Love for Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo is my favourite artist. I love her work, her use of colour, her iconic face and unconventional beauty, and I love her story and attitude to life. So, here is a blog post dedicated to my love for Frida Kahlo.

Just call me Marley Kahlo... or maybe Frida Betts lol

My middle name is Frida.

It comes from a relative, not the painter, but it's still a link with the legend and a moniker that I feel proud to have.

Unfortunately, that is where the similarities end lol.

Name

I just found out that Frida's name is actually spelled 'Frieda', she just dropped the 'e' at some point. At least that is what I read last night in my Frida Kahlo book by Claudia Bauer. I picked up this book from my library last week; it has many beautiful pictures. I do recommend it. It is more about Frida's life than art though. Maybe her life through her art, but it doesn't go much into the art side of the art.

Life

Frida had a tough life.

She nearly died at 18 in a traumatic bus/tram accident, was pierced by a handrail and broke many, many bones. This accident caused her to become bedridden for a long time and it was in her bed that she started to paint. Before the accident, she was on track to become a doctor, but after, she was no longer able to. Because she was bedridden, the only thing she could see to paint was herself, with the help of a large mirror affixed to the canopy of her bed.

So, she began to paint herself.

Frida's husband cheated on her. A lot. Including with her sister. She also had multiple miscarriages and lots of ongoing health issues that caused her a lot of pain. I mean, this woman was dealt a rough hand. But, she didn't wallow in self-pity or give up, she found a way to do things that she enjoyed and was passionate about, and she fought hard to succeed despite all of the adversity.

Despite all of the pain and trauma that is evident in so much of her artwork, she is known for being a happy and positive person. She decided to wear clothes that made her feel happy, and she did things her own way, regardless of any external pressures.

Frida is my hero. She is strong, resilient, powerful, brave, and oh so talented!

Art

I enjoy painting but I am no artist. I don't really know anything about art. But I do know that I love Frida's paintings.

I love her brutal honesty.

Her paintings are like the most intimate of diary entries exposed for the world to see, she lays herself bare (sometimes quite literally) filled with hidden messages and innuendo.

She is real, and I value realness more than anything. I crave connection, and Frida's paintings hand you an intimate connection with her on a silver platter.

She doesn't look away.

"Frida Kahlo Rivera's work is a coloured ribbon wrapped around a bomb." - Andre Breton (French Poet).

I love this dress. So does Roger the purple sloth/monkey

Frida

Frida was smart. She cared about politics and wasn't just all talk; she got involved. She was funny and headstrong. She celebrated her Mexican heritage. She hung out with people like Piet Mondrian, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso.

She is just so bloody interesting!

I am honestly so inspired by this incredible woman who has had such a massive influence on art, culture, and women all over the world.

Viva la vita, Frida.

Much love,

Marley x

P.S. As well as dressing up like Frida in my spare time, I also write books. They have nothing to do with Frida Kahlo, other than being my own attempt at expressing myself creatively. You can find out more HERE.

16 Things to Love About Winter

I often say that I hate winter, but I don't really. I just hate being cold. There are lots of things I love about winter. Let's discuss them so that we can learn to love this chilly season and get through it together.

Hello, Mrs Potato Head

16 Things to love about winter:

1. Dragon breath! - It's still fun to huff out some hot breath in the cold air and watch the cloud appear. I can't help but tell my kids to "look!" every time lol.

2. Oodies - My current obsession and the only thing that seems to be able to keep me warm. They now have onesies, which are added to my wishlist for next winter.

3. Weighted blankets - A weighted blanket on top of a warm, cozy Oodie is like a big, warm hug that I never want to leave.

4. Bonfires - One of the most enjoyable special winter events.

5. Marshmallows - Toasted over a bonfire or melting in a hot drink. Either way, they are special wintery, pillowy, sugary, gooey treats of deliciousness.

6. Winter meals - Easy slow cooker dinners (I have a large piece of silverside in mine right now), hot soup and fresh, warm, homemade bread with lashings of melted butter. Mmm.

7. Indoor fireplaces - C'mon, there really is nothing better than a hot choccy and a good book while curled up in front of the fire. Preferably with some delicious snacks. I honestly could spend hours just staring into the flames.

8. Washing dishes - This is a weird one. Bit when it's cold, I often volunteer to do the dishes to warm my hands up in the hot water. Nobody likes doing the dishes when the weather is warm.

9. Bed - Being in bed and sleeping in is so much sweeter when it's cold and miserable outside.

10. Heat bags - Our microwave gets a workout in winter having to constantly heat up each of our heat bags which leave red blotches on whichever part of our bodies we press them up against. As hot as I can stand, please.

11. Candles - Fire and winter just go together.

12. Scarves, gloves and beanies - Some beanies make my head look like a giant potato, but others can make me feel a bit cute or give us all a chance to show our team colours (Go Blues!).

