India: Color and Inspiration

As I mentioned in my last post,  sound,  aroma,  and color are all magnified in India making life in the cities frenetic. Occasionally, overwhelming until you get your bearings.  Same thing can be said for the wildlife.  

The colors in nature here are more saturated.  Richer, as if they've been carefully tended to become the best and most beautiful they could possibly be.  Indigenous flora and fauna become magical when a visitor looks at it for the first time.  To be surrounded by all of this natural abundance for a few days was a gift.  

I look for inspiration all around me, whether I'm home in Paris or visiting new places for the first time.  

For example, these pictures offer color combinations that would work in a variety of projects.  Upload them into a color generator and you'll get a palette to work with for fabric or paint choices.  Or, I could frame this series of photos to hang on a wall.  Everything is possible.  

Just depends on how open our eyes are. 

Enjoy your weekend. 

H

Movie Night Under the Stars

Ultimate outdoor movie theater in Thailand

Under the stars at Parc de Villette, Paris

Movie night under the Brooklyn Bridge

On the sand in India

Backyard summer fantasy

Cozy seaside theater in Turkey

I adore movies.  

No matter where I go, I try to have access to them.  At home in Paris, I love heading to the Champs Elysee where several larger "American" type theaters are located showing both French  and sub-titled foreign films.  The more popular American films are usually shown in what is call V.O. or version originale, a movie shown in English with French sub-titles.  You can find VO movies throughout Paris.  

Hidden in the 7th arrondisement, there is a tiny gem of a theater, La Pagode, that just wraps the visitor in old world luxury.  A bit dusty perhaps, but the past splendor is still apparent.  Literally built in the shape of a pagoda, this late 19th century building was created for the wife of the owner of Le Bon Marché.  Initially used as a ballroom, it now is home to two small theaters and a tiny space for an afternoon tea.  Really not to be missed. 

Then of course there's my iPad.  Not as glamorous as a Chinese pagoda but does the trick beautifully while I am traveling.  I download two movies, watch them, eat my airplane meal (or not), sleep a bit and before I know it, have landed in the country of my next adventure.  What did we do before all this technology made traveling so much easier! 

As I was going through some of my photos from summer 2012, I came across the last one I posted, the seaside theater in Turkey.  It was a great way to end a beautiful summer evening alongside the Bosphorus River this past July.  I had never experienced a makeshift outdoor theater before but I am now a convert.  Good friends, good food, the stars (in the sky and on the screen)...it was wonderful.  It got me thinking about how to make that happen this coming summer and my research yielded all the amazing photos here. 

Hands down the winner for me is the floating island in Thailand.  So on my bucket list.  While that is completely over the top,  the rest ... a park in Paris, under the Brooklyn Bridge, a neighborhood in India,  probably exist in hundreds of cities during the summer months.  I added the one that looks to be in someones backyard as a tiny bit of inspiration to create something under the stars for yourself.  Whether in a  beautiful backyard with land all around or a tiny porch or balcony in the city, movie night under the stars is something to start thinking about now.  While some of us are still wishing for warmer weather.  

Pass the popcorn. 

H

Inspiration in Everthing

I strive to live life with my eyes, mind and heart wide open.  

Keeping my eyes open allows me to see the divine in the simple. The photos of the shells and the beautiful iridescent fish are a few examples of things that stop me in my tracks while I'm traveling. The colors and patterns that they create are design in and of themselves.  Perfect in their simplicity. All my photographs serve not only as beautiful memories, but oftentimes, inspiration for future projects.    

Being open minded has allowed me to never be afraid to look at things through different eyes or from a different angle or point of view.  Those fish for example.  There is color and shimmer reflected off their scales, movement in their careless arrangement and an additional design element in their eye placement. As crazy as it sounds,  all inspiration for perhaps a custom fabric or wall covering.  A moment captured, with an open mind can lead to pure potential.    

Finally,  my heart being open allows me to be accepting of others;  people from all parts of the world that have something to teach me wherever I go.  Whether I am in Europe, Africa, the states or home in Paris, the people that cross my path come and go for special reasons.  There's so much to learn from each one! 

So, today, look around you and be inspired.  

H