A Brand New Season

Brand New Day (Breaking Free)
Photo courtesy of Flickr's Finest

This next season I will entertain you with some fun process-type posts while I continue researching the next jewelry periods. It feels monumental that we are moving out of the dark and into the light in the jewelry periods at the same exact time I'm moving from darkness to light in my personal journey. I can't tell you how happy I am to be on the research trail, hunting for new treasures.

A Brand New Day
Photo courtesy of Shasi Kumar Aansoo

This past week, I have found a gold mine in the Simpson Library in the form of a sweet little book from 1954, Alexandra: Edward VII's Unpredictable Queen. Written by an English woman named E. E. P. Tisdall, this treasure opens on Alexandra's family and their humble beginnings as wards of the King of Denmark and closes with "Her Last Defiance," which I still have yet to read about. Oh, the joy of discovery!

Of course, beginning at the beginning also affords a view of the daunting task I have before me. It will surely take some time to find the angles that will best allow me to open her life up as a model for how a warrior princess like me can become a dignified queen. Together, we will wade through the anecdotes, the facts, and the memorable quotes in hopes that Alexandra will have a thing or two to teach us.

Brand New Day
Photo courtesy of The UpShot

To whet your appetite for what's to come, I leave you with a quote which highlights Alexandra's affinity for fashion from a very young age: "Alix was not really a promising pupil except in deportment--which came to her naturally--in riding, in music, gymnastics and dressmaking. At this last she soon had great skill--a very complicated art in those days--and although her knowledge would one day give her a reputation for wilfulness and obstinancy among 'by appointment' houses, the result was that she always displayed herself to the best advantage." (Tisdall, p. 14)

On a Good Note

Edge of the World
Photo Courtesy of She Deserves My Best

I have not dropped off the face of the planet, though that may appear to be the case. My grandma sent me an e-mail the other day. "I haven't seen you much on Facebook. Is everything all right?" I felt so bad. I have been completely absent from everyone. The last time this happened I was struggling with some very hard things. I'm happy to report that is not the case this time. Nope, this time I'm struggling with some very good things.

Can anyone say irony? Good and bad things both seem to create a tension, a type of turmoil that is difficult for me to navigate. The true irony is that I've actually found it harder to write about good things while I'm going through them than to write about bad things while I'm going through them. I am determined to come out of hiding this week and start writing again. Meet me at my other blog for news of a more personal nature. Here, I will proceed to keep my promise and wrap up our exploration of Queen Victoria's life.

"Cheeky" Young Victoria
Photo Courtesy of Eyes Wired Open

Determined to leave you on a good note with Queen Victoria, I have finally found some words that will bring happy smiles on our faces about our complicated monarch. Remember when I wrote about the film Young Victoria?* I would like to draw you back to that spritely young woman with her pixie naughtiness and her sharp wit. Brilliant, curious, dynamic, spirited, vigorous, vivacious. These words capture the essence of the true Victoria. She most definitely lost her spark for many years after Albert died, which makes sense given her intensity in every other sphere of life.

I am happy to have found some evidence that she did not fully remain tightly wound, stodgy, dreary silhouette we see in photos from her final years. She spent many hours painting and drawing scenes from her sanctuary at Balmoral, and she celebrated and doted upon her family and friends until her death in 1901. She sent every single one of her nine children and forty-some living grandchildren cards on their birthdays every year. She was faithfully fond of her grandchildren, especially Princess Alice's children, who lost their mother in their young childhood.

