An Ornamentalist's Goldmine

The Wartburg Castle, replete with drawbridge, dungeon, towers and castlekeep, overlooks the town of Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany. The Castle was founded in 1067. UNESCO added the Wartburg to the World Heritage List as one of the outstanding monuments of the Feudal Period of Central Europe.




Martin Luther lived here for a short while in 1521; long enough to translate the New Testament from the original Greek into German. Luther was hiding, he had been excommunicated by Pope Leo X.



Moritz von Schwind (1838-1890) painted these wonderful Frescoes in the Rittersaal and in the Saengersaal, Hall of the Knights and Hall of the Minstrels, respectively.


Richard Wagner used this setting as inspiration for his famous Tannhauser.
Gina visited the Castle, as a young girl, on a school outing while still living in East Germany. At the time it was pointed out that the Devil had appeared to Martin Luther. Luther threw his ink well at the Devil leaving a large ink spot on the wall.
For years visitors would leave with a souvenir from the Middle Ages. The devil ink spot was reconstituted many times. And after all of this deceit, the story is only a legend. It never happened.
Gina, again, visited the Wartburg, this time as a citizen of the Great United States of America. Only this time she slept in the grand suite of the "Hotel at the Wartburg".

Gina

What? Only Blue and White?

I know, I know. You expect a lot more color from me. 

I do make exceptions. I like blue and white china. 

So I painted a few pieces.

I also like black and white, as in checkered black and white marble floors. 

Especially in garden rooms with lots of green palm trees, lemon, orange and kumquat trees and a few zebra skins thrown into the milieu for good measure.

I think that I can predict who will buy these pieces at our annual Memorial Day Sale.

I might have to paint a few extra pieces. 

Have a great weekend, my dear blogging friends. 

And, if you have time, please leave a comment. 

In English, in German, in Italian, in French, in Spanish, in any language. 

I would love to hear from you.

Gina

La Magia del Barroco en Apaseo

You will see, this is a very special book. How to acquire it? You have to know someone who knows someone who is close to the person in charge at the Grupo Financiero BBVA Bancomer, Mexico City, Mexico. I happen to know such a person and that is how I became the grateful owner of this very fine book on design, decorative painting, history and baroque architecture.

A grand baroque building built in the 18th century in a small town of Apaseo el Grande, south of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

I own many wonderful books. Each and everyone of them chuck full of design inspirations. But this book is special.


All photographs within this book are of one grand house, namely the "Casa Grande de Apaseo" , also known as the "Casa Herrera".




It is a long story. I was looking for several hand carved stone surrounds for our 200 year old Doors from Argentina. I found stone carvers in Mexico who carved the surrounds, not as fabulous as the one above, but one of mine does have the Lion of Venice carved into the entablature.

Hand painted and hand sculpted wall treatments.

Mostly, I am showing you photographs of one of the many kitchens of this grand house.


I like the innovative use of blue and white tiles. They are Portuguese in design but could have been painted in Mexico. Talavera, Azulejos, Maiolica, Delft tiles all have one thing in common. They are painted in the "Maiolica" style using tin glazes.

By innovative, I mean the way images are separated and divided by plain white spaces. So much more effective than covering the entire space with patterned tiles.

Here are some of the tiles I painted a few years ago. See the flower basket tiles above? They are similar to those I have painted. And so is the bird and vase mural that you see in the picture below.

To really appreciate this book you should see the photographs of the interior rooms and courtyards. Never, have I seen such splendid interiors and made more so by the exquisite flower arrangements. All photographs from this book are by Jose Ignacio Gonzales Manterola.

You might be able to place an order on the Amazon.com wish list. An English version (ISBN 9685205000) is supposed to exist. The Spanish version (ISBN 9686258728) might be more easily acquired.

Gina

Looks old..... isn't old

When painting Tiles . . .

It is so much fun playing with years

Would like to reverse the process

on myself

Gina

Helleborus, my loyal and early bloomer.

In zone 4 what blooms in the depth of winter in my garden? Helleborus orientalis, of course.

The Lenten Rose or Christmas Rose is a member of the genus helleborus orientalis comprising of about 20 different species.

Helleborus are a herbaceous perennial flowering plant belonging to the Ranunculaceae family.



You can see the seed head forming. Soon the seeds will spill out and if undisturbed, small little seedlings will appear early next Spring. They can then easily be transplanted.


If you would like to bring them into the house you must first slice the stem lengthwise, almost all the way to the top and "condition" them in cool water and a dark place for a day. A half of a toothpick, placed in the stem, near the head of the flower, will keep their heads from drooping.




The seeds have already spilled from the flower on the right. It is at this stage that you can bring them into the house and they will hold in water without special treatment.

The large green leaves of the Helleborus provide perfect greens for flower arrangements thruought the year.


Many species of the Lenten Rose are poisonous. Alexander the Great is purported to have died because of an helleborus overdose when he took it as a medication.

Gina

Where do YOU hang your Hat?

He said that it was ugly. And I agreed. But it was only a Dollar.

No, not this one, and not the Hat.

But this one, the one on the left. Ugly indeed! But it is hand wrought and it had possibilities.

Don't you agree?

A few paints and a little gold powder mixed with a binder and a wonderful Hat Rack is born. Moral of the story? Look a little deeper, look a little more carefully and you will discover beauty all around .

Wishing you a great Day.

Gina

http://betweennapsontheporch.net/