More from The Glow

With the winter solstice approaching, I thought it appropriate to focus on images filled with beautiful light. I immediately thought of The Glow and their stunning portraits of creative families in their beautiful homes. It's been a little while since I last featured the beautiful project over at The Glow, and three new families have been brought under the light, along with their fantastic names, stylish interiors and interesting interviews.

--Christiane Lemieux and her children, Isabelle and William are the most recent feature. Their place is totally open and light. Equal parts exposed pipe, natural woods and ivory linens, it's a perfect place for dreaming and climbing.

"It’s indoor/outdoor living here."

This one sentence of Christiane's perfectly sums up my dream home.

--Cynthia Rowley was featured with her girls, Kit and Gigi. I fell in love with these little ones and their gold piano!

"I’ve been told by my husband that it would probably be better for our marriage if I stop answering the question, 'How many kids do you have?' with, 'Three, if you count my husband'".

Love it.

-- Athena Calderone and her son Jivan are so sweet and tender together. This really makes me want a little boy! I love that he's riding his skateboard in the living room! Again, I'm so fond of those sparse, open spaces that lend themselves equally to lounging in simple beauty or wild playing. I love the idea of every room in  a home belonging equally to each family member, from the most artful adult to the youngest baby--toys can be pretty, and the prettiest spaces can also be designed to welcome even the grabbiest of little hands and encourage freedom and exploration. Beauty and fun for all!

From today's inspirations:

Christiane (the prettiest of smooshes, and perfect for those wanting to honor either a woman of design or journalism, or both)

Isabelle (another classic smoosh. I'm partial to it over Isabella.)

William (I love this classic name so much. I'd love to see a little William called 'Wim'.)

Whimbrel (okay, this isn't really a part of today's list, but it has a logical likeness to William for me. I really thought about this when I was writing on bird names-- 'Will' and 'Whim' are so alike on several levels, so it seems equally approachable as William. If you love the idea and feel of William, but want something less classic, I think this is a great option!)


Cynthia (such a pretty name, and she links to some of my other favorites....)

Artemis (Cynthia was one of Artemis' names.)

Hestia (another of the virgin goddesses)

Vesta (the Roman version of Hestia and a nickname of Silvestra)

Kit (a great nickname for so many lovely names-- Catherine, Katerina, or fantastic by itself!)

Gigi (most commonly, a potential nickname of Georgia, Georgiana, Virginia or Gilberte. I wonder if it's short for anything here.)


Athena (another virgin goddess)

Minerva (the Roman version)

Pallas (Pallas is to Athena as Cynthia is to Artemis. I love both 'wise' names.)

Jivan (a fantastic 'life' name. I so love it.)

Vito (another favorite 'life' name of mine for a sweet, little surfer boy!)

Such great meanings here today in this list-- we have names linking to wisdom, purity, earth, and life, itself.

Any favorites from today's list? Have you been enjoying The Glow? Are you participating in any "light" festivals this week? I think we may go to a Saint Lucia festival on Saturday, complete with all sorts of craft activities for the girls!

P.S.   Still having font troubles, so I just switched everything to a clean, simple font while I get it all figured out. I love the idea of my title being in cursive, because um, it's a play on notes in the margins, which I'm pretty sure are never typed. Alas, the only other cursive fonts available (my previous one is malfunctioning) are just too thick and stout for my liking. Any recommendations for a pretty, petite cursive font? I like em long and lean.... and tidy.  I really enjoy basic, clean fonts on other blogs, but the current set up isn't right for the mood here, I'm afraid, so I'm eager to get back to the old style. Any favorite font shops?

(images: all courtesy of The Glow, by Kelly Stuart)

Fates, Fruits, and Bubbies

I don't usually do personal posts here on Marginamia, but I just feel compelled this week. I am, after all, a mother, and you know we love to talk about our children!

My sweet Nona turned four (!!!!) this week. I can hardly believe it.

We had the loveliest day full of stories and memories and laughter and music and books and fingers full of strawberry icing.   We opened our windows to the fall air and watched children throw pretty, white balloons until they were exhausted and ready for more stories.

