Styling for Ryan McCallister’s “You Can Count on Me”

Welcome to my interpretation for this round of Style Imitating Art.

A Little Background

Style Imitating Art is hosted by Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey, Shelbee of Shelbee On the Edge, and me. Style Imitating Art challenges us to draw style inspiration from pieces of art. Every other Monday one of us selects an inspirational image and we each post the image on our blogs. The following Monday we share our art-inspired outfits. The next Wednesday, the curator shares all the submissions on her blog.

This Week’s Curator

This round was picked by Shelbee. She picked a work by Cave Creek, Arizona sculptor Ryan McCallister. At eight feet tall, this would be an imposing sculpture to see. It just finished being on display in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

My Take

When a new SIA is presented, I quickly scan the piece and decide what two or three elements stay with me. With this work, it was the blue wings and use of stone. The pewter-colored grey ironwork also stood out, but since we just did a metallic/silver/grey work, I decided to ignore that feature.

I decided to go with a blue/burgundy-brown silk blouse that I found second-hand on eBay about seven years ago. This was when I was in my “Juliana Collezione” phase of collecting. I certainly didn’t need this blouse and really don’t wear it much. However, the double collar and double cuff feature was too hard to pass up. And the way it shines in the sun! I also like the houndstooth as an interpretation of the stained glass of the wings (the brown really makes the blue stand out).

There are many different hues of stones used, however, for me, they give off a brown hue as a group. I had a necklace that I made using some type of semi-precious stones (don’t ask me what they are). Each of the stones is like a little abstract painting. I antiqued some copper findings (I used to shop a lot at Fire Mountain and created a necklace. This is something else that I forget to wear.

Everything thing else is just used to back up these two pieces. My silk trousers were also found second-hand on eBay (around 2013), along with my Todd’s heeled loafers. The bag was found in a collectible shop in Hermann, Missouri (Missouri wine country). The handle was pretty worn out, so I replaced it with a gold chunky chain, and love how it works. I carry it as a clutch with the chain hanging down.

Embrace the Wind!

It’s funny, but I don’t really buy these kinds of clothes now-days. I keep them around because you never know when you need to dress up a little. My fabric stash is the same way. There are a lot of silk that I have bought in the past and now I need to figure out how to work them into a more casual lifestyle.

I really do love this outfit and bet I have worn this all together sometime in the past. I just can’t remember when.

Bea and Lynnie Lou remind me who are the really important folks in this household.

That finishes me for this one and I hope you enjoyed reading about my idea for this painting. Have you sent Shelbee your idea? If you have not done so already, please send it to Shelbee at shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com by tomorrow.

See you next time!