Saturday, October 13, 2012

What the Art Teacher Wore #38

Tie Dye Tuesday: Yeah, I skipped Monday this week. Oops, my bad. This week marks the third year we dyed in the art room. T-shirts, that is. Our school colors our yellow and blue so I figured if I got dye on my clothing, it'd blend in nicely. sweater: vintage, thrifted; skirt: Anthro, coupla seasons ago; fishnets, tights, blue top: Target: boots: old favorite, be prepared to see them a lot, Seychelles
 Whut up, ya'll? I am currently trying to wrap my mind around the fact that in a mere 5 work days,  my fall break begins! And I'm pretty stoked. We're heading on another Halloween adventure which means I'll get plenty more wear out of my Horror Flick Dress. I just hope the other two Halloweenie/Fall-Themed dresses I'm working on also get finished in time. I've been spending entirely too much time online reading about Henri Toulouse Lautrec and all of his buddies at the Moulin Rouge. Which would explain why I'm sharing more of his paintings this week. I am currently in love with his paintings of Carmen Gaudin. I have a feeling you'll love them as well.
So apparently our friend Toulouse-Lautrec had a thing for red heads. Not only did he create many posters, prints and paintings of the famous red headed Moulin Rouge dancer Jane Avril, but he also painted artist Suzanne Valadon and laundress/prostitute Carmen Gaudin. That's her in the painting above.
Masterpiece Wednesday: On this day one of my third grader girls told me I looked like a masterpiece. How sweet! This was quickly followed up by one of the boys looking me up and down and asking, "Wait, what's a masterpiece again?" When informed it was a really good work of art, he continued to look at me with an "Oh...huh. Hmmm." dress: vintage, thrifted; sweater: thrifted; belt: Anthro, you must check out their mad belt sale going on now; tights: dunno, Target; shoes: Dolls by Nina
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) Carmen Gaudin Red-Haired Woman The Toilette, 1889 The story goes that Toulouse-Lautrec spotted Carmen coming out of a Montmartre restaurant and was immediately struck by her red locks and her hardened been-around-the-block-a-few-times air.
Chilly Fall Temps Thursday: I missed a couple of days of school recently. When I walked out of my room to greet one of my classes, the kids cheered and said, "Where were you?!" Before I could respond, one student said "I bet you were gone getting all of those tattoos on your legs." Yeah, no. sweater: vintage, thrifted; scarf: Amsterdam; skirt: Marshall's for $3!; tattoo tights: I forget; shoes: John Fluevog, my fave shoe designer
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) Carmen Gaudin After having met Carmen, Lautrec wrote to his mother that he was "painting a woman whose hair is absolute gold." I'm guessing he left out the part about her being a prostitute. Lautrec's family were aristocrats and Carmen was definitely not.
More Details Thursday: Since I skipped Monday, I thought I'd share another photo of Thursday's outfit. blouse: Anthro, gift from a friend
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) Carmen Gaudin At Montrouge. 1886-87. I had a copy of this painting on a postcard hanging in my painting studio when I was in college. I love her body language, the pursed red lips and those red bangs that are always in her face. I've always wondered what was on the receiving end of that hard stare.
Rainy Day Friday: The spooky storm started early in the morning and continued on through the day. It made it so hard to get out of bed. But, I'll do just about anything for you, Friday. dress and sweater: vintage, thrifted, DIY applique here; fishnets and tights: Target; Hunter boots: ebay; belt: made by me
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) Carmen Gaudin as The Laundress. 1889 I can't seem to find much more about Carmen online. Despite this, I feel like these paintings by Lautrec tell us so much about her.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) Carmen Gaudin Red-Headed Woman in a White Blouse in the Artist's Studio From this painting alone, I think you can tell she was probably guarded and cautious. I'm sure her experience with men lead her to be that way. Look at those hands. You can imagine their roughness from her work as a laundress. There is nothing dainty or traditionally ladylike about her. Yet she has a kind of unique natural beauty. The kind a guy with a penchant for red heads, like Toulouse-Lautrec, would appreciate.










8 comments:

  1. Love everything in the first outfit: the boots, the tights, the skirt, the cardigan and your nice smile. Hugs from Miss Maple

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    1. Aw, thank you! I was just thinking how strange it was in that photo how green the trees still look...today's wind and rain have taken care of that! Hope you are enjoying the fall weather! ...though it's probably colder where you are :)

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    2. I love autumn basically, I even think it's my favourite season. First of all the warm colours everywhere, secondly I like to collect and in autumn I can collect chestnuts and acorns for decorating my table, rose hips for making marmalade or chutneys, spruce resin for burning incense and so on. And I like the somehow melancholic feeling that's in the air. Of course I prefer warm and golden October days. Today we had 10°C, that was a little too chilly for me. But tomorrow we'll get 15 to 22°C. Well, that's what I like. Have some golden October days too. Hugs from Miss Maple

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  2. Another fascinating art lesson, but I have a question, Teacher. How do you organize your wardrobe closet and vintage clothing treasures? I know that teachers need secret powers when it comes to orchestrating classroom materials, but you must possess extreme wisdom in order to store and access all these marvelous clothing elements. It's a mundane issue, but seriously, how do you do it?

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  3. Hi Kay! Oh, organizing is not my forte, lemme tell ya. But I do feel so much better now that I found a way to organize my closet. I recently snapped a batch of photos of my closet...so I'll be certain to share that on my blog within the next couple of weeks. Thank you for reading and leaving a comment ;)

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  4. Great! I look forward to that along with all your posts.

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  5. Anonymous10/15/2012

    O my gosh, I just stumbled on your site. I teach k-8 at two schools and I am in awe of your art room decor. Fantastic!!
    Ms. Larson

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  6. Ms. Larson -- thanks for dropping by! What a tough job teaching at two schools, you must be one amazing teacher! Thank you for reading :) Cassie

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