Tickle's Flown Away to the Rainbow Bridge...

It happened almost three months ago, within the first hour of the last day of June, and I still feel numb with pain. It happened quickly, six weeks after your being diagnosed with a nasty lung condition with a big long name (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis). So quickly, it is still hard to take in.

R.I.P. Tick-Tick, We'll meet again, at the Rainbow Bridge!

I have since been assured that you are watching over me from where you are now and that, in your world, beauty is magnified and life is one big ball... of energy, high and bright.

We met on the August Bank Holiday week-end of 2006 at Manchester Dogs Home (U.K.) and it was love at first sight. I saved you and you saved me, you my best friend, my soulmate, close family and my now guardian angel.

Tickle: "Why are you crying, mum? I'm not going anywhere!"

You were one little hyperactive bundle of Jack Russell Terrier dynamite, running around, loving to play fetch and barking away to your heart's content, never tired, never fed up, always up for action! You weren't for the faint-hearted or the sedentary; you were just right for me, we fitted in each other's active lifestyles!

We navigated the highs and lows of life, together, always together. My life revolved around you. We were one unit, inseparable, out and about, trekking up the mountain, driving around the island, exploring places, visiting people, making friends, running errands, taking photos, daydreaming, sat on the beach, baking, gardening, saving things, fixing things, trying to fix the world one random act of kindness at a time... Oh, and you could be so funny at times, such an entertainer! And you turned heads anywhere we went, because quite frankly you were one good-looking tricolour Jack!

Your little bed, toys and cushions have remained at the same spot, less than one foot away from my desk. Your leashes, harness and collar are still hanging from the hook by the front door. In the kitchen, your cushion (that you loved plumping up so much!) has been taken over by three kittens called Coco, Reuben and Rohmus, all cuddled up together. You already knew Coco (11 months old now) and we helped her stray mummy cat Midnight raise her. As for 4-month-old Reuben and Rohmus, you must have brought them to me within a couple of days of your departure as I found them outside our front door with their four siblings and an overwhelmed Midnight who had delivered the new litter... Tick-Tick, you softened the blow with a flurry of kitties, showing me that life goes on, life must go on, for those kittens at least to live it.

So life goes on as it must, with joy and heartbreak all at once. With you, my Tickle, on my mind and in my heart forever always. I miss you greatly.

Run Free, Fly High, Together Always! I love you.

Happy New Year & Happy Sale

Happy New Year you all! Three Line Studio and TLB Games are extending their Christmas Special Sale! Some call it Christmas every day, we call it starting 2018 on a high note, especially if you have gamers in your circles! RPG (Role Playing Games), D&D (Dungeons & Dragons), game theory, we have it all covered for those special occasions in the year ahead! TLS is no random shop: it is the publishing house and agency of one of the original D&D members, American author and game designer Robert J. Kuntz!

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Humbled by Hubble

Whenever you feel confined, restricted, by the paradigm of modern life, the Deep State and the fake news and the rigged financial system and the pettiness of politics and the media circus, when all of this gets to you... Look up the sky and reach for the stars!

Orion Nebula

Hubble Captures Wide View of Supernova 1987A

Unlimited, free-flowing, unbiased, space transcends imagination. Gases, dust clouds, fired-up rocks, molten matter, hazardous fluids and solid ice in movement, forming, expanding, fusing, travelling, spinning, clashing to breaking point, recomposing and splitting some more... A composition piece made up of velocity and timelessness and never-stunted evolution. A humbling sight, even from a safe distance - light years away - from the safety of the telescope or the computer screen, (relatively for now) sheltered as we stand from the brutal, hostile, unredeeming, all-consuming and seemingly unpredictable mass-scale action of titans devoid of our human proclivities of reason and emotion.

"Dust is a really critical part of how a galaxy works, how it forms stars" - Dr. Karin Sandstrom, University of California, San Diego

NGC 248 in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635)

Hubble Space Telescope and Cassini and countless other shuttles are on a scientific mission of discovery, with aha moments and wows of wonder guaranteed every step of the way! And more unanswered questions popping up too! The viewer and the observer get sucked into the mermaid-like eery and dangerous beauty of nebulae and cosmic clouds, faraway, unnamed galaxies sitting on the edge of time and space, defying human comprehension just by their stark, blank, matter-of-fact presence, while putting us firmly back in check. No, we humans are not at the (epi-)centre of the Universe. Merely an adjunct fluke form of intelligence oblivious to the wider macrocosm made up of stellar births and meltdowns, black holes and intergalactic chaos.

