Sunday, November 12, 2006

Nautical Week 1: It's so hot right now

You don't have to attend an exhibition opening with Matthew Bacon wearing his sailor suit to realise that nautical is the new black this season.

And it is very easy to get the look. You will need 3 things:
Blue - navy blue, royal blue, Howard blue
White - you know, the colour of the current Australian immigration policy.
Red - radioactive red, Robespierre red, wrecker red, commie red, take your pick.

Now the current fashions do stick with the Tricolore but strictly speaking there is a 4th nautical colour (used at sea for markers, flags etc) and it is Yellow. P'haps not everyone's favorite colour although worth noting as Craft Victoria are having a yellow Xmas retail bonanza soon.

So sticking with the 3 colours (Craft Vic can keep the yellow), I was under the impression from the Kieslowski 3 Colours films that each colour of the French flag officially related to one of the words in the slogan from French Rev'n:

Liberty: blue
Equality: white
Fraternity: red

But apparently this is a load of steaming Beasley according to this and this -the colours were really just chosen by happenstance and some other bogus reasoning was made up after the fact.

Now why am I reminded of my own conceptual methodology?

It does bring me to my new nautical range of threads revisted made from vintage beads. Aren't they lovely?

And to get into the naughty zone (about as risque as i get), I even painted my toenails with Revlon's Robespierre Red nail polish mum got for me back in 1989 for my school formal, being the Bicentenary of the 1789 French Revolution. All this nautical frivolity and jewellery order avoidance compelled me to have a dress rehearsal for the QUT jewellery party in front of my long-suffering cat. All very top secret stuff so I can only tell you that I will be wearing a floor length gown in an intense radioactive red, the hue of which has not been seen in dress shops since the mid 1970's. I think the skills and knowledge to make such a red has been lost to mankind, like the fine gold granulation produced by goldsmiths of the ancient world.
Or maybe they just banned the chemicals.
You may wish to wear eye protection if you are planning to be in the vicinity.
By the way, as a means of avoiding my overwhelming resposibilities, I am going to do a nautical week. Because I really, truly would much rather be at the beach right now. Please join me.

5 comments:

Liana Kabel said...

I really wish you would stop mentioning the dress-ups. I was hoping it would all be forgotten by now.

Florence Forrest said...

You have a nautical week, I make a quilt...what are we doing! I've got stuff to make for the show, labels to design, cut and print, muffins and brownies and jellies to make ...and I'm not really into cooking right now...oh and I've got some latex masks to make and plaster casting body parts on Friday...helping to set up an artist's blog...amulets and moonbeans to finsih and photograph...but why aren't I doing it now?

Go the floor length gown! Pull out all the stops. I'll be there to capture the moment so you'll have to post up the pictures as proof of your word.

AND how you managed to tie in the Bicentenary of the French Revolution to your lovely jewellery is indeed something to be openly admired.

Granulated Gold Star for you.

xx Ms Windbag

Shannon Garson said...

Miss Wrecker,
your red dress sounds absolutely marvellous. It is interesting that you linked this lost colour process to the making of gold as the true, bright reds in ceramics are actually made from gold. It fires to red in a reduction kiln. Red nail polish was initially a by-product of the car paint industry - I don't know why I know this stuff.....

Rebecca-the-Wrecker said...

liana - this whole thing is out of your control now - you know you want to dress up. go with the flow.
florence I think we must be mad. Have we not heard of the word 'no'? maybe we can get a bulk discount for craft rehab at a tropical health farm...
shannon- i heard that gold is used in red stained glass (or has been in the past) - pretty amazing! Re red nail polish and car paint, do you think if I paint my fingernails too my hands will go faster? at least it will hide the jewelling dirt.

mb said...

given that absolutely none none!of the commentators mentioned me despite being the most interesting part of this post i just have to do it myself
hellp everybody this is your captain speaking nautical is the new black so make yourselfs shpshape and foursquare let's have a navy party come as your favourite admiral or pirate