Lily and I are NORTH TO ALASKA! but in a weeks time it will be SANTA CRUZ OR Bust!

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with credit to Emikk at stream of consciousness comics

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Merry Christmas & a good surf into the

New Year!

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Im Wald mit Schlapphut, und "Gardenarbeit!"

With a friend, in the forest, about 20 min away from where I live. Lots of forests in the mountains behind Santa Cruz.

Me, mit Schlapphut.

I wear the Schlapphut when I garden. This is my backyard, that is Lily over there in the back, see her reading? Thats my German bike in the foreground, and some odd box.

Thats me with Schlapput gardening at a friend's. We put in a lemon tree, a lime tree, and an avocado. That was only about 2 weeks ago.

My front yard.

A photo from the side. Two different kinds of grapes and kiwis grow on this trellis.

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As you can see, I enjoy wearing my Schlapphut. And just like my ancestor Meeker, I derive satisfaction from the fruits of the earth! My own.....Fountain Green....

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der erste Schultag

I don't normally do another post so fast, and please don't neglect to look at my previous post on Goethe and Schiller, which, actually I am so proud of! All the time I spent in Germany... in the beginning it was SO difficult when I didn't know the language or the culture. But by midway through the 10 years, a whole new world began to open up which has only enriched my life since then. It makes me sooooo happy, that I am able to tie in this culture to my Meeker painting, and Stuart.

But, I can not resist making this post. My blogging buddy Rouchswalwe , with my persistence, continues on with her own story of ....

the Zuckertüte, a Candy-Cone!

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click here for a photo of Lily's first day of school in Jena, Germany

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What do Schiller, Goethe, and William Grant (aka THE SKATER, portrait by Gilbert Stuart) have in common? a......HAT

Schiller (close friend of Goethe) travelling about on his mule in non-fashionable but practical outdoorwear in 1787.

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In 1775 Goethe, dissatisfied with a life of being a lawyer in Frankfurt, accepted the invitation from Duke Karl Augustus to his court in Weimar, this tiny town in the middle of the forest of Thuringen. Rather than entering into an official day-to-day job at that point, the duke treated Goethe (already famed as the author of “The Sorrows of Young Werther”), as a friend and the two caused hot gossipy scandal (aristocracy on the same level as a non-noble!) by riding hard on wild jaunts lasting days or weeks through the forested countryside, camping, laughing, playing jokes on the locals, enduring fatigue and displaying physical prowess and love of sport.
Soon enough, settled in Weimar Goethe entered into a complex, not easily definable, virtuous love relationship with Charlotte von Stein, aristocrat at court, seven years older, married with children. The attraction was one of infatuation on Goethe’s part, tempered by the practical, stoic keen intelligence and restrained emotion on the part of the noble Stein, later blossoming into love, yet ending in the sudden departure of Goethe for Italy ten years later.

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Charlotte and her husband were the owners of a small country estate called Gross Kochberg ( click here for a sketch of the estate by Goethe, a talented illustrator in his own right) , and here for a photograph. Today by car, one can reach this estate leaving Weimar in about an hour. In those days, it would take a day by horse, or a good 24 hrs to walk. Goethe would do both, to visit the lady of the manor. The tricorne or bicorne hats surely wouldn’t satisfy the need for protection against the elements. I mention all of this because, as many of you know, the weather in Germany can be really horrible; freezing and snowy in the winter, rain and thunder in the summer. So that romping through the wilderness that then existed between Weimar and Jena, or trekking to the country house of the beloved, all means that “weather appropriate” clothing is a necessity. In particular, a hat to protect the eyes and neck from the sun, providing warmth and protection from rain and snow, would be a must in those days when reaching a destination by walking or horseback was the norm... The tricorne or bicorne? no way. Thus, I believe that William Grant used, for his portrait, a FASHIONABLE form of this type of outdoorwear, nominally known in GERMANY as the Schlapphut. To see Goethe in Schlapphut click here.

the Skater (William Grant) by Gilbert Stuart 1782 National Gallery of Art

Is this a man projecting melancholy? (As proposed in Gilbert Stuart by Barratt and Miles referencing both Presssly and Evans). I believe, in short, this is a man of fashionable elegance and atheletic prowess and skill, with an air of happy self-satisfaction, to be out getting exercise!

The Barratt/Miles book describes the hat worn by the Skater as a “wide-awake hat” which makes no sense to me. The definition of a “wide-awake hat” is variably descibed as “inspired by the paramilitary campaign organization of the 1860s”, “popular in the American West during the late 1800's”, “affiliated with the Republican Party during the 1860 election” OR best definition “a hat with a low crown and very wide brim”.
Thus Grant chose a hat suitable for the weather for an outside activity on such a grey day; warm, protective against a possible snow flurry while engaging in sport out in nature, yet clearly an article of FASHIONABLE OUTDOORWEAR with a band around the base of the crown decorated with a buckle (as well as fancy buckles on his shoe/skates!). His whole outfit portrays elegance and up-to-date, practical fashion and proper gear for skating. Notice the peep of a tan leather glove, also indicative of expensive fashion, and the fur lapels. The stance, arms crossed, puts the viewer on notice that the skater has perfect balance, ie atheletic prowess, as he skates perfect circles etched into the ice. Notice in the background, the unfashionable bi-and tri-corne hats on the MEN, with arms flailing and legs wide apart, and ...poor saps... wearing NO GLOVES!