M101 (HST) Spiral Galaxy

Veil Nebula Supernova Remnant

Source: All photography via HubbleSite, laid out chronologically, with most recent first.  

(1) The Orion Nebula, credits: NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team. No picture caption provided.

(2) Hubble Captures Wide View of Supernova 1987A, credits: NASA, ESA, R. Kirshner (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation), and M. Mutchler and R. Avila (STScI). The picture caption reads: 'Supernova 1987A within the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighboring galaxy to our Milky Way. Distant stars serve as a backdrop for Supernova 1987A, located in the center of the image. The bright ring around the central region of the exploded star is composed of material ejected by the star about 20,000 years before its demise. Gaseous clouds surround the supernova. The clouds' red color represents the glow of hydrogen gas, which is fueling a firestorm of star birth.'

(3) NGC 248 in the Small Magellanic Cloud, credits: NASA, ESA, STScI, K. Sandstrom (University of California, San Diego), and the SMIDGE (Small Magellanic Cloud Investigation of Dust and Gas Evolution) team. The picture caption reads: 'two festive-looking nebulas, situated so as to appear as one. They reside in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that is a satellite of our Milky Way galaxy. Intense radiation from the brilliant central stars is heating hydrogen in each of the nebulas, causing them to glow red. The nebulas, together, are called NGC 248. They were discovered in 1834 by the astronomer Sir John Herschel. NGC 248 is about 60 light-years long and 20 light-years wide. It is among a number of glowing hydrogen nebulas in the dwarf satellite galaxy, which is located approximately 200,000 light-years away in the southern constellation Tucana.'  

(4) Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635), credits: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). The picture caption reads: 'For the 26th birthday of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers are highlighting a Hubble image of an enormous bubble being blown into space by a super-hot, massive star. The Hubble image of the Bubble Nebula, or NGC 7635, was chosen to mark the 26th anniversary of the launch of Hubble into Earth orbit by the STS-31 space shuttle crew on April 24, 1990. "As Hubble makes its 26th revolution around our home star, the sun, we celebrate the event with a spectacular image of a dynamic and exciting interaction of a young star with its environment. The view of the Bubble Nebula, crafted from Wide Field Camera 3 images, reminds us that Hubble gives us a front-row seat to the awe-inspiring universe we live in," said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, in Washington, D.C. The Bubble Nebula is 7 light-years across – about one-and-a-half times the distance from our sun to its nearest stellar neighbor, Alpha Centauri – and resides 7,100 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia.'

(5) M101 (HST) Spiral Galaxy, credits:  NASA, ESA, K. Kuntz (JHU), F. Bresolin (University of Hawaii), J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Lab), J. Mould (NOAO), Y.-H. Chu (University of Illinois, Urbana), Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/J.-C. Cuillandre/Coelum, and G. Jacoby, B. Bohannan, and M. Hanna/NOAO/AURA/NSF. No picture caption provided.

(6) Veil Nebula Supernova Remnant, credits: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). The picture caption reads: 'NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has unveiled in stunning detail a small section of the expanding remains of a massive star that exploded about 8,000 years ago. Called the Veil Nebula, the debris is one of the best-known supernova remnants, deriving its name from its delicate, draped filamentary structures. The entire nebula is 110 light-years across, covering six full moons on the sky as seen from Earth, and resides about 2,100 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan.'

Westerlund 2: Detail 3

NGC 2174

(7) Westerlund 2: Detail 3 (pictured just above), credits: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), A. Nota (ESA/STScI), and the Westerlund 2 Science Team. The picture caption reads: The pillars in the star-forming region surrounding Westerlund 2, composed of dense gas, are a few light-years tall and point to the central cluster. They are thought to be incubators for new stars. Besides sculpting the gaseous terrain, intense radiation from the most brilliant of the cluster stars is creating a successive generation of baby stars. The bluish haze is an indicator of oxygen gas in the nebula.'

(8) NGC 2174 (picture just above), credits: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). The picture caption reads: 'In celebration of the 24th anniversary of the launch of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (on April 24, 1990) astronomers have taken an infrared-light portrait of a roiling region of starbirth located 6,400 light-years away. The Hubble mosaic unveils a collection of carved knots of gas and dust in a small portion of the Monkey Head Nebula (also known as NGC 2174 and Sharpless Sh2-252). The nebula is a star-forming region that hosts dusky dust clouds silhouetted against glowing gas.'

Uncork the New Year and Serve on Ice!

