Most Beautiful Arts and Crafts and a Beautiful Mind Named Eric Kandel

Some evenings you end up watching a movie, sitting on the sofa and wondering how lucky you are because you found a jewel when you did not expected to. Tonight's posting is about jewels.

There is a small but none the less precious exhibition at the Leopold Museum, showing jewellery that dates back to 1900. Jugendstil, Art Nouveau.
This exhibition made me do two things I had never done before:
#1 I asked a friend out to join me for an spontaneous after-work visit
#2 I went back the following day, accompanied by Mr Paula and guided by Friend B's brother, who works as a guide at the museum. Without a guide/additional information, you would be lost. I would be.

There are worlds between those butterfly brooches which date back to 1900 and 1910. Instead of using as many diamonds as possible to demonstrate the value, in 1910 the craft became important, how to master enamel. Asymmetry was also new. Isn't it amazing how dull the butterfly from 1900 seems to be, compared to the butterflies from 1910? (sorry, had to remove the photos!)

The exhibition shows various European country's jewels.The french jewellery is extraordinary.

A japonseque comb with apple blossoms

A funny coincidence: a few weeks ago I heard of Lalique for the first time - I was interested in their perfume Les Perles. René Jules Lalique was famous for his jewelry.

An asymmetric comb, wisteria blossoms

A comb with elderflowers (The light was difficult, difficult to capture the details.)

Today I passed by the Viennese jeweller Rozet & Fischmeister. Yes, the jeweller still is at the same adress where it has been ever since 1770. This is the best of all: when history comes to life, when Jugendstil was just an episode and it continues. You can imagine how delighted I was in front of the shop window of Rozet & Fischmeister.

Tonight I sat down, planning to write this posting on jewellery when I accidently stumbled over this movie on TV: In Search of the Memory

It is an adorable documentary. Kandel left Vienna in 1939, having been isolated in school as the only jew in class for a year. It were thoses experiences which shaped him - Never forget. He wanted to understand how the long term memory works. In 2000 he obtained the Nobel Prize together with two colleagues. The moment someone in Brooklyn asks Eric Kandel how old he is, the man guesses: 82? Kandel answers: No. (obviously annoyed) ...40! The man asking starts to laugh, then Kendler laughs and they both laugh. and laugh on. Adorable. Hm. Maybe it is not funny when I write it down. You better watch the movie. Whoever lives in France, Austria or Germany might be able to watch the movie on arte+7. arte offers most of their programme online for the following week after airing. Maybe you like to check it tomorrow.

EDIT: it is already online!!

Since it is the weekend, time for some shallowness. The air is so humid these days and I just can't take up blotting. So I started a new attempt, leaving the dozens of packages of blotting-papers aside and invested in a nice powder. In case you need something to keep your "matte", I can recommend Estee Lauder's Double Matte, Oil-Control Pressed Powder in "Translucent". Very light, very mattifying, just what my forehead needs these days.

Maybe I am more a powder and less a blotting typeof woman

I don't know how long you keep powder make up in your drawers, but I had this Clarins-eyeshadow-quattro for 9 years and it is still silky and very smooth. (I might add that I only use eye-shadow brushes which get cleaned every now and then).
I remember exactly when and where I bought it (maybe because I rarely buy make-up). I had 1 hour left til the party started and went to a perfumery for a spontaneous make-over.
It was the day when the New Economy company I worked for went bankrupt. The bubble finally bursted and we who were left partied for the last time in the name of the company. Me in purple/beige/pearl. On my eyelids. The beige and pearl have served me well ever since.

Even though I am a tad too busy, too heavy and lacking the life-work balance at the moment, I am in a good mood. Even when I don't post, I keep reading your postings all the time and I really enjoy your presence.

Not long and I will be inside a church again, little niece's First Communion is ahead! She is sooo looking forward to it. :-)

Gosh, this posting took me really long. The English languate is really time consuming, at least for me.
Have a nice weekend and in case you watched the documentary, let me know how you liked it!