Nona has brought such joy into my life and into the world; to know her is truly to love her. I'm so excited to watch her life, to see what she creates, to witness her loving and dancing and discovering and giving and  surprising herself and just being awesome. I'm so tickled that I get to be a part of her amazing story. 

Since this is a blog all about creative endeavors, (and because mothers love to brag talk about all the things our children make and do,) I thought I'd put up some of her creations for this birthday tribute. 

Nona loves to make bouquets out of anything she can find; she hasn't met a plant she doesn't want to honor in a cup or vase.   I love to watch how proud she feels while she's making  and how ginger she is with the flowers. Each time she smells one, you'd think it was the first time anyone anywhere had sniffed a flower.  The photo up top with the dandelions and mushroom was my Mother's day surprise this year.  And she made me the the bouquet just below with rosemary from our back yard and it smelled wonderful. She picked the yellow flowers at the park and carefully tended them all the way home until she could get them into a cup. 

 She stares out this window a lot, so calm, pensive and serious, tapping those sweet little fingers on the window sill, every bird and butterfly triggering stories and queries. She really, really wonders about things, this one. There is nothing in this whole universe I love more than hearing the thoughts and questions that come after  one of her pondering sessions in that window. 

She also likes to make bead necklaces. I gave her two of my old gold chains linked together, some thick string in various colors, and a bowl full of all colors and sizes of beads to make herself some jewelry, but I think she's happiest when I'm wearing them. After modeling them, she informed me that they are, in fact, for me. Note how the beads go from small to big-- of course a child would do it that way! I love wearing them, too! 

Iggy Peck, Architect, by Andrea Beaty (brilliant illustrations by David Roberts) is a book we've been lucky to have available from our local library; now she finally has her own copy! Thank you, Aunt Bug!  The other books were ones that I have not had luck finding at the library, so she got them this year for her birthday. After opening and reading the books, I arranged them so we could enjoy the covers through her celebration!  I can't recommend these books enough, and the illustrations are so, so amazingly great:
For Just One day, by Laura Leuck, illustrated by Marc Boutavant
The Cat at Night, by Dahlov Ipcar
All Kinds of Families by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Marc Boutavant
Around the World with Mouk by Marc Boutavant (we like Marc's illustrations!)

A funny tidbit: I awoke on the big day to Nona sitting on the sofa covered in string and brown wrapping paper, most of her presents already opened. I thought I'd put them at a slightly taunting but unreachable height (not my brightest idea.) She was so proud that she had been able to get them down by standing on a chair and using a long spoon, and she genuinely thought I'd be glad for her. "Look, Mommy! I got a unicorn!"  And yes, I was glad for her.

Alright, enough of my gushing about a topic that quite possibly no one but me finds quite this interesting (thank you for indulging me.) On with the name list!

While I would never really suggest one of my children's names for anyone else, today I dedicate my post to my first born and use her names as the take off point for a list (her name belongs in each of the categories below, of course.)

Names inspired by The Fates from various traditions:
Decima
Morta
Clotho (the Greek equivalent of Nona)
Lachesis
Atropos
Moira
Delphi
Ananke
Nyx
Themis
Iliad
Fate
Coral
Fortunata


Plumish names:
Victoria
Mirabelle
Umeko
Ume
Luumu
Prune
Prunella 


Great names for babes born in October:
October
Opal
Hallow
Chrysanthemum
Autumn 
Aki
Akiko
Suzu
Orchard
Maple
Golden
Rosario
Cliona (a daughter of poet Libra. a bit of a stretch, but it's such a pretty name.)
There's also thesimilar sounding Cleone, which is totally unrelated, but too pretty not to mention.

Names used for grandmothers (both traditional and trendy), which I love for little girls' names (or little girls' nicknames):
Amma
Avo
Oma
Ona
Uma
Momo
Moma
Mimo
Mimi
Lola
Bomma
Yaya
Vovo
Bibi
Gigi
Lilo
Lally 
Soosa

What do think, readers-- Are there any grandmother or grandfather names you've heard being used out there that you think would be equally adorable on a little one?  Any fruit names you love? Your favorites from mythology? Any you'd love to see on babies born in Autumn?

