Frida Kahlo Inspired Wedding

Frida Kahlo Inspired Wedding Editorial Shoot from Ale Vidal on Vimeo.

Winter

Over here in Australia it's winter. The sun is still shining but it's cold. I hope you are staying warm in heart as well as in body.

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Learning From Frida

“Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?” ~ Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter, who is best known for her self-portraits.

The ones who personally knew her, described her as “one of history’s grand divas, a tequila heavy drinker, dirty joke-telling smoker, a bohemian who threw festive dinner parties for the likes of Leon Trotsky, poet Pablo Neruda and her husband, muralist Diego Rivera.”

If I were to introduce her, I would say she is an icon of strength, a victim of love and a genius in art. Frida Kahlo changed the standards of beauty with her unibrow, her right leg—that was thinner than the left one and her indigenous Tehuana dresses.

Being my great inspiration in life, I regard Frida Kahlo as a school of lessons. She should be the role model of every woman because she indirectly showed the world what a woman is capable of, both physically and emotionally.

After many years of admiration for Frida Kahlo, I can finally put on paper what this woman taught me:

Love is forgiveness.

“I had two big accidents in my life: The trolley and Diego; Diego is by far the worse.” ~ Frida Kahlo

Frida was the wife of Diego Rivera, the muralist who was best known for his endless love affairs with women. He was a womanizer who had serious problems with infidelity.

Although none of Frida’s friends nor parents approved of this awkward union, Frida still married Diego. She kept on loving him despite all the pain he caused her.

Frida teaches us that love is forgiveness.

She might not have said it out loud, but staying with him throughout her life, shows us that she did forgive him every time he cheated on her.

Love is unexplainable.

“…the marriage of Frida and Diego is like the union between an elephant and a dove.”

~ Frida’s mother, Matilde Calderon

Whenever I have a discussion about Frida’s life with someone, I always get the same question: “Why did she love him?”

Frida loved Diego for reasons no one understood and she remained faithful in her love for him up until the day she died.

Sometimes people think we fall for the wrong person, but in our own eyes, they’re always right for us. Diego was 42-years-old and 300 pounds while Frida was 22 and 98 pounds. He cheated on her, had little time for her and yet she loved him.

If each one of us looks back at our own experiences, we can understand Frida’s love for Diego. We can never explain the love we had (and maybe still have) for people who hurt us or left us but we can definitely feel it. Frida simply taught me that love is unexplainable.

Love yourself.

“The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to.” ~ Frida Kahlo

To love yourself means to remember yourself, no matter what the circumstances are.

Frida married a man who had little time for her, due to the busy life he lead. She married a man who cheated on her and left her in agony. She suffered from polio, underwent three abortions and had an accident that tucked her away in bed for numerous years.

We live in a time where we’re instantly bedridden if we have a tiny headache. Frida had a broken spine, wore a corset most of her life, had an amputated leg and still she managed to paint.

With all this emotional and physical pain, Frida never forgot herself. She loved herself immensely that she always kept herself busy with painting. Although she loved Diego, she didn’t accept being a doormat who waited for him at home crying. In retaliation, she loved herself enough to go out, make affairs and pleasure herself just the way Diego pleased himself.

Know when to quit.

“I am not sick… I am broken.” ~ Frida Kahlo

Diego had many affairs with many women. But one affair finally pushed Frida to quit. In 1934, after having her third abortion, Frida learned that Diego cheated on her with her younger sister, Cristina.

Afterward, they separated for almost four years and Frida led a life away from Diego.

Frida teaches us that it’s okay not to let go too soon but one must know when it’s time to quit.

Suffering is consciousness in disguise.

“I drank to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learnt how to swim.” ~ Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo was plagued by illness starting at a young age. At 18 she went through a tough accident that left her with a broken spine, a fractured vaginal structure. She had hundreds of injuries and died critically ill with pneumonia.

Mentally, emotionally and physically, Frida Kahlo went through intense suffering. And though we don’t realize it, Frida was more conscious than many of us are today.

Her pain was her gate to higher realizations—realizations that we only find through books nowadays. Frida found them through pain.

