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| Ilsee, Princess de Tripoli illustration by Alphonse Mucha |
It is with a heavy heart that I'm going to be retiring from this blog. I started it on Tumblr way back in 2012 not knowing what it would expand into. It was a great outlet to help me with depression and going to college. I made it my mission to find some of the most beautiful objects and buildings that people made and collect them all in one place. I think I was mostly successful with that mission.
Right now I haven't had the time nor energy to devote to scouring the web for these beautiful things. I think I'm starting to recover from my lifelong depression and am taking a more active approach in my life.
I will always love Art Nouveau I think, and sharing these wonderful works of art and craftsmanship inspired a lot of people. My favorite part of blogging was discovering talented artists of today who had not yet found their audience and promoting them on the blog.
Right now my interests have changed and I am deeply, deeply interested in the field of natural building. One of my dreams is to build an "earthbag" home in the style of Art Nouveau. I think, to hand sculpt a house would be amazing. Environmentally friendly/alternative buildings (like cob homes, strawbale, hempcrete etc.) are a fantastic opportunity right now since so many people are struggling to afford a traditional home. Earthbag homes are inexpensive, they do not take an expert to make (you can learn how to build), and are very durable.
My life has gone from seeking & surrounding myself with inspiration to wanting to create fantastic stuff in the flesh. There is so much darkness in the world and society at the moment, but people need to realize that that's not all there is, that's just what is being presented. There is so much beauty, wonder and amazing phenomena out there in the world. There are wonderful people, kind deeds being realized every day and so much out there that is worth saving and loving.
I think, as things progress into the future, the world will get more complicated and will do so quickly. With so many things happening it is going to take a lot of adaptation and altering personal mindsets for humans to be successful in the future. The world is going to reach 8 BILLION people soon! We need to wake up to the fact that we are all connected to each other, that this planet needs protecting, and that we are not the only species in the world. We all need each other.
I tend to believe in the best of people. I love seeing the depths of potential (realized by artists and others) and to see wonderful things expressed and come into being.
We can all be a part of making the world a safer, kinder and more beautiful place. There's so many possibilities and opportunities to create and participate in the world you would want to be in.
I know this all might sound hokey but humans have a great capacity to create amazing things. Find those people or objects that give you inspiration and let them saturate your life. Be inspired and try not to give into the darkness or sadness that comes with life sometimes.
I have given ten years of my life to this blog and I am so glad it brought beauty and joy to others from around the world.
I am not anticipating coming back, but if anyone wants to follow me I will be on Pinterest. My new account username is "snowsandsugar".
Feel free to browse the archives of the tumblr and facebook of Art Nouveau Style. There is ten years worth of dedicated curating on there ;-) I have truly loved the comments, the questions and the compliments over the years.
Thank you for coming on this journey with me. I hope each reader finds a beautiful dream to realize and believe in, and discovers that love is truly a great force and it is up to every one of us to make the world we want to exist in!
