Howdy, everyone! I simply cannot seem to get more than two posts out a week these days..dunno what my deal is. Anyway, to start my ABC Challenge post, I first have to send out a huge THANK YOU to Liz from A Mani Maniac. Some of the girls from the Challenge participated in a secret St. Paddy's Day polish exchange and Liz drew my name and hooked me up with some fantastic goodies that will feature in future posts. Thanks again!
On to today's manicure! We're on to "K" in the ABC Challenge this week. This was a tough letter for me. I have very few polishes, either by brand or by name, that start with "K". I decided to go with an inspired look and some nail art today. One of my favorite artists is Gustav Klimt. His colors, subject matter and symbolistic style appeal to me. Many of you are no doubt familiar with The Kiss which is probably Klimt's most famous work. If this is the only work you know from him, I urge you to Google him and check out some other images. They're just beautiful!
Today's manicure is inspired by Klimt's Hygeia. A detail of a three part oil painting, Hygeia was unfortunately destroyed in 1945 during the final days of WWII when the castle where it was stored was burned by retreating SS troops to prevent it falling to Allied forces. Nice little art history lesson for you. War is bad, destroys pretty things!
Ok, on to the nails!
I'll include a polish list at the end of the post and I won't bore you with all the details here. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Is it immediately recognizable as Klimt-inspired? Maybe not. However, when you see the detail in Hygeia's robes, I hope you can see where I was going with it.
The accent nail is inspired by her hair.
This was really a fun manicure and I was glad to have a chance to do some nail art!
Polishes used:
Red, Red by Wet 'n' Wild Wild Shine~cherry red creme
Diva on the Dunes by Jessica~bright red/orange creme
Pull Over by Sinful Colors~bright yellow creme
This Is It by Sinful Colors~shimmery gold with holographic flecks
Black and Brown Sharpie
Please take a moment to check out the other ladies in the ABC Challenge. You can find them via the thumbnails below! Thanks so much for reading!
Very cool mani - you can totally see your inspiration. My art knowledge is seriously lacking...that is one thing on my "to do" list this year. With the Art Institute so close, I have no excuse to not get a little knowledge.
ReplyDeleteAnd you are welcome for the fun stuff! I FINALLY just got my stash all logged, and I have to say, I had a few doubles. Lucky for me, you conveniently had a few of them on your wish list. Add to that no shipping charges, and spending limit was all on polishes!
Well, however you came by them, I'm very appreciative of the lovelies you dropped off! I can't decide which one to try out first!
DeleteFYI, the Art Institute is free on Thursday evenings, I believe, and the public library usually has a list of all the free days offered by all the museums in the area. Living here, you probably already know that, but thought I'd pass it along in case you didn't ;)
This is GORGEOUS!!! I love it so much!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteYou are seriously talented!! :D
ReplyDeleteThanks! I think it's more a combination of seeing an idea in my head and having to get it out added to the fact that I'm nuts for polish! :)
DeleteI love how abstract this looks! Great job.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I think this is one of my favorite manis ever :)
DeleteWow, this turned out amazing. You can definitely tell what inspired it. Gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteIt's hard not to be inspired when looking at Klimt's work! Thank you!
DeleteWow, really nice rendition!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteYour manicure is simply beautiful. And my boyfriend agrees with me - I showed him your manicure because he loves Klimt. :)
ReplyDeleteAw, thanks :) Sounds like you've got a man with good taste there!
DeleteLove Klimt! Last time I went to see an expo in Paris it was so full I didn't make it :'( Your nail art is totally well done, I can see her dress in there ^^ And the colors are, of course, accurate :D
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! Your ring finger is a work of art!! Definitely Klimt inspired then! ;)
ReplyDeleteAs a major league Klimt lover, I say you scored a big one here!
ReplyDeleteBrava, Natalie!!!!
Holy smokes batman, this is amazing!!! I love your interpretation, it's stunning!!!
ReplyDeleteOMG! What a great idea and it turned out looking awesome! Way to go!!
ReplyDeleteOh wow!!! These are awesome!! Your very creative, I wish I had that talent!
ReplyDeleteKelly
xoxo
Awesome inspiration! You captured it beautifully!
ReplyDeleteI really love your inspiration and your mani is amazing!
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