A few snap shots of this and that...

...and others



 

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Autumn - a time of great change, of breathtaking migrations, of high drama.


 

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Its calmer moments of gorgeous light...



 and rich colours contrast with the wild storms and cold snaps

 

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gentle October evening sun-rays 'flooting' through the rooms...

It's this natural beauty that makes our autumns so spectacular and exciting

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Walnut harvest...

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Still Life by Luis Mendelez, 1716-1780

Self-portrait, oil on canvas, 1747, Musée du Louvre

Luis Egidio Meléndez (1716–1780) was a Spanish painter. Although he received little acclaim during his lifetime and died in poverty, Meléndez is recognized today as the greatest Spanish still-life painter of the 18th century. His mastery of composition and light, and his remarkable ability to convey the volume and texture of individual objects enabled him to transform the most mundane of kitchen fare into powerful images.

Luis Egidio Meléndez de Rivera Durazo y Santo Padre was born in Naples in 1716. His father, Francisco Meléndez de Rivera Diaz (1682- after 1758), was a miniaturist painter from Oviedo who had moved to Madrid with his older brother, the portrait painter Miguel Jacinto Meléndez (1679–1734) in pursuit of artistic instruction. Whereas Miguel remained in Madrid to study and became a painter in the court of Philip V, Francisco left for Italy in 1699 to seek greater artistic exposure. Francisco took a special interest in visiting the Italian academies and settled in Naples where he married Maria Josefa Durazo y Santo Padre Barrille. Luis was a year old when his father, who had been a soldier in a Spanish garrison and lived abroad for almost two decades, returned to Madrid with the family. Luis Egidio, his brother José Agustín, and Ana, one of his sisters, began their careers under the tutelage of their father, who was appointed the King’s Painter of Miniatures in 1725. After several years, in his words: painting royal portraits in jewels and bracelets to serve as gifts for envoys and ambassadors, he entered the workshop of Louis Michel van Loo (1707–1771), a Frenchman who had been made royal painter of Philip V of Spain. Between 1737 to 1742, Meléndez worked as a part of a team of artist dedicated to copying van Loo's prototypes of royal portraits for the domestic and overseas market, but at least he had a foothold in the palace. He had his artistic sights on a distinguished career as a court painter.  (info source wikipedia)

read more     here

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For the coming winter months...

...I'll be back to my "Old-Linen-Inventory"

 

French linen and hemp sheets, late 19th century

rare bath towels from the Bearn region, South-West France, late 19th to early 20th century

 a mix of linen and hemp

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Antique German farmer's linen, mid 19th century  (1850's)

In those old days, after the end of the harvest saison, 

farmer's families started with spinning and weaving at home.

This home loomed rolls of hemp (in Germany always called 'farmer's linen') 

are original and genuine

and simply wonderful pieces of crafts work and countryside history

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antique bath towels and cloths from the Basque region

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And with Mozart's joyful  Horn Concerto...





...I say bye-bye to the month of October.




Wishing you all a very pleasant first of November.
 I'm in Germany at the moment, we were snowed in last weekend.....!

 All my thoughts are with our American friends in New York and the East Coast
who are affected by this terrible hurricane!  Hoping that you're all safe!

A bientot