?

“It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding…”

We certainly had proof many voters were confused about who the leaders were in the election campaign held in Australia over the past few weeks. Polling revealed in the weeks ahead of election day they were swinging back and forth like a pendulum. They ended up in a 50/50 conundrum.

They did not know who to elect as leader of a party; that would carry the country forward, that would keep us safe,  inspire us to work hard and appreciate the wonderful country we live in.

They did not know who to choose as a role model, one who would inspire their peers, or mentor the next generation on how to be an upright citizen in a democracy that collectively cares.

“For in truth it is life that gives unto life – while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness”

Julia Gillard and Tony Abbot both got tripped up on their own rhetoric and the marketing hype surrounding their parties. They both admitted, during their time in the spotlight, we were from now on going to get the ‘real’ Julia or the ‘real’ Tony. So who the %#*+ hell were they before the campaign?

“And thus your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom”

And, out of those who are left standing who has an ability to collaborate across differences and borders and to help solve issues of pressing global conservation and concern? Where is the leader we need, one with the skills necessary to empower and embolden others?

“Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against your passion and your appetite”

Is there anyone left who will give us clarity?  Who will champion democracy and human development? Who will tell the truth” Is the truth still out there? Some communities voted independent candidates into office, despite knowing this usually meant that their representatives would work hard for local issues but would generally not be noticed by the main parties on global issues.  How the tide turns.

Watching the events unfold on Saturday evening reminded me of the speech actor Norman Doyle, playing Mayor John Petrie at the Founding Families for Brisbane’s 150th Anniversary in 2009, delivered. He said, ‘we must not subscribe to a miserable philosophy that in our modern age ascribes everything to the ‘spirit of the age’ believing nothing can be done by the influence of individual character.  It is individual character that is the inducement to great actions and the spur to great achievements. We may never reach the end of the journey, but, far from being discouraged we should be sure that what we contribute adds to the joy and glory of the climb’.

Now it is the independent candidates who stand alone. They have stood on what they believe and ironically hold the balance of power? Or do they?

“…speak to us and give us your truth…”

Having a profession used to mean honesty, honour, loyalty, trust, courage and integrity. These words certainly describe the brave men and women of the security forces we still all rely on to keep us safe. They do us proud as ambassadors to the rest of the world proving that peace is the only way ahead for humanity.

In the past so many died because they believed in the democratic process, that everyone should have an opportunity to fulfill their potential, and that the deeper purposes of a liberal education go beyond personal advancement or national competitiveness. It is all about being responsible global citizens who champion democracy and human development.

We need people capable of exchanging ideas on the basis of respect and understanding with people from all cultures.

“And there are those who have little and give it all. These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty”

The light at the end of the tunnel may lay with an individual, although he is a member of a party machine. 20 year old Mr Wyatt Roy cast his first vote and looked like a splendid advocate in Federal Parliament for the community at Longman in Queensland, who have elected him. He gained respect when he gave an intelligent, heartfelt, humble interview that was certainly inspiring at the end of a crazy election day and campaign.

Despite achieving a majority over a much more seasoned campaigner, he refused to say he had won until the last vote was counted, despite his opponent seceding. Some jaded politicians, commenting on his amazing achievement, adopted laughingly in some instances, the ‘wait and see approach’. Perhaps he reminded them of the loss of their own youthful ideals and the loss of the courage of their convictions?

Who knows? Perhaps the residents of Longman in Queensland are visionaries and know they are onto something.

“Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be.”

Carolyn McDowall August 2010

“Quotes” from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran published by Penguin – a work for every generation.

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From Keith Urban to Powderfinger,  from Jeffrey Black to Lisa Gasteen, Andre Rieu’s favourite, the lovely Mirusia, and up and comers like 2009 4MBS National Young Performers’ Award, Milica Ilic and Flamenco guitarist Gerard Mapstone, Queensland is a state that seems to produce a plethora of talented people.

It produces some of the finest songwriters in this country, many of whom have stood tall on the world stage, including more recently Brisbane’s Francesca de Valence, who won L.A. International Songwriter of the Year in 2008. Just back from touring in America she is performing in a ‘Brisbane Backyard’ for the Brisbane Festival so be quick for tickets. www.brisbanefestival.com.au

I have always put it down to the climate, which for 10 months of the year allows you to believe you are living in paradise. Azure blue skies, clear clean air and an explosive joie de vivre that is entirely infectious. Certainly worth writing or singing a song about.

