by Marty Coleman | Oct 2, 2013 | Simplicity - 2009-2014, William Morris |
It’s a beautiful thing that today is day #3 of Simplicity week!
Function
I saw a quote from Einstein the other day. Now, I don’t necessarily believe he actually said it, since a gazillion quotes are said to be from him that aren’t, but it doesn’t really matter. The quote is this:
Possessions, outward success, publicity, luxury…to me these have always been contemptible. I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best for both the body and the mind.
I disagree with it for a few reasons. One is nothing is ever ‘best for everyone’.
Form
The second reason is illustrated by this interaction from the movie, ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ where a young woman is given a lesson in how her purely functional, non-luxurious sweater actually has it’s roots in choices made at the top end of fashion luxury. Take a look.
Form and Function
But I love the quote I chose because it allows for both form (beauty) and function (usefulness) to have it’s place in our lives and that if we focus on those two things, both equally valid, we can actually live a simple life.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by William Morris, 1834 – 1896, English writer, designer and artist. A founding participant in the ‘Arts and Crafts’ movement.
Some interesting links on his art, career and influence.
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Original Morris and Co.
The William Morris Society (US)
William Morris Museum
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 1, 2013 | Charles Warner, Simplicity - 2009-2014 |
It’s the naked truth – today is day #2 of Simplicity Week
The Naked Traveller Nightmare
Have you ever had a travel nightmare where you are standing at a baggage claim naked waiting for your suitcase to arrive but it never does? It’s a variation on a school nightmare or speaking in public nightmare. I haven’t, but I have had waiter nightmares where I was waiting on people naked, and that was pretty embarrassing and fear inducing.
The Overdressed Traveller Nightmare
Why don’t we ever have overdressed nightmares? Can you imagine a person dreaming of being at a baggage claim with too much clothes on and too many bags? I can imagine it, but I can’t imagine them being filled with embarrassment or fear because of it. More likely they would be frustrated, tired and stressed rather than fearful or embarrassed.
Follow Through
Let’s imagine what would happen if these two people really did show up at the baggage claim like this. One naked with a small carry-on and no luggage, the other overdressed with too many bags. What would actually happen to them? The naked person would be in danger of cold, sunburn, cuts, scrapes, bruises, exposure to the elements, not to mention possible arrest, ridicule and/or unwanted sexual attention. He or she would be limited in where they could go, what they could do, and how they would move forward in life.
The overdressed person with too many bags would be in danger of also not being able to get where he or she is going, or having to pay a lot of money for others to help them get there. They would have to figure out what is appropriate to wear, where to store all the suitcases and the stuff in them. Choose what to change into depending on what event or activity they were going to. And of course cleaning all the clothes. They would worry about the clothes getting old, torn, wrinkled, out of fashion. They could worry about stuff being stolen or ruined. A lot to worry about.
Baggage of Life
Now, let’s abstract this idea out, using it as a metaphor for our emotional, psychological and historical baggage. We come in the world naked, it’s true. But we survive by putting on clothes. We survive emotionally and psychologically by putting on emotional and psychological clothes via life lessons. The question is how much do you continue to carry with you and how much do you leave aside as you go. One key to success is to practice giving up that which emotionally and psychologically weighs you down. The overdressed, overpacked traveler has not learned this lesson. Another key is to hold on to that which emotionally and psychologically is essential to your survival and protection within your world. The naked traveler with no luggage has not learned this lesson.
The path to a successful and happy adulthood is found in being a traveler between the two extremes.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Charles Warner, 1829-1900, American essayist. He is the actual author of the famous quote, “Everyone talks about the weather, but know one does anything about it.” It is commonly misattributed to Mark Twain, who was a friend of Warner’s and used this quote in a lecture.
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 30, 2013 | Simplicity - 2009-2014 |
A napkin is simplicity.
As is writing the word ‘simplicity’, which is what I did as I drew this.
Simplicity |simˈplisitē|
Noun
The quality or condition of being easy to understand or do : for the sake of simplicity, this chapter will concentrate on one theory.
