eye of truth

I've been thinking about the Eye of Providence lately--I have this old drawing from a high school sketchbook and I'm thinking about how to incorporate some of this imagery into some new designs

Anyway this week I watched Desperately Seeking Susan for the first time since I was probably 12. I had forgotten that amazing jacket with a pyramid and the eye embroidered on the back (according to the interweb, it was made by costume/prod designer Santo Loquasto):

These images are all from an fantastic book I have called The Encyclopedia of Signs and Symbols:

The Eye of Truth shines from the breast of the Goddess Reason (French Revolution engraving).

The eye represents both the Sun and God in this Algonquin carving.

And here's one I need to research, attributed to The Book of A Thousand Hands, which I believe is a Korean Buddhist text (?):

I like the idea that we can carry the truth in our hands. Just my interpretation....

Missing Mardi Gras

I visited New Orleans for the first time this past December and fell in love with the city. We stayed only a few days, but as soon as the wheels of the plane pulled up, I felt certain I would be moving there. After watching Spike Lee's documentary "When the Levees Broke" about Hurricane Katrina (wow), I may have changed my mind...but a part of me is still pining for NOLA.

As a person who loves a good excuse for a costume, I am especially sad to be missing the Mardi Gras. Here are a few ideas I might explore if I were an Orleanian at this time of year (they are costume sketches for Ballet Royale de la Nuit, a 12-hour ballet/opera that starred King Louis XIV):

Source:

Excerpted from the book Ballet de la Nuit (Pendragon Press) featured in April 2010 issue of The World of Interiors