Brisbane Jazz Queen Cate Shaw is starring in a “Peggy Lee Tribute Show” on 7th September for Brisbane City Council.

As part of the Brisbane Festival Bella Diva are also presenting a Backyard Event…’ holding court over the crickets, cane toads, cockatoos and canapés’, sounds like a lot of fun. Purchase tickets: www.brisbanefestival.com.au

Events at the Powerhouse for the Festival will also include Rhiannon Hart & The Umm-Ahhs w/ The Paper and The Plane on Sunday, 29 August 2010 at 16:30.

In Brisbane Christopher Wrench will play Sunday Baroque this Sunday, the 29th August at 4pm at St Mary’s on Kangaroo Point. Bookings 4MBS Ticketing Enquiries: (07) 3847 1717

Musicians are always generously giving their help to others. On the 30th October at St Johns Cathedral the 139 Club has an event to raise funds to support the homeless. Contact Rod Kelly Manager 139 Club Inc Ph: (07) 3254 1144 Mob: 0413015665

Queensland organist Chris Cook reports he is playing a FREE concert at St Michael’s Church, Collins Street Melbourne on September 2nd at 1pm for 30 minutes. If you are in that city and fancy unwinding to Handel, Liszt and Langlais then this will be one not to be missed.

Happy listening.

Carolyn McDowall August 2010

PS   Brisbanites: Don’t forget White Balloon Day

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The new style owed much of its popularity to the great International Exhibition of the Decorative Arts held in Paris in 1925. (The Exposition Des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels – Art Deco for short).

It embraced every area of design and the decorative arts, including architecture, interiors, furniture, fashion,  jewellery, painting, graphics, bookbinding, costume, glass, silver, metalware and ceramics. It was also about glamour.

Its beginnings were about simplifying form and fitting it to suit function. Its characteristics become evident in architectural elements used in the design of buildings from around the 1880’s onward and, in objet d’art produced from as early as 1906.

Architecture encompassed all shapes; curves that were sleek,  streamlined and highlighted by painted lines and the use of stylish new age lettering; verticals soaring upward as skyscrapers surmounted by stepped pyramidal shapes; horizontals that were all at once clean, cool filled with light and space

In cities around the world local idiosyncratic motifs, unique to each time and place, were incorporated into a building and its architectural detail. At Sydney, Australia a twelve storey building constructed for doctors who, at the time were members of the British Medical Association, is a mini skyscraper with Gothic and Tudor details, including some extraordinary gargoyles.

Watch the Video

Or read on…

Originally built on a stylish street filled with elegant English Victorian style stone and lace balconied mansions, of which only two remain today, it must have taken the locals some time to come to terms with. Near the top of its facade, which is resolved into the stepped elements now so characteristic of skyscraper Art Deco architecture, there is a group of seated knights. They are bearing the caduceus, a symbol from classical antiquity, sometimes used as a symbol of medicine on their shields.

They are there to remind the building’s occupants about their pledge of fealty to the profession of medicine. Two large koala bears disposed symmetrically are hugging the building, perhaps reminding the doctors inside of their need for compassion in an often unfeeling contemporary world.

Art Deco was the first universal design style in over a hundred years and it manifested itself emotionally with zest, colour and playfulness. It was about fulfilling a deeply felt need for a style that would not be threatened by change as it ws adaptable for every culture. As the pace of life quickened its protagonists wanted to ward off the threat of a civilization dominated by either industry or technology, or both.

Art Deco gathered design elements from as far away as ancient Egypt, adding aspects of every other style since and then reaching forward to the futuristic world of popular American space cowboy Buck Rogers.

Savvy and streamlined at first as it progressed the style became a cultural melting pot that included a fascination for Byzantium, the Gothic, classical Greece, the exotic Near and Far east, for South America, tribal Africa and the Ballet Russes, whose dancing troupe with their celebrity leader, Russian art critic, patron, impresario and founder, Serge Diaghilev, were busy touring the world.

It was also about the fashionable world of haute couture as dresses began to ape the crisp clean lines of a new international architectural style, while their owners sought to become celebrities,  living style icons.

The Vaudeville Brasserie at Paris was just one of a new wave of glittering, glazed and glorious marble sheathed eating establishments where the art of dining in style was practiced well.

It was filled with sleek sculptures of stylized classical, but modern maidens, exuberant bronze relief panels and modernist lighting fixtures evoking an image of extreme elegance.