I believe that with the soaring popularity of Goethe, Schiller, and Kauffmann both in Europe and abroad, all promoting the love of nature at this time, the Schlapphut, already made popular by the German artists in Rome, became THE current article of fashion and can also be described as the headgear being worn by Stuart in his self-portrait.

I dedicate this blog to my daughter Lily, on my first blogiversary!

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This blog is dedicated to Lily. Soon she will be spreading her diamantiferous wings, and flying away.

Harbor Highschool class photo, class of 2010, Santa Cruz California

Here is a bouquet of roses for Lily Grace!

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And a 1998 photo of Lily, on the first day of school at the Nord Schule in Jena (Deutschland). Each child comes to the school, on the first day, with a "Zucker Tute" which is made by the parent, filled with candies and special delights. Naturally this makes for an

EXCITING DAY !!!!

my darling child, now grown up.

"Pure as the Lily, by the Grace of God."














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Swiss/Austrian painter and friend of Goethe; Angelika Kauffmann-- "The whole world is angelikamad!"... an unquestionable influence on GS

Portrait of Antonio Zucchi by Angelika Kauffmann, c. 1782

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Portrait of William Grant by Gilbert Stuart 1782 (in England) The Skater

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART Andrew W. Mellon Collection
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Anna Maria Angelika Catharina Kauffmann, self portrait in Wälder Tracht

Innsbruck, Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum

For more on Angelika's (Possible/Highly Likely) Influence on Stuart (compare Kauffmann's portrait of Joshua Reynolds & Stuart's portrait of Benjamin Waterhouse posts March 11/12) click here.

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In 1767 Angelika was caught up in an affair of the heart; she met and married an attractive elegant young man and quickly, rashly entered into a secret marriage. His name... 'Count Frederick de Horn'. After the marriage he insisted on taking over Kauffmann's financial affairs, she resisted and ultimately the marriage was undone when Frederick turned out to be an imposter.

In 1781, after the quick dissolution of this first marriage, Angelika wed the Venetian painter Antonio Zucchi (portrait above). The couple moved to the capital of the artworld, Rome. Her house on the Pincio, once inhabited by the painter Anton Raphael Mengs, became the social center of the European intellectual elite and bastion for lovers of art.

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"In den siebziger Jahren [1870s] war die Nachfrage [demand] nach Gemälde und Nachstichen Kauffmanns oder nach Kauffmannesken Motiven so überwältigend, dass der dänische Botschafter Schönborn am 19. Oktober 1781 am Klopstock schrieb [wrote]: "the whole world is angelicamad"; ein Satz, der längst zum geflügelten Wort geworden ist.....

IN ENGLAND erlangte Kauffmanns Kunst internationalen Verbreitungsgrad allein durch die zahlreichen Punktierstiche, die nach ihren Werken gefertigt wurden....." from "Angelika Kauffmann 1741-1807 'Eine Dichterin mit dem Pinsel" Verlag Gerd Hatje, Dusseldorf 1998 p 31

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"... die vielleicht cultivierteste Frau der Welt ...." Zeitgenosse Herder über Angelika Kauffmann

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The random monthly pick: Russell Sturgis, a Boston merchant involved in trade of hats, furs...... & ...opium.

Russell Sturgis Boston c 1822 by Gilbert Stuart

Worcester Art Museum; Gift of the Paine Charitable Trust, 1965.254

from Lawrence Park:
Russell Sturgis (1750-1826) was the second son of Thomas Sturgis (1722-1785) and Sarah, or Sally (Paine) Sturgis of Barnstable, Massachusetts. In 1773 he married Elizabeth Perkins. In or before 1771 he moved to Boston and started in the hat and fur trade. It is interesting to note that his name appears in the first Boston directory, published in 1789. He was a close friend of Gilbert Stuart, who painted three portraits of him.

Russell got his start in the hat and fur trade by apprenticing to his wife’s grandfather in Boston at age 16. He served in the Massachusetts milita, and was active in public affairs; fire warden in earlier years and worked as a representative for Boston in the Massachusetts state senate. "Sturgis's two brothers-in-laws were notable China traders. In 1795 Sturgis joined them in ownership of a new ship, the Grand Turk, which was sent to Canton in March 1796. When the Perkins brothers opened a branch office in Canton in 1803, Sturgis invested substantially, and three of Sturgis's sons subsequently voyaged to China. In 1818 all three were involved in the opium trade as partners in the firm of James P. Sturgis and Company." information from Wiki