Keeping a diary is healthy.

“I never paint dreams or nightmares; I paint my own reality.” ~ Frida Kahlo

People usually underestimate the importance of keeping a diary. I bet Frida wouldn’t have been able to live as long if she didn’t let out her pain.

There is only one thing that can truly kill us and it’s called “sadness.” If sadness isn’t expressed, it has the capability of ending a body’s life faster than any disease.

Frida Kahlo is the first in history to write a diary with a brush on canvas. She also kept written diaries with drawings for the last 10 years of her life.

Frida teaches us to express, to paint, to write, to do anything to let out our anger and sadness. She teaches us to make something out of our pain—something beautiful.

Don’t be ashamed of your style.

Frida was regarded as an icon of beauty in Mexico. She was known for her extensive style with her colorful clothes and extraordinary hair braids.

The unibrow and the mustache that people make fun of today, are the very elements that made Frida unique. She left her armpits untouched and decorated her shoulders with fantastic Tehuana dresses.

Frida was best known for her red lipstick, red nail polish and the beautiful smell of perfume that she wore. Kids in her neighborhood used to know she was passing by when they started smelling roses.

Frida taught us to be unique in our style and comfortable in our own skin. She taught us to simply be ourselves.

Don’t get attached to your plans.

“Nothing is absolute. Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away.”

~ Frida Kahlo

Frida never planned to become an artist. Until she was 18, she was planning to become a doctor and attended a prestigious school that only had 35 girls out of 2,000 students—Frida was among them.

The accident she had at the age of 18 changed the course of her life forever. As a result of being bedridden with a corset, her father gave her his brushes and paint and constructed an easel for her so she can paint while she was in bed.

Just like Frida says, “everything changes, everything moves.” We never know how or when our life can change. Hence, never plan and get attached to your plans.

Women have an abundance strength inside.

“At the end of the day we can endure much more than we think we can.” ~ Frida Kahlo

I highly believe that women are stronger than men in many aspects and Frida Kahlo stands out today to prove this notion for us.

She is an example of how much a woman can undergo and still be able to stand on her two feet.

With a man who sucked the energy out of her system and an accident that left her with hundreds of injuries and deadly illnesses, Frida teaches us that women are a pile of strength.

Let go.

“I hope the exit is joyful and I hope never to return.” ~ Frida Kahlo

Frida was an outgoing person who used wise words in her conversations. She loved to smoke, drink tequila and sing off-color songs to guests at the many parties she hosted.

Despite the fact that the doctors tests on her revealed a severe kidney infection, anemia, exhaustion and alcoholism, Frida remained a person who drank, smoked and had fun.

The bottle of tequila and cigarettes never quit her hand.

She held them until her last breath. She just didn’t care much about the consequences. She went through a lot and lost a lot that there was nothing more to lose—she let go, and this is what made her the great Frida.

(reprinted from The Elephant Journal)

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A new beginning....

Well my darlings, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. I did; one of the best ever. Who would have thought? This time last year life was full of trauma. I suppose much of the last three years have been. I don't mean it's all been bad, heavens no, there have been some beautiful treasured moments. But it hasn't been easy. Now, though, with both Mum and Dad gone and most of the estate  stuff finalised, I've entered a time of respite. A weight has been lifted and (though I feel a little guilt at saying this) I feel relief and a sense of freedom. Don't get me wrong - if there was some magic that would bring my precious Mother back I'd use it in a flash - but there isn't. And I know life is going to keep presenting challenges, but those challenges won't include being a 'daughter' and the expectations that can come with that role. I was raised, like many, in a home where you were expected to think, feel, and behave in a certain way and if you didn't you weren't a 'good' person.  And, of course, none of us as human beings can be 'perfect' so we end up feeling flawed and lacking. So the challenge continues for me in accepting myself and all the things that have happened in my life with kindness. I know I'm not alone in this. More and more I realise that we're all one. Each of us has joys and sorrows. It's the kindness we need to cultivate, for ourselves and others. Blessings to you all in these early days of 2017.

