Mr and Mrs Jack Johnson 1911
This photo hung prominently in his Chicago nightclub Cafe de Champion which was the first "mixed" club in the US. Although he was not an ideal life partner the man was a force of nature and one of the best examples of rugged individualism there ever was!
"The possession of muscular strength and the courage to use it in contests with other men for physical supremacy does not necessarily imply a lack of appreciation for the finer and better things of life."
...............Jack Johnson
WIKIPEDIA: Johnson was an early example of the celebrity athlete in the modern era, appearing regularly in the press and later on radio and in motion pictures. He earned considerable sums endorsing various products, including patent medicines, and indulged several expensive hobbies such as automobile racing and tailored clothing, as well as purchasing jewelry and furs for his wives. Once, when he was pulled over for a $50 speeding ticket (a large sum at the time), he gave the officer a $100 bill; when the officer protested that he couldn't make change for that much, Johnson told him to keep the change, as he was going to make his return trip at the same speed.[1] Johnson was also interested in opera (his favorite being Il Trovatore) and in history — he was an admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte, believing him to have risen from a similar origin to his own. In 1920, Johnson opened a night club in Harlem; he sold it three years later to a gangster, Owney Madden, who renamed it the Cotton Club.
Johnson constantly flouted conventions regarding the social and economic "place" of blacks in American society. As a black man, he broke a powerful taboo in consorting with white women, and would constantly and arrogantly verbally taunt men (both white and black) inside and outside the ring. Johnson was pompous about his affection for white women, and imperious about his physical prowess, both in and out of the ring. Asked the secret of his staying power by a reporter who had watched a succession of women parade into, and out of, the champion's hotel room, Johnson supposedly said "Eat jellied eels and think distant thoughts".[9]
Johnson was married three times. All of his wives were white, a fact that caused considerable controversy at the time. In January 1911, Johnson married Etta Terry Duryea. A Brooklyn socialite and former wife of businessman Charles Duryea, she met Johnson at a car race in 1909. Their romantic involvement was very turbulent. Beaten many times by Johnson and suffering from severe depression, she committed suicide in September 1912, shooting herself with a revolver.
Less than three months later, on December 4, 1912, Johnson married Lucille Cameron. After Johnson married Cameron, two ministers in the South recommended that Johnson be lynched. Cameron divorced him in 1924 because of infidelity.
The next year, Johnson married Irene Pineau. When asked by a reporter at Johnson's funeral what she had loved about him, she replied, "I loved him because of his courage. He faced the world unafraid. There wasn't anybody or anything he feared."
My dear friend Eric Blum's paintings sprung to mind as I delivered flowers this weekend on 73rd and CPW. I stumbled across these ice pendents and thought of his ephemeral and hypnotic wax/oil paintings. I could almost hear the Cocteau Twins in the background.
My alarm was set so as not to miss the sunrise in Central Park after the blizzard last night. I ventured out into the yet untouched aftermath of the storm which suspended all city buses, schools and the LIR. Living near West End Ave my plan was to make it to the Bethesda Fountain and return. Once I made it to the bridge which looks out onto the fountain and pond I realized my toes where starting to hurt. Below was one single person and yelled out, "Is it worth it?" to which she shouted, "Hell yeah!" So down it was filling in the tracks that she must have left. It was treacherous but sometimes the adventurous hubris gets the best of me!
At this point I realized that the frost nip was progressively getting worse and that there might be refuge at the boathouse-I imagined drinking a hot tea and literally thawing myself out. Well the boathouse idea was a bust and I had to make it back on foot because there were no buses. So MAN -UP I did and tried not to focus on the pain which actually did subside as my feet became numb! Not good. My beloved camera reminded me to keep my eyes tuned which yielded so many photos that it's hard to choose which to post here. I know this has nothing to do with weddings but nature is so astonishingly beautiful at times like these that I feel compelled to share this self assigned photo-journalistic journey. All the photos can be viewed through my personal flickr account. Here are just a few more of my favorites.
Nothing like poppies to add some light and ephemeral wistfulness to January!
And more pastel Dior runway visions paired with Hydrangea, Ranunculus, Thistle, Queen Anne's Lace, veronica and Astrantia.
Here are some photos from the Alicia Siverstone launch of her Eco-Tools make-up brush kits. This is the second season she has designed these kits and we are proud to have been asked back to provide flowers and special bouquets for her famously original and enthusiastically received gift bags to the editors. This year the flower colors were eclectic and variety choices unusual from Echeveria Blossoms to Tree Peonies. They suited Kit Kemp's whimsical interior design aesthetic perfectly!
I was walking by the brownstone next door last night and saw such beautiful reflections coming from icicles that I had to try to get a shot with my iphone. Unfortunately the photo above doesn't do the sighting justice and today it simply wasn't the same. It got me thinking about the beauty and transience of the icicle and how winter delivers these fleeting gems like gifts for dealing with the biting wind and dark days that make you want to stay in your flannels all day. So I went to the studio determined to conquer the contrived concept of the crystally/sparkly bouquet! Can the beauty of winter actually be invoked in a bouquet through campy gimmicks! Ha! and these are my daily challenges? what has life come to? But hey! I AM a florist so allow me to digress. I tore through my art supplies and floral knickknack tins and found crystals, opalescent paint pigments, faux juniper berries and commenced to spray and hot glue myself into a frenzy, coating stems of eucalyptus into shimmery snow-like and crystallized versions of their former selves. Ok, I have to admit it was fun and I was kind of tickled by the results so in they went with the Ranunculus, Angel Winged Begonia leaves and Dusty Miller. I may expand upon this idea.... I may not. After all sparkles have never been my forte but I secretly love this "Winter Garden Bouquet" then again it may simply be a case of falling in love with an idea. That's ok too.
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