Fashion meets Art: Anne Ten Donkelaar

A single flower bloom can hold so much meaning. Love, loss, friendship...there is a language of flowers that has the power to extend beyond mere words. Each petal comes together with color, shape and scent to form a thing of beauty and meaning. A blossom can become so much more when paired with other flowers, foliage and found objects. Artist Anne Ten Donkelaar brings together these items to create landscapes, tell stories and inspire curiosity.

Flower Construction #86 (above) and Detail (below)

Byzantine Beauties

Sisterly love is a bond that cannot break as it is born of blood and legacy. In the case of Zoe and Theodora though, it is a bond they attempted to sever through intrigue, lies and strategic alliances. 

Empress Irene in Basilica di Sofia

 Living on the public stage of politics thousands of years ago in the Byzantine era, the story of these sisters played out like a modern-day soap opera set in the Byzantine empire around 1000AD. Their lives began as any royal's would, living in the palace as heirs to titles and fortune. But all this would change when a power hungry uncle sent the girls to live hidden in a monastery so he could keep the throne for himself. 

In the Poppy Field

Buried in the earth for as many as 80 years, the little poppy seed can begin to grow with the touch of sunshine. What was once dormant is suddenly brought to life as the soil gets disturbed and the sun is given access to the seeds.

"Wild Poppies Near Argenteuil" by Claude Monet, 1875