Six Paintings Archives

Merry Christmas! Six New Painting for Us to Enjoy in 2025

December 25, 2024

Happy Christmas to all who observe today, and a happy and joyful day to everybody!

So after wrangling, pondering, occasional hair-pulling, and a lot of general angst, I chose the six paintings for next year. This is - no question - the hardest thing I EVER do for The Vivienne Files, so if your favorite painting wasn't chosen, don't doubt that it was considered, and re-considered, and finally eliminated with great pain.

If there's anything you particularly miss, let me know and I will do a post about it! That's the least I can do, eh?

With no further ado - let's go!

This is the second year in a row that I've included Elizabeth Magill - I think she's got magical talent...

This heroine is going to ... View the Post

December 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – 6th Painting, by John Nash

December 9, 2024

I'm leaving for Paris on Wednesday unless something happens to hold me back. I haven't been to Paris in five years, which for me feels like half my life... I plan to have posts here for you while I'm away, but bear in mind that I won't be able to fix stupid mistakes - or smart mistakes! Love, J

Our last installment of our last heroine, assembling a wardrobe that holds a strange appeal to me - the soft earthiness of these colors would be such a comfort each morning...

This heroine, as is true with all of them, currently has 48 garments in her wardrobe. For most of the world, that's an embarrassment of riches! And - if well chosen - most of us could probably manage with this:

Of course, I SHOULD have been ... View the Post

December 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – 5th Painting, by Maurice Denis

December 5, 2024

I love this painting - I think I need to look at some other works by him!

As with all of our heroines, this lover of muted colors already has a pretty complete wardrobe. 48 garments should give just about anybody PLENTY of outfits, don't you imagine?

Her jewelry is great - and her scarves too! She's had quite a lot of luck this year finding things that suit her:

Her bags and shoes are great too...

After last month's plunge into holiday attire, our heroine thinks she wants one more "festive" top. She finds something that will be perfect with her velvet pants but can also be dressed down. The rest of her shopping allotment consists of three garments that can be worn together for a warm and soft ... View the Post

December 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – 4th Painting, by Paul Klee

December 5, 2024

If you don't want to wear red for the holidays, our next heroine is right there with you! But she has ivory and green in her palette, so she's still going to feel appropriate...

As with all of our heroines, this one has a lot of clothes already - including a simple green dress that could get a lot of mileage during the holidays...

She also has a really nice green cardigan, that will give a holiday feel to ivory and beige things...

Heck, she could even wear a green hoodie for outdoor things like caroling...

She has amazing jewelry, and some really perfect scarves for her color palette. Maybe she's looking for something with a holiday theme?

Her shoes and bags also feel pretty ... View the Post

December 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Third Painting, by Mark Rothko

December 4, 2024

Still a favorite - maybe because it's based on black, or maybe because I find Rothko paintings fascinating. Seeing them on a screen does NOT do them justice; they are layered, and shaded in a way that no computer can replicate!

Coming into the shopping frenzy that is December, our heroine has a pretty well-stocked wardrobe. When we arrange a number of clusters, or outfits, or just dresses (which of course don't need anything else), we find that there are few things for which she would not be well-dressed:

Even after we pulled out all of the things above to show how many outfits she has, she STILL has a bunch of garments:

She also has what is (to my taste!) an enviable collection of jewelry and ... View the Post

December 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Second Painting, by Elizabeth Magill

December 3, 2024

Let's move on to our next heroine, who has committed her wardrobe to navy and white, with a few shades of blue...

She was inspired by this, and one can well understand!

Her existing wardrobe, at the end of November, is pretty complete. Let's look at it, spread out a bit, and arranged in some outfits:

After all of those outfits, she still has nine more tops, and a dress! As I said before, this might be enough for some people...

Her accessories are perfect for her:

After some deep thinking, our heroine has two goals this month:

She wants to expand her denim/chambray adventure, (she's going to buy a second chambray shirt, for a very specific reason; those of us who own these shirts can ... View the Post

November 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Sixth Painting by Maurice Denis

November 8, 2024

I initially typed the date as 2015. Freudian as heck, in all KINDS of ways...

