Oval with Tendrils

ART NOUVEAU

The Sensuous Tendril

For as long as I can remember, I have always loved Art Nouveau and Deco. It is a love affair that is inextricably entwined with my upbringing, since I was born in a town which has a plethora of antique shops many selling Art Nouveau furniture and jewelry; and a wonderful museum, Brighton Museum, which I adored and visited regularly to feast my eyes on its superb Nouveau and Deco collections.

Brighton Museum and Gallery: part of the Pavilion Estate, below, built for the Prince of Wales.

'All my design work is inspired and informed by my enduring love for my hometown Brighton. A place forever associated in my mind with all that is fun, stylish and elegant'.

It's impossible not to be mesmerised by the sensuous, expressive lines of the Art Nouveau Movement; it echoes so many beautiful forms from nature that who can look and not admire. A staircase imitates the flowing lines of a vine tendril; a street lantern is held by a flower stalk; a table lamp imitates a wisteria tree; a ladies brooch becomes a resting dragonfly.

But the motif that reappears again and again, and is incorporated in so many beautiful Nouveau designs is the wonderful whiplash curl. It spreads its tendrils across walls and ceilings; around windows; around wrists and fingers; and over mantelpieces; like a long, energetic, sensuous line of uncontained energy. An undulating, rhythmical line of music, wending its way into our imaginations.

A SENSUOUS TENDRIL
The Whiplash Curl

Gustav Klimt's 'The Tree of Life'

Long sinuous Whiplash curls, resembling the tendrils of foliage, spread across the floor, walls and up the staircase, in this beautiful Art Nouveau interior.

The Inspiration for the Art Nouveau Whiplash Curl: Nature's Sensuous Tendril

Oval with Tendrils

by Flavia Brilli

Oval with Tendrils mirror design by Flavia Brilli inspired by the Whiplash Curl

Mirror designs by Flavia Brilli

Copyright date © 2018 Flavia Brilli All rights Reserved.

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'Fantasia' Mirror

FANTASIA 
The fantasy begins...

'Fantasia' was the first Mirror I conceived, on a piece of paper, as I drove by, what would later be my shop, on Camden Road. It represents the beginning of the journey into Mirror Making.

Television Role

The 'Fantasia' appeared in Terry Gilliam's Interview, in a minor role, peeping over his shoulder, and was made in three sizes: mini, medium, and large.

Film Director, Terry Gilliam, being interviewed on Channel 4, with 'Sunburst' mirror in foreground and 'Fantasia' mirror peeping over his shoulder.


WHAT is in a NAME
Walt Disney's Film 'Fantasia'

The inspiration for the name derived from Walt Disney's wonderful animated film 'Fantasia'. 'Fantasia' was Walt Disney's 3^rd animated film and consisted of 8 animated set pieces set to classical music. It was such an ambitious and imaginative concept for a children's animated film, and one which left an indelible print on my memory. Its fabulous concept of great classical masterworks being defined with narrative illustrations goes beyond all our precepts of a children's cartoon. Even watching it today takes my breath away. Sublime animation interpreting sublime classical music.

Mickey as 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' with broom

Tired of carrying buckets of water from the well Mickey casts a spell on the broom to help him.

From  “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” sequence.

The Great God of Animation: Disney

Before Walt Disney came along, cartoons were viewed as something just lightweight and fun for children. But Disney elevated the medium to a whole new level of complexity. And, in doing so, turned cartoons into an art form. First with the wonderfully classic 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' (1937), then, with the charming 'Pinocchio' and, finally, with his masterpiece 'Fantasia'.

Walt Disney, above, demonstrating his wonderful skills to a group of Argentinian schoolgirls.

FANTASIA MIRROR

Press Coverage

Mirror designs by Flavia Brilli

 Copyright date © 2018. Flavia Brilli. All rights reserved.

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