AGING PINTERESTINGLY

PINTEREST HAS SWELLED UP with several boards that share images of women aging gracefully. They are wonderful tributes in gallery form to the beauty of women at any mature age. Here is a list of a few of them:

Women Growing Old Gracefully…
Aged to Perfection
Aged to Perfection 1
Aging with Style
E V E R B E A U T I F U L
Ageless Grace, Beauty & Style
Beauty in Gray, White or Silver
Gorgeous Grey

GENETICALLY MODIFIED PEOPLE

I LOVE TO SEE side-by-side, inter-generational comparisons of women in the same family. It's rare to find any of great quality but artist/ photographer Ulric Collette has created quite a few in a series of his called Portraits Génétiques.
     My favorite one is pictured here. It's a 61 year old grandmother and her 12 year old granddaughter. It's so effective because they share so many facial similarities, i.e. face shape, eyes, nose, etc... Because of their similarities, it looks as if it's the same woman with half her face aged or rejuvenated by almost 50 years.
     I encourage you all to take a look at the rest of his work. Surely, you will find something else that you like. He also makes side-by-side comparisons between sisters, brothers, twin siblings, parents and their offspring whether they be male or female. It's a pretty cool project. You can see the rest at http://genetic.ulriccollette.com/.
     You should also take a look at this video posted on Vimeo that features my other favorite pairings:

ART GONE OLD - THE THREE AGES OF WOMAN (1905) by GUSTAV KLIMT

I AM FOND OF ART. I am fond of women. I'm also fond of exploring the effects that time has on us as human beings. Take all three of these things that I have a fondness for and toss 'em in a blender on "HI," and I am in Heaven. That is exactly where artist Gustav Klimt places me whenever I look upon what I consider to be one of his greatest masterpieces, The Three Ages of Woman (1905).
     It depicts a female child in the embrace of a beautiful, young adult woman in her prime and beside them stands a withered,  old crone with bowed head being held in one hand (perhaps lamenting over her lost youth). A little tragic, yes, but the beauty in this image is undeniable. It is as beautiful symbolically as it is aesthetically.
    I have yet to set my eyes on another work of art that has been able satisfy my thirst for female age progression. It's completely brilliant.

JUST A NOTE: The old crone in this painting was in fact inspired by one of Auguste Rodin's famous sculptures, The Old Courtesan. More on that later.