Pulp Fashion- The Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave

This is Isabelle de Borchgrave. She has a new exhibit at the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco. She has created beautiful dresses out of paper from famous paintings. I LOVE paper, I can't wait to see this. The Handsome Husband says he is not interested - oh, but I am. I'm obsessed with it and I'm not quite sure why. I always love all the paper decorations at Anthropologie and paper goods for parties. Why? I don't know, I've always been fascinated by paper mache. It looks so easy, but it isn't. It's the artist that sees the form and can make it come to life. I just don't have it, but I really appreciate it.
Here is her team painstakingly painting the fabric pattern to be used on the dress below.

Which is taken from the painting below.

"Elenora di Toledo with Her Son Giovanni "

(ca. 1545) by Agnolo Bronzino, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florance

Here are a couple more dresses to interest you.

Elizabeth I court dress (above), 2001, inspired by a ca. 1599 portrait by

the studio of Nicholas Hilliard at Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire.

(Photo: Andreas von Einsiedel)

The attention to detail is meticulous.

So, I'm planning a day trip to San Francisco to see this exhibit. Seriously!

Terra Cotta Warriors

China's First Emperor, the boy king who united the country in 221 bc and began construction of the first great wall, was not only obsessed with building but a fanatic about death.  His name was Qin and he was paranoid and would kill at the drop of a hat.  He would build a standing army of over 7000 to enforce his rule over the afterlife.  He assigned over 700,000 workers to build this army of life size soldiers with minute detail and individuality.  They came complete with weapons, horses and chariots.

I was in London and I saw that the exhibit was coming to the Natural History Museum.  I was bummed because I wouldn't be able to see it.  Then I read in a magazine that it was already at Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, so we all went.  It was very interesting.  It is the largest exhibit outside of China, but still only 11 or so warriors.  I think it would be so impressive to see them all lined up like they were intended to be viewed.  On Fridays the exhibit is free from 4:00 on.