Its clients during the 20’s and 30’s were wealthy, fashion conscious art lovers. They enjoyed living in luxurious environments, eating out in elegant restaurants and being admired for the couture clothes they wore. They sought to reinforce their avant-garde status by living art. They traveled on trains and ships glimmering with glass and mirrors and shimmering from the lavish, but stylish application of gold and silver leaf.

The most fashionable of all the trains was the Orient Express whose very fit out evoked the mystery, romance and period flavour of the time. Its dining car was decorated by genius glassmaker Rene Lalique. His glass works were considered the height of avante garde? Dining on exquisite French cuisine under the auspices of the ‘three fates’ from antiquity, now in their new streamlined form was very much de rigeur.

The public rooms of the Normandie, an ocean liner launched in May 1935, were that of a latter day Galerie des Glaces reminiscent of Louis XIV and the court at Versailles. Two hundred tables and chairs were set amid a shimmering windowless, but air-conditioned hall, again illuminated by genius sculptor of glass himself, Rene Lalique.

Massive pendent ceiling lustres were at either end, the walls veneered in hammered glass panels interspersed with over thirty elongated lighting fixtures and twelve fountains of light on pedestals adding to the sparkling atmosphere.

An allegorical mural dominated the Normandie’s Grand Salon whose subject was the history of the sea and navigation. Executed in the Verre eglomise technique in which panels of plate glass are painted on the reverse, they were also embellished with gold and silver leaf and finally fixed to a canvas backing. Tapestry from the Huguenot Tapestry Factory Aubusson in France covered chairs and sofas that were rose red and abloom with floral designs scattered about the room. Artificial light emanated from five tiered fountains in the center of circular banquettes.

Art Deco’s purpose was luxury and leisure. This is perfectly exemplified in the designs of French designer and fashion illustrator Paul Iribe c1913 (see left and right) whose designs celebrated classicism and styles favoured by the courts of France.

The delightful commode (left) is a pared down version of an intimate piece of furniture conceived during the reign of Louix XV and his mistress, a Woman of Influence: Mme de Pompadour. Its stylized sunburst motif is one of Art Deco’s most favoured.

Paul Iribe also used the stylized rose, a popular motif championed by the great Spanish painter, sculptor and draughtsman Pablo Picasso himself. The more masculine commode (right) has a swag of stylized flowers, including a rose, draping the base, very classy.

Gradually, art deco’s veneers inlays and stylised floral motifs became more generally popular. Exotic veneers were favoured, with furniture shapes grounded in 18th C. models, e.g. the “bergere” chair. At the 1925 exhibition, “ebenistes” (cabinetmakers) such as Jacques Ruhlmann, Sue et Mare, Jules Leleu, Andre Groult and Maurice Dufrene – often in collaboration with the ‘ateliers’ of the major Parisian department stores – created splendid pavilions in which to show off their new designs.

Glass by Rene Lalique and Daum, lighting and wrought iron fixtures by Edgar Brandt and Charles Schneider, lacquer and metalwork by Jean Dunand and porcelains by Sevres were also featured in these interiors. Comfort and conviviality were major concerns. Art Deco is an exciting style, and should; ‘like the archetypal drink of the period be enjoyed while it is still laughing at you’ said Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann. Ruhlmann was a law unto himself. He made his debut at the Salon d’Automne of 1913, exhibiting furniture par excellence.

A designer unrivaled in his field in the France of the early 1920’s, his three legged corner cabinet of lacquered rosewood inlaid with ivory, ebony and rare woods was a revolution in furniture style. He declared the salvation of art depended on an elite, and that in the end, everyone would have gained.

Armand Albert Rateau designed for fashion icon Jeanne Lanvin. Fixtures and fittings in a sleek bathroom became a lavish and exotic essay on flora and fauna. Bird shaped taps. A carved stucco wall panel with a forest scene behind the bath, bathtub and basin of cream Sienna marble. The floor was a crisp statement of geometric design. The metalwork of mirror, lamp and fixtures of patinated bronze.

Exotic materials such as sharkskin, or shagreen as it became more commonly known, was a favoured material dyed a soft green in imitation of antique Chinese celadon ceramic wares, which looked so at home in Art Deco interiors.