A Stunning Pair

 

      I have been saving post ideas for quite some time now. In fact, that's how this blog came to be. It started as a list of things I'd love to see happening the blogging world.  There will be games and collaborations, interviews, profiles, lists galore, so many great things to come here on Marginamia. This said, it took me under two seconds to figure out what my first post was going to be.

      Being that I cited them as a perfect example of the kind of thing this blog is all about, I would be remiss not to feature Artemis and Nao as our first example of the space where human creativity and beautiful, marginal names coexist (venn diagram, anyone?) 

The overlap won't be so very direct every time; it won't always be the case that the people, ideas, or crafts profiled are also the bearers of the profiled names. But for our first post, let us look at a great example of wonderfully creative people wearing wonderfully unique names.  

I think it's safe to say that I've never seen a pair of names this pretty on a couple. Then there's what they do and how they live, which is the really interesting stuff. 

     Artemis and Nao are wife and husband  (Their DIY wedding is worth a look) collaborative jewelers, thrifters, crafters, designers and awesome-name wearers.

     Their shop, Rust, has the most beautiful wedding rings, along side many other pretty pieces. And what about the name Rust?  I think it's a strong, beautiful name.

      Nao scouts vintage leather bags and restores them in his Nao shed, while Artemis crafts, designs and sells vintage clothing and home goods in her Artemis shed.

I hope they name their sheds.

Her shop is called The Bucket Tree. 

And my quest for pretty, vintage, white pieces is officially over.  Artemis is every bit as lovely as her name, no? Isn't it amazing how well this name fits? I can't fathom her wearing any other. 

Now for those stunning names of theirs:

Nao:  What a beautiful name! I love that it's short, simple, and has the -o ending. As a general rule, I love names ending in -o.  We almost gave our second daughter a Japanese name, Umi, and we did give her a short-n-simple, ends in -o name. According to several sources the name is a Japanese unisex name and loosely means 'honesty'.

Artemis:  So the other reason that this profile called out to me as the first post is that Artemis is my current name crush. If I were having a baby girl right now, she might very well be an Artemis. In fact, she would be Artemis Ritabelle (not that I'm thinking too much about it).  The name is of Greek origin and is from mythology. She's one of my favorites from mythology. I love her connection to nature (particularly deer) and childbirth, as well as her strength.  She has several variants and related names (she asked her father for many names:

Artemisia, Luna, Cynthia, and Diana(the Roman equivalent).

The other virgin goddesses and their variants or Roman equivalents are: Athena, Hestia, Vesta, and Minerva.  (Oh the loveliness of all of these!)

 I will end here, as musing on mythological names could very well go to the end of the Milky Way and back before I come back to my senses. 

     I adore both these names on their own, but paired together they become music, a perfect pairing of sounds. If there were nothing else pulling this couple together (you know, like mutual interests and love and stuff), they would still have to connect so that there could be a pairing of these two names somewhere in this universe. These names just work together, much like this couple, and they are as rich and interesting, too. 

  What a great example of names imitating life, or life imitating names. 

What about you guys--any favorite name pairs out there in the? 

What are your favorites from mythology?

all photos and inspiration for today's post by Junaholique

hello world

    

    Welcome to Marginamia!  So, what is it all about, you ask? This blog is no more about names than it is about design, beauty, creativity, and the stories we create. Names, however, are the uniting thread of the various other subjects we will examine. They are the marginalia,the notes in the margins (the names in the margins, rather), of everything else we'll see here together.

For the most part, the names here (just like the subject matter with which they dance from post to post) are on the fringes of popular trends and practices. Just as you don't find a lot of married couples who make a life of  refurbishing thrifted objects, making jewelry, neither do you find a lot of couples named Artemis and Nao. I find both elements about them (their livelihood/creative endeavors and their names) intriguing, artful, and beautiful.

