Wednesday, November 17, 2010

My Own Lizzie Siddal

It has been forever since I have posted to my blog!  I have been distracted from my routine and trying to get other projects done and then overwhelmed at how to begin with my blog.  So, I decided to do a short post about someone I love and who has been inspiring me for about 20 years!  This dear sister-friend of mine is my very own "Lizzie Siddal". 


I used to live in NE and she was a fabulous model for my photography, paintings and monotypes.  She is also a photographer, painter and printmaker so we both took turns being each others model.  We also just had a wonderful time being together.  

 There were fun trips to vintage clothing stores all over to find costumes for our photographs and unique(and cheap!) pieces of furniture to make our little ancient apartments into jewel box castles. 
( Look at what she did to my apartment when I was away for a weekend!  She made the outside of it as well as the stairs up to it(all 3 whirling and twirling teeny previously servant quarters stairs of an very old mansion)into an overgrown, enchanted Castle right out of Sleeping Beauty!  This is after I got into her apartment and covered everything with "pixie dust" and posted blown up photographs of her from one Pre-Raphaelite shoot all over our wee village!  Ha!  It was really sad, I kept these up until I moved.  It was extremely hard to take them down.)
 There were also many trips to hear concerts from artists like Loreena McKennitt and the Medieval Baebes.  We climbled lots of mountains and picked blueberries from low growing bushes which we made jams and pies.  We swam in fabulous secret swimming holes where there were beautiful waterfalls . 
 
 We were always cooking, making art, dressing up, taking fun little trips, going to our favourite restaurants and poetry readings, getting ready for art shows, weaving on our bead looms together to get through the long winters and we just really liked to be in each others company.

 Hay Jumps in Western MA!
 Photographs in Enchanted Forests~

 
 The Gorgeous Skies of Fall in NE
 
There are always hilarious sides to these "very serious" photographs!  Love this one! Moving around in this gown when it was wet was crazy, but she wouldn't get out until we had the perfect photo!
( An amazing "Garden" of old trucks circa 1940-gorgeous with Victorian finery!)
  I am not sure what I would be doing now or if I would be doing art now if this sister hadn't kept pushing me and telling me to keep going!  So, I have to thank her a million times over and am always sending her my love still though I am back in the midwest.  

 We still send each other our art, letters, and keep in touch with phone calls.  She will always be my favourite model and muse!  I miss her and all the fun we had together! 
 Grow, Braid, Cut, Repeat...I still have this set of braids-there are quite a few!
  Miss You!  Love you! Ooh, I always loved that coat and I still have that cobalt blue scarf that I wove!


13 comments:

red-handed said...

Some of these photographs are *fantastic*, Merle. I especially love the one where she reclines against the rusted truck. I'm so glad you have such a great friend!

Kelly Fillion said...

So glad I found your blog, we have similar tastes. Happy Tea Times to you!
Kelly

Unknown said...

thanks mr. D! we have been friends for 20 years! and yes, we can't believe that-a true friend-the real kind. we met in the worst of circumstances so the good times are a breeze, taking photos, going out for a coffe and all that regular "friend stuff" just kind of wows us-we are more used to midnight meltdowns and the deepest understanding of human suffering-how many folks like that do you get in your life? i am truly blessed. that we both love the same art is icing on the cake! will send you some of these photos for sure!
xo!
row

Unknown said...

thanks for visiting kelly! i will have to stop by your blog!
cheers!

Unknown said...

Heya¡­my very first comment on your site. ,I have been reading your blog for a while and thought I would completely pop in and drop a friendly note. . It is great stuff indeed. I also wanted to ask..is there a way to subscribe to your site via email?

Portrait Artists From Photo

Firuzan said...

what an impressive friendship story.. memories and all of great & fun photos of your precious friendship so very lovely & great treasure purely.
and also your friendship is treasure for me too, Rowan.

Jo Potter said...

Ah, Lizzie Siddal was a very beautiful model. She is one of my favorites too!
Your photos are wonderful of your friend. Close friendships that last the test of time are rare these days.
This is a lovely post.
All best wishes,
Jo. x

Unknown said...

thanks for your comments sam! i am sorry, i am not sure how to follow my blog via email-i am very bad at anything techy!

Unknown said...

thank you sweet Firuzan! i count you as one of my dear and understanding friends!

Unknown said...

thank you jo! yes, it is so hard to find long lasting friendships so i feel very blessed that my dear muse and i found each other-a true blessing indeed! xoxo!

Anonymous said...

Have a very happy New Year! Sending you all the best wishes for 2011!:-)
Stella xx

CindySowers said...

Great photos, Merle! Love! Happy New Year and wishing you a prosperous, fit as a fiddle year. Looking forward to seeing your work the coming year! -- Cindy

Unknown said...

Thank you Stella! Wishing you a very Happy New Year as well!
xoxo!

Thanks so much Cindy! Happy New to you too! I definitely want to get back to more blog posting this year!
xoxo!