• The quality or condition of being plain or natural : the grandeur and simplicity of Roman architecture.
• A thing that is plain, natural, or easy to understand : the simplicities of pastoral living.
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Drawing and comment by Marty Coleman, who is simpler than one might imagine.
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 27, 2013 | Audrey Hepburn, Women and Makeup - 2013 |
I will eat my words if today isn’t day #4 of my Makeup Series.
“Makeup can only make you look pretty on the outside but it doesn’t help if you are ugly on the inside, unless you eat your makeup.”
Outside
I am a firm believer that our outsides matter. They matter because we are sensual creatures. By sensual I mean we have senses. We see, hear, touch, smell and taste the world around us, the outside of the world. We get our information, in large part, from those senses. Even the sense that might seem internal, hearing, is just as much about the outside of how a person’s voice sounds, as the actual words they say. For example, if they are said with a grating voice, the internal message of the words can be lost.
Inside
Let’s define ‘inside’ before we go on, shall we? By ‘inside’ I do not mean your liver or ovaries or lungs or spleen or testicles. I don’t mean your heart either. Not your pumping heart at least. I do mean your mind and the heart that resides in the middle of that. That mind and heart inside you matter more than your outside. It’s not all that matters, it is however, what matters most. It matters because outer beauty doesn’t comfort the afflicted. Inner beauty does that. Outer beauty does not feed the hungry. Inner beauty does that. Outer beauty doesn’t take care of an elderly parent, a sick child, a wounded soldier, a devastated town. Inner beauty does that. Outer beauty doesn’t show sympathy, kindness, patience, or forgiveness. It doesn’t love.
Your Inside Edge is Outside
Then what’s the use of outer beauty? Why pay attention to it? Think of it as the outer edge of your inside. It’s not separate from your interior, it’s just the part of your interior that is at the edge, the edge that connects you to other people. You care about your inside world of thought and meaning, then care about how those things move out into the world as well. It’s through your outside edge that it happens.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Audrey Hepburn, 1929-1993, Dutch born American actress.
young Audrey Hepburn – 1930s
Edda van Heemstra aka Audrey Hepburn – Dance Student – WWII
During WWII, while living in The Netherlands, she changed her name to Edda van Heemstra to allay suspicion about her British roots (her father was British). The story goes that by the end of the war her and her family were reduced to eating tulip bulbs to survive.
She was known, and still is, as one of the most beautiful women in the history of film.
Audrey Hepburn – How To Steal A Million – 1966
And she knew how to use her makeup.
Audrey Hepburn Applying Lipstick Before Academy Awards Presentation – 1954
But she was much more average in outer beauty (as are most Hollywood celebs) than we often realize. She had circles under her eyes, and her other ‘imperfections’, as do we all.
Audrey Hepburn on Broadway in Gigi – 1951
But she was a total beauty because her outer beauty was the manifestation of her inner beauty, her mind and heart. That’s why she was just as beautiful in the photo below as she was in the photos above.
Audrey Hepburn, UNICEF ambassador in Ethiopia – 1988
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 25, 2013 | Jerry Seinfeld, Women and Makeup - 2013 |
I am coloring outside the lines in making today #3 of my Makeup series!
Lip Blind
When I was waiting tables in California back in the 80s and 90s I worked with a waitress who argued that lipstick should only go as far as the lip pigmentation, no farther. Unfortunately for her, her lip pigmentation discernibly changed before the edge of her lips. So she always had part of her lips with lipstick and the other part without. It was odd looking, to say the least. That was the one and only time I have ever seen that. More often, then and now, I have seen lipstick that goes well over the edge of the lips. If it’s just a bit over, to catch the light on the edge, that’s cool. But lipstick that is used to completely and drastically reshape the lips? That only works on TV, movies and beauty shoots where the photographer knows how to minimize the recognizability of that discrepancy. Otherwise people wonder why she didn’t wear her glasses when she put on her makeup, or why she thought it was a good idea to put her makeup on in the dark.
At least that’s my opinion. What’s yours?
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Jerry Seinfeld, funny guy.
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