Gentlemen of Quality: John Thomson

A Manchu bride, Beijing (1871-2), photograph by John Thomson



A married couple from Xiamen, a port city in south-eastern China.

Young woman of Guangzhou in southern China.


I am going to feature this month 3 men from the the 19th century that I found incredibly interesting and stylish characters.
I found Scottish photographer John Thomson on my favorite photography blog Heading East
Thomson was a Victorian contemporary and visited China from 1868-72. He saw himself in the tradition of the gentlemen explorer and traveled to China and South East Asia with his camera. He initially set up a photography studio in Singapore and his love for region grew. Back in Britain he showed his photos, gave lectures and wrote articles on Chinese culture . "Undoubtedly his photographs contributed greatly to 19th-century Europe’s view of Asia and filled the visual gap between East and West. He became known as ‘China’ Thomson."His photos have just been exhibited in the Beijing World Art Museum.
On the left he photographed the traditional bound foot next to a healthy, un-bound foot on the right.

Mr. Thomson is standing next to Imperial Soldiers in Xiamen

Orange Almond Shortbread

Here you see the orange almond shortbread cookies that I have baked. The log shaped dough in the wax paper can be kept frozen and conveniently baked when you all of a sudden have the craving for yummy shortbread.

Delicious Pleasures and advice on how to curb shopping

Miette is the adorable cake and sweet shop in Hayes Valley. The ambiance and offerings bring a smile to my face!



And here the macrons from Paulette - a gourmet experience. My favorite was the rose and raspberry, Caribbean chocolate and almond wedding cake. They are to die for! A great gift to bring to a party or dinner. They pack them in these nice boxes.


Sometimes I need to indulge, but with the bad economy and a heighten environmental consciousness buying stuff should be absolutely out! It's hard to abstain, but honestly: do I need to add another object to my already filled up house? Do we need anything? I came up with a rule for gifts this Christmas: I will only give gifts that are either hand-made, something to read, something to eat or drink or an experience (like inviting the person to a museum, concert, play or restaurant). So many items end up forgotten in the corner or eventually find their way into the landfill. The stuff we have in our houses demands on top of it a lot of attention, like organizing it, keeping it clean etc. Once you possess objects, your work doesn't stop, because you need to manage them. I want to cut down on this and feel that I don't want to burden my friends with more stuff either. If you give an experience or something to eat, it will be a memory for the recipient that will only take up space in her brain, but not her apartment. It's a great rule to live by yourself and so once in a while I treat myself to a good dessert. I get to indulge without feeling guilty, that I bought something expensive or added another item, I didn't really need. In the attempt to curb my shopping desire I also got more into cooking and baking. It is a very involved activity (just like crafting) and takes up a lot of time and therefore keeps me off the street and out of trouble. Oh, I forgot: Flowers are also allowed. Buying a lovely bouquet of cut flowers once in a while is a sure recipe to bring some beauty into your home, without adding to the clutter of stuff.

New designs

Here are some new necklace designs, I have been working on. My favorite is the first necklace with pink Tourmaline drops, a big Ruby bead, hammered sterling silver teardrop and chains. These new designs are for sale now at Freshly Cut, the gorgeous flower shop across the street from Monterey Market. And while you are there get yourself also one of their absolutely beautiful flower arrangements.

I delivered a bunch of earrings to Freshly Cut as well. Maybe you need a little something to complement your outfit? They also make nice little gifts.

Perfect Pilates

I have been studying Pilates for many, many years. It is the perfect exercise for me, since it helps me stay strong and deal with my weak joints. Pilates is one of the best physical rehab systems and I couldn't live with out it. I enjoy it's medium to slow paced and the gracefullness of the exercises. I somehow feel that exercise should be in synch with our internal rhythm. I have tried aerobics and felt it was way too fast. Tai Chi on the other hand drove me crazy due to its excruciating slowness. Here is a photo of Pilates trainer Eric Sutter performing a perfect pike on the pilates chair.

More hand-made cards

The card's main image is a mother bird and her baby bird in a nest. I copied it out of my old elementary school biology book that I found last year in my dad's basement. It is just the perfect image and I used it on this mother's day card for my mom.

Sometimes it takes a while to get the creative juices flowing and I just mess around. So before I made the actual mother's day card, I had pulled out my hand carved flower stamps and stamped them out on card stock. Then I cut out each stamped image and affixed them on the card shown underneath. I use little double sided sticky foam squares to attach them. This lifts the image of the paper and gives the card some dimension.

Birthday Bliss

Here is a birthday card I made for my friend Ellen.