In the beginning

My sister Autumn and I are long-time creative project collaborators, and as children, we used to write for a newspaper called "The Holly and Ivy Times."  In case you were wondering, it was a dolls' newspaper.  Holly was Autumn's, as Ivy was mine, and the dolls were the endearing characters in the real-life adventures that my sister, our other sisters and brother, and I had.  The paper told stories, jokes, tips, and fashion advice--from the dolls' point-of-view, of course.  And, for some reason, the dolls were always more boisterous and outspoken than we children were allowed to be...

These days, my sister and I don't have much time for such imaginings, but I do admire the way that my sister dresses on a regular basis.  She is a mistress of clever color palates and smart accessory-matching.  When I happened to see her on campus this past year (I just graduated from the school that she still attends), I wished that I had a camera on hand to capture her adorableness.  When I at last got a digital camera, one of its main planned purposes was to help me with my new blog.  

The blog.  My sister expresses her creativity mostly with clothing, especially when she is in the midst of midterms and papers, and I tend to be an ambitious writer lately, who prefers lone projects.  This blog represents a new kind of collaboration between two sisters.  It came to me that I should write journals around photographs of my sister wearing her characteristically cute ensembles, as the French bloggers do.  The name of my blog comes from the last stanza of a poem by contemporary Irish woman poet Medbh McGuckian, "Minus 18 Street" (also known as "I Never Loved You More" because of the first line):  

Sky of blue water, blue-water sky

I sleep with the dubious kiss 

Of my sky-blue portfolio.

Under or over the wind,

In soft and independent clothes,

I begin each dawn-coloured picture

Deep in your snow.

 

"In soft and independent clothes" is appropriate for my sister, because she can be "self-reliant" in the way that little Shirley Temple boasts to be in those Depression-era movies.  

Thank you very much for reading and please stay tuned!