Play

It's official; having fun and playing leads to new ideas and inventions! I'm working on some....what about you?

Many totes, tops, tshirts, shalves and wraps available from VIDA. Head on over and check them out!

Frida's Home La Casa Azul

Splish Splash!

Into the sunshine,

Full of the light,

Leaping and flashing

From morn till night!

Into the moonlight,

Whiter than snow,

Waving so flower-like

When the winds blow!

Into the starlight,

Rushing in spray,

Happy at midnight,

Happy by day!

Ever in motion,

Blithesome and cheery.

Still climbing heavenward,

Never aweary

Glad of all weathers,

Still seeming best,

Upward or downward,

Motion thy rest;—

Full of a nature

Nothing can tame,

Changed every moment,

Ever the same;—

Ceaseless aspiring,

Ceaseless content,

Darkness or sunshine

Thy element;—

Glorious fountain!

Let my heart be

Fresh, changeful, constant,

Upward, like thee!

'The Fountain' by James Russell Lowell

Polish sculptor Małgorzata Chodakowska has made a name for herself by creating unique, moving sculptures and statues that actually feel like they have a human-like presence in the room. Now, she's taken her work a step further and added water, creating bronze statues that double as spectacular fountains.

The water erupts from the statues in unlikely places, creating a sense of motion that only adds to her figures' life-like qualities. Some fountains give the appearance as if the statues are playing in the water, while the water creates emergent shapes on others. (via lifebuzz)

A Beholden Purpose

"...the mission of the artist in an overtechnologized, overmasculinized society [is] to call the old magic back to life." - Tom Robbins

La la la la la laaaaaa

My favorite song, together with gorgeous fashion. 

Tragedies

Oh Marlon Williams what a signer you are! Crooning here 'When I was a young girl' the soundtrack from 'The Beautiful Lie', a contemporary retelling of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, a series that began last Sunday night on the ABC. 

For those outside Australia, you can view each episode after it airs...HERE'S the first one.

Evolving

Happiness cannot be found
through great effort and willpower,
but is already here, right now,
in relaxation and letting go.
Don't strain yourself, there is nothing to do.
Whatever arises in the mind
has no importance at all,
because it has no reality whatsoever.
Don't become attached to it. Don't pass judgement.
Let the game happen on its own,
emerging and falling back - without changing anything -
and all will vanish and begin anew, without end.
Only our searching for happiness prevents us from seeing it.
It is like a rainbow which you run after without ever catching it.
Although it does not exist, it has always been there
and accompanies you every instant.
Don't believe in the reality of good and bad experiences;
they are like rainbows.
Wanting to grasp the ungraspable you exhaust yourself in vain.
As soon as you relax this grasping,
there is space - open, inviting and comfortable.
So make use of it. Everything is already yours.
Search no more,
Don't go into the inextricable jungle
looking for the elephant who is already quietly at home.
Nothing to do,
nothing to force,
nothing to want
and everything happens by itself.

'Happiness' by Lama Gendun Rinpoche

I am still practicing 'letting go'; every day a little ending and a little beginning. The last few months have been the most challenging yet the most rewarding of my life. Not only have I lost my Mother as physical form but after months of abuse from my Dad (who has Narcissistic Personality Disorder) I've had to let him go as well. This is a huge step for me requiring lots of honest soul searching about my own value. And in the end it was really a matter of saving my own life. Now I can feel close to Mum all the time; can 'feel' her with me. Now I can relax.

Let Go

I let it go.

It’s like swimming against the current.

It exhausts you.

After a while, whoever you are,

you just have to let go,

and the river brings you home.

– Joanne Harris, Five Quarters of the Orange 

She is gone...