Victoria's portraits of her children
Photo Courtesy of Polyvore's Katfaerie

Speaking of her grandchildren, her royal legacy upon the earth is without precedent. She is the Great Mother of kings, queens, emperors, and empresses throughout Europe. She wrote and drew in blissful ignorance of the dramas that would unfold as her children and grandchildren rose to power and fell, sometimes very hard, as in the case of Princess Alexandra (Alicky). She wrote of Alicky's marriage to Nicholas: "How I thought of darling Alicky, and how impossible it seemed that the gentle little simple Alicky should be the great Empress of Russia.' Oh, the bliss of knowing only the beginning and not the ending for some of her family members.**

I promised to leave you smiling, so I will end with this quote from Marina Warner. It made me smile, and I hope it makes you smile, too: "Queen Victoria's curiosity and gaeity did not dminish with age (the principal reason we have for thinking her severe and mirthless is that photographs in the eighties and nineties were to be exposed too long to capture a smile): excursions were still a source of delight, and she became more adventurous as she grew older, visiting Switzerland for the first time in 1868, Italy in 1879, the South of France in 1882, Spain in 1889. Her travelling style reflects her roots in the eighteenth century and its traditions of the Grand Tour...Yet in the midst of her extravagant ways, the girlish gush of pleasure at new sights and new experiences remained....Up to 1890, she was still busy painting throughout her holidays, seeking out splendid views with the help of local guides, sometimes ambitiously covering a double sheet with an Alpine range 'glowing in the setting sun, what is called here Alpengluhen. It was glorious...'" (Queen Victoria's Sketchbook, p. 208-09)

*By the way, if you haven't seen the movie Young Victoria, I highly recommend it. The history is accurate to a fault, the images are brilliant, and the acting is stunning. Their portrayal of our queen was done with excellence, grace, and accuracy. I've linked you up to a clip so you can see a few scenes from the movie and hear actors Emily Blunt & Rupert Friend talk about their experience playing Victoria and Albert.

*To learn more about Alicky's sad end, I highly recommend Helen Rappaport's book, The Last Days of the Romanovs.

So Much Going On

Peach Tree by Vincent Van Gogh
Photo Courtesy of CanvasPaintings.com

Well, on one hand, I'm writing to tell you how sorry I am to report that once again I don't have my final post written on Queen Victoria. On the other hand, I'm also writing to tell you how happy I am that I'm behind for really good reasons and not just because I'm under the weather or under the thumb.

For the past month, my hubby and I have set sail on a journey toward living from passion and rest. We've experienced tremendous breakthrough in our marriage and in defining our purpose, dreams, and life work. Through this journey, I have experienced moments of great hope and moments of great sorrow. I am glad to announce that we are nearing the end of this phase of our journey. Our little tree has grown sturdier, and the blossoms are beginning to emerge. Spring is surely upon us!

I am filled with hope, while at the same time wondering what the coming weeks will bring in terms of weather and nourishment for our tree. Despite these niggling fears and doubts, I believe we will very soon be eating juicy, sweet peaches off our tree. I can't wait for our summer to arrive.

Peaches
Photo Courtesy of Soy Candles by Phebes

In the meantime, I'm doing the best I can to juggle all the writing balls I have up in the air right now. One of the most important aspects of this season for me has been to clearly define myself as a writer and my dreams for the future. My dreams for the future have to do with writing, but they are much bigger and include raising my children, loving my husband, and being available for those who need my attention beyond the scope of my daily work.

I have felt more than a little frenzied at times, and have often found myself wandering between my office and the living room without clear direction or focus. I'm afraid my kids and my writing have been suffering as a consequence. Part of the reason for this is that I have been spending hours a day talking and processing with my hubby. In the past couple of weeks we have both found ourselves annoyed with how much time it takes to do life together. Starting this weekend, we are going to use that talking time to determine how we can begin spending less time talking and more time doing the things we've been talking about. Not an easy thing, since I LOVE to talk, especially to him. Haha!

Anyway, I hope you will bear with me and stay tuned. I hope to have a final post on Queen Victoria and the beginnings of the next post on the Art Deco Movement by next week. I raise my glass in a toast to myself for being an eternal optimist and to you for being such a faithful reader. It warms my heart to have such faithful readers.

Victoria As Mystery

River Dee, The Highlands; by Queen Victoria
Photo Courtesy of Queen Pictoria

I have thoroughly enjoyed this rabbit trail into Queen Victoria's Sketchbook, but I'm feeling it in my gut. This is not the path we're supposed to be on. I'm not writing about jewelry much, and I'm not even really writing about Victoria. I'm just reading about her, and I'm growing tired of the topic. I recently found a boon of research possibilities for our next queen at Simpson University.