This last of our six paintings - have you like having these spread over six days? I'm finding it a very manageable system. I like having more time to spend on each wardrobe. Let me know how you feel, and I may adjust the posts for this theme accordingly.

So let's revisit this most relaxing and elegant of images:

As much as these aren't my favorite colors, I would be comforted to see these tops in my closet. That stack of four long-sleeved tee shirts never grows old for me...

If you're never going to wear a dress or skirt, you will probably find yourself with a tidy assortment of pants!

I need to figure out why these ... View the Post

November 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Fifth Painting by Paul Klee

November 7, 2024

This painting both delights and confounds me; I think that's good!

This heroine is committed to the beige core of her wardrobe, and her unusual assortment of accent colors - two soft ones, three bright ones.

But there are no rules about this kind of thing, so it makes sense ONLY to choose what delights you.

Coming into November, our heroine has a lovely, wide-ranging assortment of tops:

And she owns three dresses! Maybe sometime, she'll come across a printed dress, or a pastel one, that speaks to her. And I'm sort of tickled that she has the same pants in yellow AND orange. If you love something, there's no reason to avoid a duplicate...

Her scarves and jewelry are pretty delectable:

And ... View the Post

November 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Fourth Painting, by Mark Rothko

November 6, 2024

Probably my favorite painting, if not necessarily my favorite wardrobe; my favorite wardrobe changes hourly!

She's pretty well stocked with tops - basic and not!

And yes, she already has THREE dresses, as well as a matching blouse and skirt...

She has all of the best scarves, and I covet her earrings...

Her shoes and bags cover her needs pretty thoroughly...

But this is - hands down - the heroine with the dressiest life. And she's facing a daunting onslaught of holiday activities, including quite a few that are work-related!

So she's getting what she needs. A suit, two dressy tops, metallic flats, and festive jewelry! She's going to sort out what she's wearing for EACH event, and ... View the Post

November 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Third Painting by Elizabeth Magill

November 5, 2024

If you're in the US, I'm assuming that you have already voted, or have a plan to vote today... A Big Small Change Our heroine's been living in a blue and white wardrobe, inspired by her love of this painting:

She has a wardrobe full of lovely tops - solids, prints, almost all of the basics, and a nice bunch of accent and statement things:

Maybe she could use another dress? Or not - she has skirts, and the world just isn't as dressed up as it used to be...

She loves her scarves and jewelry, and who wouldn't?

She also feels pretty good about her shoes and bags:

But she's been thinking for quite a long time about denim. Not a TON of denim, but maybe a pair of jeans? And a chambray ... View the Post

November 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Second Painting, by Georgia O’Keeffe

November 4, 2024

I think I'm going to do a post each day this week, and finish the six paintings for the month of November. It seems to me that any kind of distraction might come in handy right now...

Ah, this most exuberant of heroines! Not just anybody could pull off a wardrobe in only three colors, when one of them is RED. But it's possible. There are lots of women, and lots of wardrobes...

This wardrobe feels pretty complete to me - when you remember that you can only wear one outfit at a time (at least in theory!), own this much clothing feels pretty complete...

In all fairness, if this was my wardrobe, I'd need a few more summer dresses! But still, I don't think I'd ever really struggle to get dressed...

I ... View the Post

November 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – First Painting, by John Nash

November 1, 2024

Sitting up in my desk chair is still a challenge, so I've decided to attack these paintings "one at a time." Well, it's possible that my endurance will increase - we can always hope!

When you've reached the point at which you have 44 garments in your wardrobe, you actually should be in pretty good shape for getting dressed for most things in life. I started keeping track of what I wear every day, and since mid-June, I'm at about 40 pieces. With a bit of thinking, I'm sure that I could assemble a very workable wardrobe of 52 garments, which is our target for these six wardrobes. (12 months x 4 garments per month + the Christmas Day bonus four from when I announce the paintings = 52).

Oh yeah. 52 would also be ... View the Post