6 weeks after the death of my precious Mother, some thoughts. When someone you love dies, it's like a part of you dies as well, and you look at the person left and wonder who the hell you are. There's a rebuilding to be done. You are not the same and you never will be. I'm in that stage where I can go a whole day without thinking of Mum and then the loss hits and the pain is overwhelming, gut wrenching, and there's that split second where you know you can choose - to surrender, to open your heart, and let the pain overwhelm you, to wail, to thrash about in such sadness, yet powerless for there's no magic wand to bring her back. Other times, you choose to distract yourself; you know you will have to surrender to the pain soon but you need, yes 'need' to keep yourself together right now; you're weary; so you dive headlong into an activity. But of course, in the end, it's worse. The heaviness, the constricted throat, the moist eyes, stay then for hours, for days, until you can't hold it in anymore and you surrender. Yes there are others who'll always be there to comfort you - if you're capable of reaching out. Yes, there are a couple you know intuitively who are tired of your grief; your conversations, but doing their best nonetheless. But, in the main, humanity, gosh almighty it's amazed me. The natural world has always been easy for me to appreciate; people not so much. Yet, from the pain of loss, there is a this deep abiding connection to others and it's as if each person who's touched my life over the last couple of months, feels the loss with me, is truly there with me (there are exceptions for a couple of family members who are mentally ill and many families have these). Even people I don't know I feel differently towards now; we are all travellers on a path that's, yes, filled with much joy, but oh the sadness. Nobody is exempt. We are all in this together; walking each other home. I know that nothing ever stays the same; know it rationally; but the change is accelerated now. Sometimes I just want it to stop. But it won't.

A little update

Just a few random images I like. First is my latest Frida Kahlo photomontage (available here), and the other two photos are images I saw on Facebook...I don't have any references as they'd done the rounds on tumblr and I couldn't find the end of the trail! 

Today I'd like to curl up in that gypsy wagon and pretend everything in my life is okay. Mum is very ill with cancer; I spend most of my time with her these days. This is 'life' I know and mostly I can be grateful and 'in the moment' but the last couple of days she's been crying a lot. It breaks my heart. 

Slide out the side....

Escape Route collage by Beth Hoeckel

Inside this new love, die. 

Your way begins on the other side. 

Become the sky. 

Take an axe to the prison wall. 

Escape. 

Walk out like someone suddenly born into color. 

Hand decorated map by Boy In A Bear Suit

Do it now. 

You're covered with thick clouds. 

Slide out the side. Die, 

by Art With Power

and be quiet. Quietness is the surest sign 

that you've died. 

Your old life was a frantic running 

from silence.

The speechless full moon 

comes out now.

'Quiet' by Rumi

I wonder if I'll ever learn to review life choices regularly; not wait until painful times like physical or emotional illness give me no other choice but to review. Who knows?! 

Doo See Doooing With French Knitting

French Knitting Installation from New Zealand artist Mia Hamilton

Above and below by Australian artist Emma Churchill of Emroce

Here’s a great idea from Inspiration Realisation – make your own extra chunky yarn using your French knitting! Think I'd need one of spools where you can just turn the handle...could be awhile otherwise.

I’ve been looking for extra chunky yarn and can tell you it’s difficult to source over here, and it’s expensive….so…now...a Giganto Rug! Look at those needles!

Or get one already made up in gorgeous wool from Lily and Peabody!

Everybody needs a little ditty to knit by and this is a classic.

Magicians with Polymer Clay

I know, you never intended to be in this world.

But you’re in it all the same.

So why not get started immediately.

I mean, belonging to it.

There is so much to admire, to weep over.

And to write music or poems about.

Bless the feet that take you to and fro.

Bless the eyes and the listening ears.

Bless the tongue, the marvel of taste.

Bless touching.

You could live a hundred years, it’s happened. 

Or not.

I am speaking from the fortunate platform

of many years,

none of which, I think, I ever wasted. 

Do you need a prod?

Do you need a little darkness to get you going?

Let me be as urgent as a knife, then,

and remind you of Keats,

so single of purpose and thinking, for a while,

he had a lifetime.

‘The Fourth Sign of the Zodiac Part 3’ by Mary Oliver

Artists from top to bottom: 1. Skull doll from GriffinWyse 2. Tentacle Necklaces from Walking Squid 3. Maleficent from Art HouseSculpture 4. Coaster Tiles from Las Joyitas De Marie 5. Doorstop from DevarimYafimo