They have databases filled with journal articles and shelves filled with books...old articles and old books. Just the mother lode I have been searching for. Furthermore, I am on campus every other week for a women's group I attend, and I can spend a couple of hours each week there. Plus, my friend has borrowing rights and will check out books for me! What a gift!!

Twilight, by Queen Victoria
Photo Courtesy of Queen Pictoria

In light of my feelings, I wanted this to be our final post about Victoria. I had this bright idea to wrap things up with some highlights from Victoria's own words, focusing in on our common love of journaling. Alas, I am disappointed and slightly discouraged that most of her quotes have a sharp edge of self-pity and negativity. I'm not really surprised, as Victoria is definitely one of those "there's always something with you" people, but I'm still bummed to have to change my approach.

Since she was a far better painter than she was a writer, I've decided to push into one more week with a final post next week on highlights of one of her favorite painting subjects, the landscapes of Balmoral. She spent much of her time following Albert's death at Balmoral, and it was at Balmoral where she first met John Brown, her final life companion.

The First Step to Writing

Victorian Era Cameo Brooch
Click here for more info on Victorian Era Cameos.

Reading is the first step to writing, so once again I'm taking you with me into the pages of Ms. Warner's book, Queen Victoria's Sketchbook. I'm currently learning about Victoria's relationship with Lord Melbourne: Mentor, teacher, friend, confidante, and father figure. I've chosen some of my favorite quotes to share with you on this topic. I do hope you like the picture they paint.

"She was down-to-earth, impatient of nonsense, fascinated by unembellished fact, quick to laugh 'till her gums showed', and inclined to gobble her food. But she also had a strong romantic strain, which made her less robust, less humorous, more volatile." (p. 77)

Victorian Era Stick Pin Brooch
Click here for more on Stick Pins

I am completely fascinated by the adjectives Ms. Warner chose to describe our queen. The setup for this quote is a comparison between Victoria and a nightingale. A quick study of this celebrated songbird reveals further insights into Victoria's character. Indeed, Victoria was a mixture of stolid romanticism and playful spunkiness: Strong, yet soft; of easy humor, yet unflinchingly stern; deeply loving, yet stiflingly cloying. I most recognize our queen in the words of Andrew Marvell:

Thou sing'st with so much gravity and ease

And above human flight dost soar aloft

With plume so strong, so equal, and so soft:

The bird named from that paradise you sing

So never flags, but always keeps on wing.

Upon her ascension to the throne, this "very experienced, subtle, discerning man took immense pains to lead Victoria to understand government, and that he was the only person to do so at the time. He undertook her first political education, a duty that he discharged in the main with wisdom, a light touch, inimitable tact and profound responsibility." (p. 80) Under his tutelage, the unfledged princess quickly blossomed into the queen of old we now celebrate.

Victorian Era Blue Sapphire Brooch
Click here for more on Aesthetic Jewelry

Ms. Warner notes that Victoria's diaries are filled with accounts of her meetings with Melbourne for the next three years: "Melbourne talking, joking, gossiping, instructing, clarifying, helping, reassuring, encouraging, enlivening; a brilliant, droll, individual mind forming that of a simple, ingenuous young woman forty years his junior. Victoria reported his conversation with the fidelity of Boswell, catching his inimitable caustic phrasing with a genuine diarist's gift of recall." (p. 78)

Again, her descriptions are rich with colorful adjectives. I especially love that last phrase about the diarist's gift of recall, given that I'm a true diarist myself. I ache to get my hands on Victoria's diaries, and I am always on the lookout for links to these priceless remnants of our queen. I feel the more I can read her actual words, the better I will know her and the people who inspired her most. It is evident that Ms. Warner had access to these diaries, and I so appreciate her perspective on the inner workings of Victoria's soul and her relationships with these most important people.