Can you believe how fast the year's gone? Or am I just being melodramatic? Years are catching up and yet it is impossible to catch up with them in their relentless travel. Meanwhile we can still catch up with things we would like accomplished and package them up into the sacro-sanct New Year's Resolutions so they don't merely sit on our mind like co-opted ideas - cue the Palm Beach post I had intended for Mirabelle but stalled on halfway through! The flipside about resolutions is their propensity to turn into resolutions of the unresolute variety: they end up diluted or deleted.

This shall be different in 2017. I'll see you on the other side of the New Year with my Palm Beach regalia! Until then, Cheers to NYE, My Lovelies!

Sources: (1) Twinkle, twinkle little star! Photography by Mirabelle. (2) Glam up the Champers with a dash of ice: Pomegranate Champagne Sorbet by The Cookie Rookie. (3) Lash out the cream: Chocolate Mini Cakes with Hazelnut Buttercream by The Vanilla Bean Blog. (4) Feel fruity for the New Year: A Fresh & Fancy Girlfriends Brunch by Coco Kelley.

Sweet Paul - a Pretty Lovely Mag!

There has been a quiet revolution out there in the lifestyle press, led by a 50-year-old Norwegian-born gentleman named Paul 'Sweet Paul' Lowe who lives and works in New York City as a food and craft stylist, and looks like a bearded teddy bear 'chasing the sweet things in life' - and yes this might as well include honey and hives of habitation...

Welcome to the world of Sweet Paul, a digital and print magazine that is creatively revisiting lifestyle, and where - refreshingly - normality is the new luxury. There is an honest, authentic love for the home in Sweet Paul's approach that has been honed and crafted over the last six years, with a consistent attention to detail and an eye for beauty in the everyday. There is a thoughtful art direction to the modern home with enough nostalgia and countrified hands-on approach in the homemade and handmade that makes us want to cosy up on our sofa with the mag like a family member to soak up some inspiration, before cracking on with the new projects!

DIY Rubber Stamp

Sweet Paul's honesty verges on humility in its approach to recipes, entertaining, DIY, kids or pets that truly makes this magazine an inclusive family-focused, family-friendly publication that involves everyone in. It celebrates the lifestyle without the drama, the lifestyle that lives in or near the city or further afield, and yet the city's noise is pared down of its hustle and bustle.

Glitter Acorns

Angel Chocolate Easter Eggs

Family gatherings and other joyful celebrations of life are given centrestage. Everyone is truly invited here, in a rare balancing act! There is no poncey editorial tone, no political message, no megalomaniac overpaid chefs dishing out impossible recipes, no pretentious interior designers talking down to us readers; no intimidating displays of lavishness or brash. Everything is at its place. Everything is paced, measured, tasteful and tasty! Sweet Paul gently nudges us to bring in elegance into the every day, in a sweet and pretty lovely way! Sweetness has never tasted so good!

Lunch Bowl with Cauliflower, Avocado and Eggs

Sources: The publishing adventure of Sweet Paul quarterly magazine kicked off in Spring 2010. If you are a late starter, Sweet Paul's got it all covered for you! Thus do rest assured that you won't be missing out as all of Sweet Paul's back copies are still available to purchase here. And why look back when you can look forward? Purchase an annual print subscription of Sweet Paul magazine (4 issues) via this link or a digital PDF subscription via Gumroad. Meanwhile (1) Sweet Paul's latest edition, Issue 25/ Summer 2016 is available to read online, via Issuu, the digital magazine platform. (2) DIY Rubber Stamp by Sweet Paul. (3-4) There is Sweet Paul inspiration for every season and holiday under the sun: (3) Glitter Acorns for Christmas and (4) Angel Chocolate Easter Eggs. (5) A quick bite with some bite: Lunch Bowl with Cauliflower, Avocado and Eggs by Sweet Paul. (6) The print version of the latest magazine issue may be purchased here for a cool $18.00 and the PDF version via Gumroad for a sweet $2.99. It's your call, folks! And for that extra generous dollop of sweetness, you have 280+ pages of it in a book, as Sweet Paul Eat and Make: Charming Recipes and Kitchen Crafts You Will Love! We just can't get enough!

The Farce of Modern Art

Whatever falls under Fine Art needs to be treated with care. Whatever falls under Modern Art needs to be treated with caution. And this, not only as a movement but also as a composite of artists that define themselves as anything that oscillates between contemporary and post-modern, with the inevitable Conceptual Art thrown in the middle.

