A Brush with Fame

I was fortunate to see a travelling exhibition of Spanish Surrealist, Salvador Dali’s works in Dubrovnik.  It was quite refreshing to be allowed to take photos; thankfully someone’s realized the marketing potential of blogs and social media!

Speaking of marketing, Dali’s eccentric behaviour was another golden arrow in his quiver of talents.  In brief, Salvador Dali’s (1904-1989) life story makes for interesting reading.  He was a consummate showman and a great technical artist with a vivid imagination.  One famous quote that resonates for me when viewing his work is simply put: “Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.” 

 

Dali’s best known work is perhaps, “Persistence of Memory”, those melting clocks that at once captivate then frighten.  We though, were lucky enough to see the fabulous Mae West lips, translating sexy into functional and, at the exhibition, a range of his captivating prints.  Some were for sale!  My quick talking however failed to make an impression on my “man with the wallet”.  I obviously need to learn more from Dali.

You might enjoy this fabulous site WikiArt.

Captivated by the Dali Exhibition

Combing Croatia

July 2015

Croatia was also a too-brief interlude, and although we made stops in a number of places, the most textile-likely were Pula and Dubrovnik.   If you can take your eyes of stunning historic buildings, beautiful blue water and "I want to live here" island communities, that is!!

In Dubrovnik we had four lucky finds:

• the Rupe Ethnographic Museum. The museum was challenging to find but it did take us into the less touristy areas of old Dubrovnik.  Who would have thought the old town to be so steep in places!

• well stocked craft stores (especially the Korkula Art & Craft Store brimming with locally made products including some lovely embroideries),

• more than one craftswoman stitching in the street (in costume & selling her hand-made wares), and

• an open air market near the Cathedral (in the shade of its west wall) featuring textiles, crafts and jewellery. 

I later discovered that Croatia also has a significant lace-making community (bobbin lace from Lepoglavia; aloe lace from Hvar; needle lace from Pag) and a once highly productive silk manufacturing area in Konvale dating back to the 15th c.  Production of rick rack braid is also mentioned but I never managed to find any.

A couple of interesting sites to check out for more detail (than I managed to cover in this post) are textile blogs and reliable pinterest communities for information and eye candy. I am also drawn to a fabulous book on historic costume - with a very hefty price-tag...  (These links have since broken or are out of date!)

Still, Mothers Day is coming up.  I wonder if I could swing it?