Tribute To Emily Brontë - Stay At Home Still Life VI
Emily Brontë, my soul sister, my dark Muse, who for me shines brighter than the brightest star in the sky, has continued to inspire me greatly during the coronavirus pandemic self isolation; she has also inspired me to create a still life image in her honour as part of my lockdown still life series.
Emily and her sisters, who, of course, are the famous Victorian literary Brontë sister, lived in isolation and were very much socially distanced in their community. But their isolation was of a different kind to the one imposed on our world today due to the virus outbreak. They lived on a hill at the end of the village of Haworth, in a weather beaten parsonage, on the edge of windswept moors. Their isolation was not only physical; the fact that they were daughters of a parson and therefore of a different social class to other villagers, combined with extreme shyness also contributed to their lonely and isolated lifestyle.
But Emily embraced the isolation and solitude; she loved staying at home; and she loved going for daily walks on the moors in all sorts of weather. She didn't feel the need or wanted to go anywhere else; all she needed was her home where she could write, read, bake bread and interact with her family and the moors where she could roam freely enjoying nature and drawing inspiration from it. In her tragically short life, Emily was absent from home only four times; each time it was a prolonged absence due to either schooling or working as teacher which resulted in desperate homesickness and a huge relief on returning home.
To create the homage still life image for Emily I used the following props:
* An old, signed copy of Charles Simpson's biography of Emily Brontë, first published in 1929.
* A sprig of dried heather I picked on the Haworth moor last summer; it retained just enough of its purple colour for me to be able to enhance it in the editing of the image.
* My Victorian style nightdress bought in Haworth years ago, from a shop that sadly doesn't exist any more.
* The chair that I sit on at my computer.
I edited the image with the texture layers by the American photography artist Jessica Drossin. She created these textures after returning from a visit to Haworth. The textures are inspired by and named after the Brontës and their literary characters.
This is my second still life tribute to Emily Brontë. The first one I created two years ago for her bicentenary birthday here.
Emily and her sisters, who, of course, are the famous Victorian literary Brontë sister, lived in isolation and were very much socially distanced in their community. But their isolation was of a different kind to the one imposed on our world today due to the virus outbreak. They lived on a hill at the end of the village of Haworth, in a weather beaten parsonage, on the edge of windswept moors. Their isolation was not only physical; the fact that they were daughters of a parson and therefore of a different social class to other villagers, combined with extreme shyness also contributed to their lonely and isolated lifestyle.
But Emily embraced the isolation and solitude; she loved staying at home; and she loved going for daily walks on the moors in all sorts of weather. She didn't feel the need or wanted to go anywhere else; all she needed was her home where she could write, read, bake bread and interact with her family and the moors where she could roam freely enjoying nature and drawing inspiration from it. In her tragically short life, Emily was absent from home only four times; each time it was a prolonged absence due to either schooling or working as teacher which resulted in desperate homesickness and a huge relief on returning home.
* An old, signed copy of Charles Simpson's biography of Emily Brontë, first published in 1929.
* A sprig of dried heather I picked on the Haworth moor last summer; it retained just enough of its purple colour for me to be able to enhance it in the editing of the image.
* My Victorian style nightdress bought in Haworth years ago, from a shop that sadly doesn't exist any more.
* The chair that I sit on at my computer.
I edited the image with the texture layers by the American photography artist Jessica Drossin. She created these textures after returning from a visit to Haworth. The textures are inspired by and named after the Brontës and their literary characters.
This is my second still life tribute to Emily Brontë. The first one I created two years ago for her bicentenary birthday here.
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Lovely peaceful image. I really miss that shop in Haworth that used to sell linens and lace.
ReplyDeleteLove how you brought everything together. Beautiful.
ReplyDelete