13. Hot choccies - Okay, I confess, I love my hot choccies all year round, but they're even sweeter when it's cold.

14. Movie nights/nights in - The whole family under blankets with big bowls of popcorn. Perfect!

15. Bed socks and slippers - All the layers and all the fuzzy, cozy goodness.

16. Frost - Admittedly not good if you have to get in your car and drive, but it is always extra cozy when you are inside in your fuzzies in front of the heater, sipping on your morning coffee, while looking out your window upon a blanket of white grass.
    

It's easy to romanticise winter... when you're warm lol.

What do you love most about winter?

Love,

Marley x

P.S. You can read about some pretty rad sounding hippie bonfires and bedtime hot choccies in my book, The Silver Shepherd. Check out my books HERE xx

How to Spend One Million Dollars

Eeek! I have won a million dollars! Now, time to stop jumping around and let's talk about how we're going to spend it.

I don't look like this anymore. But I did. Once. Back when TVs looked like that lol

Okay, let me be Captain Obvious here for a moment and give a wee little disclaimer: I am not a financial adviser. This post is just for fun. If you win one million dollars, please do not interpret any of this post to be any form of financial advice from me. For the love of GOD, please see a financial adviser.

Now that is out of the way, let's continue. Woo-hoo! I've won some dollarydoos! Bonza, mate! Now, how to spend one million dollars...

I have never been overseas. My initial instinct is to say that I would pay off my mortgage and travel with the rest. That sounds sensible and fun. But if I think a little bit deeper, I can come up with the following:

• Buy a boat and sail around the world - I'd probably get seasick, and I can't sail, but hey, it sounds like a thing that a millionaire would do. The seas await!

• Throw a biiiiig party - Like, a massive one. Hire a fancy venue, get all dressed up, have a huge tab, drink cocktails with gold leaf in them, and dance with the masses... Yeah, this is SO not my thing. I'd make a crappy celebrity. The only photos of me that the paps would get is me drinking coffee in my Oodie on my back porch, and the only scandal you'd read about is how many days I've gone without a shower lol.

• Buy some fancy artwork - I could hang it in my hallway for the kids to knock down on their way past. One of them would probably bluetack their own drawings over the top or add mustaches to the faces. Priceless.

• Invest in shares - Now this sounds a little too sensible, but I also could lose the lot, so maybe it's just the ticket. It's really just a socially acceptable gamble, right?

• Buy a racehorse - This could be fun. I'm not sure how, seeing as though watching horses is not fun, and then someone would have to look after it, train it, clean up poo, oh and actually ride it. So, it'd end up being a big money hole and a lot of hard work. But hey, it's an option.

• Open a bookshop - Yes please! With brightly coloured walls and couches, lots of little reading nooks, new and secondhand book sections, a coffee machine, and regular community events, author talks and writing workshops. Oh yes! This option sounds perfect.

• Give it away - I'd love to be the sort of person who would win a million dollars and go "Eh, I don't really need it, but so many other people do," then just give it all away to people in need. I like to think that I'd give at least some of it away. But I definitely think that I would struggle giving it all away.

• Buy a shack in the bush and become a hermit who lives off the land - Yeah, this is much more my style. I'd love this option, but I have a family to consider, and I'm not sure that they'd love this option. Sadly. Sob. Goodbye, sweet shack.

• Surgery - Goodbye, mum tum and saggy boobies! Hello, what's the point because I'm never naked enough in public for anybody to actually notice so it would really just be a waste of money. Hah!

• House renovations - This would definitely be one of the things that I would seriously consider. My kids would nag for a pool. Would we get a pool? Probably not. But maybe. A certain Simpsons episode comes to mind lol.

• Education - I could study to become whatever I wanted and end up with no debt at the end of it. Truth is, I don't want to study anymore. So maybe I could just tuck it away for my kid's education. This is also a much too serious option.

• Property - Yeah, the classic property option. Buy houses and live off the rent. Not exciting. Also, there are tax implications, and things keep breaking, and tenants keep complaining. Boo.

• Retire and move to Greece - Retirement might seem appealing to some people, but I'm only 40, I've still got a lot of contributing to society to do, and I'd get bored. Unless you chuck in a retirement destination like Greece. Now that sounds lovely, but I'd probably still write, so I wouldn't really be retired, I'd just be moving. Would I just pack up and move to Greece and write books? Nah, but I'd travel there. Damn me and my practical brain. Won't even let me retire. Grumble.

Okay, okay, my silly brain just won't let me think of outrageously lavish options, it's too practical and throws me too many objections. This activity sucks. I don't even want a million dollars anyway!

(I'm sorry I said that. I know The Secret. I really do want a million dollars. No. I WILL HAVE a million dollars. I am manifesting it right now. It's happening. It is in the process of coming to me. The universe wants me to be a millionaire. I am those people in the GIF. I am a millionaire. Woo!)

... What would you do with one million dollars?

Love,

Marley xx