     While indulging my many interests, from architecture to poetry, when I find creative people with interesting lives and wonderful talents, I always end up intrigued by the inventive and beautiful names I find alongside them. Whether those are their own names or the names of their children, the names of their creations or simply names that their ideas, work, and lives inspire in me, names abound. 

I'm not going to claim that creative people have interesting names, or further, that creative names make creative people, but I know that where you find interesting, artful subject matter, more often than not, a field of beautiful names opens up for the plucking. My hope is that here we will find and create beautiful names, uncover meaningful stories and ideas, and peek in on inspiring people.

    Often parents are looking for wonderful inspiration from which to select a name, and I think there are no better worlds to peer in on for that inspiration than the worlds of art and design, myth, natural beauty and family history. These are the worlds populated by things that we love precisely because we're human, precisely because we are conscious, creating beings who, well, name things. Should creating a name (a composition of sounds and meanings) be approached any differently from taking a beautifully composed photograph? Should it be any less inspired, artful, thoughtful or meaningful? 

 Where better to start instilling a sense of  magic and beauty than with the sounds we will use evermore to call out to our children, the sounds that they will hear linked with their beings for the duration of their lives?  I think those sounds are better off to be beautiful and meaningful to us and our children.  

    I'm not suggesting that everyone have a never-before-used-by-anyone-else-on-the-planet Fable.  Though we will be visiting many  one-of-a-kind type word names here, a little Louis or Edna can be just as inspired and meaningful. I am also not saying that all "creative" names are necessarily thoughtful ones, that if a child is named Banjo, for example, that he or she is automatically carrying a meaningful or inspired name. As with all things, context is absolutely key; it's what creates meaning. Context is what I'm imploring us to consider; why are we making the selections we're making? 

I  want to be clear from the outset about where I stand on inspired, unexpected, compositionally beautiful and creative names, so that this blog doesn't have to spend it's energy having this discussion over and over: I love these names just as much as I love a handmade quilt, painting, or that perfect song at the perfect time.  I absolutely do. not. think. unusual names will cause damage to a child. Baring obscenities, a name is not going to scar a child for life, and we have a wide pool of evidence to support this. 

Let's please stop worrying about and giving all of our focus to potential teasing for the names we choose for our kids. How about we just involve children (and ourselves) with people who can appreciate (or at least kindly dismiss) qualities of individuality? How about we work on the people who don't like to tolerate differences, rather than work to conform everyone else to fit within their comfort zones(maybe we all grow or surprise each other?)  How about we instill in our children the confidence to love about themselves all of the things that go into making them individuals?    

Ultimately, if parents want creative and inspired children, parents should live creative and inspired lives; naming a child beautifully and creatively isn't going to seal the deal for her any more than giving her a more ordinary name will make her a more ordinary person. But why not make the name selection the first in a long line of choices that will sculpt your family on your terms? 

"Shouldn't we let the child define herself on her terms, not on ours?" Of course, but that will happen more in how we treat our children throughout their lives, and they are much more likely to be inspired to sculpt themselves on their terms if they have parents who make similar choices for their family unit (against the backdrop of a sometimes protesting world). I think of naming as a first step in this process(if only a minor, though thoroughly fun an interesting one). And look, we impart our values to our kids in all sorts of ways. We decide how the children will be birthed, fed, educated, supported (or not), and myriad other sculpting decisions, which quite honestly have much more to do with how they'll be defined throughout their lives than their names will.  You aren't playing God with your child's future by naming them. You are (at best) inspiring them and gifting them with beauty, or (at worst) leaving them wishing they had a different name sometimes. 

People should use what they love, be it marginal or popular, but there is nothing more of a shame than forgoing something special and beautiful in the name of convention. So have fun, be inspired, be thoughtful, be true to your family's values and sense of beauty, and don't look back!  Maybe your kids will take the spirit in which they were named with them throughout their lives and they won't look back either.

  

Now, names and human creativity, let's dance, shall we? 

(photos from JUNKAHOLIQUE )