What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG), you might think, but the artist has us believe that their creation goes much deeper than their stating the obvious, that there is depth and meaning and a philosophical point of view blurted out of that fat blob of paint marring a canvas, or that incongruous growth that spikes off like a bizarre assault to the senses. That riches are to be exuded from a modern work of art that either looks like it was thrown together by a five-year-old, or whose incongruity makes it point-blank at odd to the accepted laws of beauty and balance and the classical form of talent that is meant to take an oeuvre through the times, perdure and leave an indelible mark on our collective heritage. And maybe this is where Modern Art develops into a fallacy, thus turning into its own worst enemy.

Maybe this is the frustration of Modern Art: wanting to rewrite the rules by breaking them, and the finished product failing to convince and impress as a result, as the viewers feel they are being taken for a ride. Failing the recognition and admiration and blessing of the Art community as a whole, failing to simply be Fine. Mirabelle is not here to judge, but rather to ponder a Modern Age-old concept: Is Art for Art's Sake a reason for creating Art?

Source: All photography, part of the Champagne Life exhibition currently featured at the Saatchi Gallery in London, UK, until 9th March 2016. (1) 'Moje Sabz' by Iranian artist Soheila Sokhanvari (2011). (2) 'Domestic Terrorist Burt' by American Suzanne McClelland (2014). (3) 'Untitled 21' by Canadian artist Julia Dault (2010). (4) The Truth About Modern Art, a must-watch critique by Paul Joseph Watson! - [Beware: use of strong language].

Top Drawer Spring 2016 - A Preview

Whenever a Top Drawer announcement lands in Mirabelle's inbox, it never gets unnoticed! Top Drawer enticingly brings a burst of sunshine into life and more than a frisson of excitement, as a showcase and platform to the world of interiors, and a condensate of everything lifestyle that is tasteful, original, quality-driven, market-leading, fashion-conscious and design-led, alongside which the latest accessory trends and innovations in the areas of Home, Gift, Fashion and Craft are 'catwalking' into their big reveal. The latest addition - a growth sector full of promise - is Food Emporium.

View this as a little black book of hot brands and neat ideas, as well as an invitation to engage with them, get up, close and personal with the latest trends, and feel the vibe. It is an inspiration mood board come to life, a fashion catwalk of sorts for the home.

Part of the Clarion Events retail portfolio that organises 12 high-quality trade events a year for the design-led giftware and homeware sector, Top Drawer attracts the discerning lifestyle attendees: designers, contract buyers, retailers, shoppers, trendsetters, artists, the trade press, professional bloggers and the like. It draws in an audience from Britain and further afield, bringing together under one roof a spectrum of homewares stakeholders, from iconic British kitchen companions (Tala), or cutting-edge 'confidential' brands for those 'people in the know' (Rufus Rabbit), to the long-established international upmarket household names (Alessi), via prestige heirloom manufacturers (Royal Copenhagen). The exhibitor list sure reads like a Who's Who!

Established in 1984, the biannual London Olympia-based trade event has evolved to satisfy - even exceed - customer expectations thanks to a carefully-curated shortlist of exhibitors. This year, you have a 4-day window of opportunity to immerse yourself in the Top Drawer experience: 17-19 January (Top Drawer Spring) and 11-13 September (Top Drawer Autumn). The Spring edition of Top Drawer is an uplift from the post-Christmas retail blur and general morosity. It brings January to life, and sets the tone for the year ahead.

Top Drawer is the UK's prelude to a series of equally-awaited home fairs, such as the January Furniture Trade Show (NEC Birmingham, 24-27 January 2016) and Spring Fair (UK's No.1 Gift & Home Trade Event, NEC Birmingham, 7-11 February). As far as personal experience goes, the UK furnishings company I worked for had a stand at the NEC Furniture Show, and - as part of the marketing team - I would be one of the reps manning it. It provided me with valuable insight and foresight into the industry. And you certainly make valuable contacts and discover awesome brands!

And since you're asking, I have never had the chance to attend Top Drawer, but would love to remedy that! Nevertheless for now, I shall happily content with visiting (over and over!) its website - and leaf through its Shop Preview.

P.S: Meanwhile, to those lucky Top Drawer attendees, please do let me have the lowdown!

Sources: (1) Gift Wrapping Service from Royal Copenhagen (photography cropped). (2) Royal Copenhagen collection of teacups, coffee cups and saucers, photography via Top Drawer. (3) Montage made out of sliders from the Top Drawer landing page, resized and cropped to fit this page. From top down: Home, Gift, Fashion and Craft sectors.