Queen Victoria, Artist

Victoria sketches her children in 1846

I found another treasure the last time I visited our library: Queen Victoria's Sketchbook, by Marina Warner. Ms. Warner wrote this lovely book in 1979. It is clear that she is English and that she had access to Queen Victoria's diaries and sketchbooks. Her prose is filled with insight, clarity, and detailed facts. All the illustrations are provided courtesy of Victoria's sketchbooks, with a few contributions from some of her teachers over the years.

Victoria's diaries and sketches fit together like hand and glove, and both date back to 1827 and chronicle Victoria's life through 1890. I'm still making my way through the collection of insights and sketches, so I thought I'd share some juicy tidbits with you from this week's reading.

One of Victoria's many sketches of Louise Lehzen

"The deadliest sin in [Queen Victoria's] view was sloth, and the parable most suited to her nature and the character of her times is that of the talents, with its stern warning that native gifts should never lie buried and unused." {p.7} "But Victoria was not puritanical, and she made her industry serve her pleasure." {p. 8}

"She was the monarch who ruled during the epoch of which we are the direct heirs, as beneficiaries and as victims, and her art forms a distant yet audible accompaniment to the policies that were carried out under her rule. Through her sketches of genre scenes and picturesque peasantry we see the age's bafflement at the reality of poverty. Her tender portraits of her children announces the clear ascendancy of the family as an institution to be given all protection--the Victorians were the first to legislate the rights of married women and children." {p. 8}

One of my favorites of her sketches. This is her music teacher, Lablanche. Her affection shines through in his expression, I think.

It occurs to me here to mention that many women and children who made it home safely the day the Titanic sank likely owe their lives to Victoria's sentimentality and tenderness toward women and children.

"Her attraction to exoticism, dark-eyed and dusky, is part of the dream that took the English to Africa, India, and all points far away." {p. 9} This final quote paints a glorious picture of Queen Victoria as the fantastical dreamer and lover of adventure and all things exotic. Isn't it cool that her dreams sparked the advancement and exploration of exotic places, putting them forever on the maps of the Old World and the New?

Finding My Rhythm

Courtesy of Shabby Blogs

It's Thursday already, and I've spent my entire week working on pressing projects that, although integral to my blog, leave nothing much for me to say about our queen. Don't panic, though. I definitely have something to say.

My husband is on sabbatical for the next couple of months. He's leaning into rest and making some shifts in priorities. Since I enjoy him the most when he's at peace and rest, I'm looking forward to it. It will be exciting to see what life will be like to truly live in our flow together.

I'm also pressing into rest, though mine will be a working sabbatical. Every day I set aside time to write, research, and devour anything I can find about successful internet marketing. Currently I'm dining on 31 Days to Finding Your Blogging Mojo, by Bryan Allain. His witty humor and daily Mojo Exercises are responsible for the changes you've been seeing here and on my other blog, Brightness of Your Dawn. I am determined to take my work to the next level in the next couple of months.

Courtesy of Cutest Blog on the Block

You are officially invited to join me on this journey toward honing my craft. The first and most obvious change is the makeover I've given Vintage Betrothal. I was up until 1:30 am Tuesday, searching and agonizing to find the perfect background for our exploration of queens, jewelry, and transformation.

I was going for feminine, vintage, romantic, rich, and classy. Sadly, I was unable find all of these at Cutest Blog on the Block, so I turned to Shabby Blogs. Both offer top-quality, totally free blog backgrounds and other blog enhancement features. Very cool!

Another recent change I've made is removing Google ads completely. When you come to my blog, I want you to feel welcome, taken care of, encouraged, and nurtured. Just as I would hate for you to encounter pushy sales people in my office or living room, I don't want them bugging you while you're here. I will continue to include the beauties in the sidebars with links to my brother's business, Weston Jewelry. They are a hallmark of Vintage Betrothal. Not to mention that his bling is the best bling for the best prices. One last change for this week, six paragraphs. No more, no less.

Until next time...

Peace & Joy,
Angela