Austrian architect, interior designer and applied artist Josef Hoffman (1870-1956) who was an elder statesman of the movement, reasserted an ornaments right to exist for its own sake. Ivory carving was first established in Dieppe in the sixteenth century. French sculptor Ferdinand Priess had a taste for classical figurines and worked on a series of nude and partly draped Greek goddesses made of bronze and ivory. He also designed a large number of statuettes of children, clothed or naked made in ivory or in bronze and ivory like the flame leaper.

In America Art Deco was celebrated in New York by the building of the Chrysler Building 1928-30, It was the direct expression of that will to power, which lies behind free competitive enterprise. It was building art with a touch of wizardry and illusion, playing with effects of materials. It was the global depression that put an end to the art of the skyscraper, just as American architect Frank Lloyd Wright was declaring ‘they are monotonous’ and that ‘dizziness has given place to nausea’.

Art Deco was about integrating contemporary living with art, and turning life into art against those consciously working for the undoing of art, and its purpose was enjoyment.

Carolyn McDowall August 2010

An Extract from a Meditation on Modernism from the Online Video Course – Evolution of Art, Design & Style

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This is a terrific tale about four women summoned by the eastern star.

It is the exotic true-life stories of some key women in western history. They are Isabel Burton, Aimee Dubucq de Rivery, Jane Digby, and Isabelle Eberhardt.

They all took great risks, whether it was their choice or not, and ended up either pursuing their passion for romance or in Aimee Dubucq de Rivery’s case, making the best of it.

For the four women included in this classic volume of biography, the wilder shores of love lay east of their native Europe—in Arabia.

* Victorian Isabel Arundell married the defiantly unorthodox social outlaw and adventurer Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMB FRGS (1821-1890) an English explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, linguist, poet, hypnotist, fencer and diplomat.  Whew!

His many adventures included traveling to Mecca in 1853 disguised as a pilgrim.

His service in the diplomatic corps took he and Isabel to Syria and Palestine and she wrote a book about their travels together.

During his final years as British Consul in Trieste he translated and privately printed books on erotica.

They are buried together in a tomb designed as a Bedouin Tent. How great it is.

• Aimee Dubucq de Rivery was a convent girl, who grew up on the island of Martinique with her friend Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie (later Empress Josephine). She was abducted by Corsair pirates when she was on the way to France to attend ‘finishing school’ . She was presented to the ruler of the Ottoman Empire, ending up in his Harem and bearing him a son.

Aimee underwent many hardships and lived to see her son Sultan. She supported her friend and cousin Empress Josephine from afar when Napoleon Bonaparte divorced her. She had a quiet, back seat, mostly unknown effect on his and France’s future. You will have to read the book to find out how, where, when and why. The story of her survival, against all odds, is perhaps my favourite.

• Then there is the raffish, very glamorous divorcée Jane Digby. Her father founded the family fortune on the prize money he gained seizing a Spanish treasure ship, Santa Brigada, in 1799.  Her first three marriages and notorious extramarital affairs were amongst the biggest scandals of her day. Bad press did not deter her though and when she fancied living in a Bedouin tent with her fourth husband, Sheik Abdul Madjuel El Mezrab, she did. Fortunately they shared 28 happy years together and she befriended Isabel and Richard Burton when he was British Consul in Damascus.

Images Left to Right: Isabel Burton, Aimee Dubucq de Rivery, Jane Digby, Isabelle Eberhardt

• Isabelle Eberhardt preferred the Sahara, and if you are going to live in a dessert why not the most famous one in the world. She entered the world of desert Arabs dressed as a man. During her brief life (she died age 27) she converted to Islam and became heavily involved in helping the poor and needy while fighting against the injustices of colonial rule

Love, wanderlust, faraway places—all that Romance implies—make up this delicious book. It is ideal reading.

The Author – Lesley Blanch MBE (1904 – 2007)
Scholarly, romantic, celebrated author and distinguished traveler Lesley Blanch influenced and inspired generations of writers, readers and critics. She pioneered a new kind of group biography focusing on women escaping the boredom of convention, and has remained in print in English since original publication in 1954.

She was one of the last of those who actually knew something of the Middle East as it once was, before conflict and turmoil became the essence of relations between the Arab World and the West.

Lesley Blanch died in 2007 after leading a full life leaving many works as her legacy, including this amazing work. I have to say that my very worn dog eared copy, given to me by a dear friend, who travels a great deal in the Middle East, testifies to the fact it is one of my all time favourites.

The Wilder Shores of Love is still available.

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