20 Sweet 16

And now is a short and sweet communiqué from Mirabelle & Tickle:

P.S: Isn't this beach buddy of mine cute and gorgeous?! Head over to Tickle's page for more cracking photos!

Wreaths of Mirth

Mirabelle was off the radar for almost a whole trimester, busy 'gallivanting' for business and leisure in history-steeped European places such as the Tuscan city of Lucca and the one and only city of Paris. Yet as the year is nearing to its end in festive extravaganza, it would be easy to let our blog slip into the ten days that separates it from 2016, and simply let this year call it a day! Or we could summon a little Mirabelliciousness of spirit by just getting a little text and photography together, in order to wish you, dear friends and readers, a Lovely Christmas and New Year!

Source: Metallic Leaves Garland, available to purchase from Terrain.

Codename: Monsieur Z

This might not jump off the page as a given but Mirabelle loves 1950s-1960s graphics. There is something reassuringly comforting that emanates from the illustrations of that era, in terms of colours, finesse of the trait and the general sunny disposition that beams out of the scenery and characters, immersed in a utopian transposition of life on earth. This golden age recreation might be but idealised depiction, yet it is extremely seductive and enticing.

I cannot help but believe that this general graphic optimism that took off on a par with post-war consumerism was a translation of the feeling of the times. Back then within our westernised societies, it seemed that dreams were not the stuff of dreams anymore, that they could and should come true. There was a sense of personal betterment (and encouragement towards it), no matter where we were to seek it, be it socially, intellectually, spiritually, financially, materially or else. Business and industry were thriving again, there was also a strong national pride, not just in terms of patriotism, but also in terms of collective prosperity and personal success.

There was an insolent vivacity and an insouciance that I struggle to find in modern day life and graphics, even those that are heavily-inspired by the mid-century era. However a French illustrator going by the enigmatic code name of Monsieur Z, and otherwise known as Richard Zielenkiewicz, has managed to recreate the golden age of mid-century graphic design, both in style and spirit. His creations are little gems of Riviera joy!

Source: All the illustrations by © Monsieur Z a.k.a. Richard Zielenkiewicz. (1) Anse San Peyre, La Garde (Var). (2) Jardin Olbius Riquier, Hyères (Var). (3) La Via Olbia, Hyères. (4) Visitez Paris. (5) Téléphérique du Mont Faron, Toulon (Var). (6) Italia è Cassis, 3ème Edition du Village Italien (9-13 Nov. 2011). (7) Carqueiranne, La Californie Varoise.

Metalwork Mastery - Edgar Brandt

Edgar Brandt (1880-1960) was a prominent figure in the French design movement of Art Deco, (1920s-1940s), and in particular on the metalwork side of it, producing some of the finest functional AND decorative works of art of the times, from architectural pieces such as entrance gates and fireplace screens, to hypnotic cobra-shaped table lamps and andirons, down to the more 'prosaic' desk accessories.

He certainly redefined metalwork, by updating traditional craftsmanship methods with modern tooling, yet while keeping a strong sense of aesthetics, and pushing the capabilities of the craft. Edgar Brandt's most famous decorative screen, a unique monumental iron and brass five-panel feature, L'Oasis, and showcased at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (a world design fair held in Paris that was to officially give its name to the flamboyant Art Deco movement) was a symbolic entrance into a new era of art and design.

Sources: (1-2) Edgar Brandt items listed in the Sotheby's Arts Décoratifs du XXè Siècle & Design Auction (Paris, 26-Nov-13). (1) 'Danseur', a Partially-gilded Wrought Iron Fire Screen, 1924, by Edgar Brandt. Item mentioned in Joan Kahr's Edgar Brandt, Master of Iron Work, Harry N. Abrams, Inc, New York, 1999, p. 122. (2) Wrought-Iron Umbrella Stand, circa 1930. (3) 'L'Age d'Or', a Patinated Iron Gilt Bronze Screen featuring three medallions executed by Max Blondat (1872-1926). Item listed in the Phillips Design Auction (New York, 11-Jun-2014). (4) Patinated Wrought-Iron Firescreen, circa 1925. Item listed in the upcoming 20th Century Design Sotheby's auction (New York, 09-Jun-15). (5) Elephant Ashtray in cast iron, Art Deco period. Item listed in the Drouot auction (Paris).

Further Resources:

• Lynn Byrne's excellent article about Edgar Brandt, in her blog Decor Arts Now
• Edgar Brandt: Art Deco Ironwork, by Joan Kahr (Schiffer Books, 2010, 240 pages), available to purchase.