Inspired by Claude Monet (Houses of Parliament)

          Happy New Year! As per tradition, I'm celebrating the New Year with an Inspired by Art post! Last year, I featured a bold red lip inspired by Piet Mondrian. For January 1st, 2013, I'm sharing a makeup palette inspired by the soft blended tones of Claude Monet's Houses of Parliament (1900-1901) from the Art Institute of Chicago. Houses of Parliament is one in a series of paintings of the Palace of Westminster. All pieces in the series were painted on the same size canvas and from the same viewpoint in St. Thomas' Hospital overlooking the Thames, between 1900 and 1905. Westminster palace was designed in the Perpendicular Gothic style with intricate vertically oriented structural detailing (pictured below). Monet, however, was more interested in the interplay between light and fog; he painted the palace at different times of day and during different weather conditions. The resultant paintings showcased the impressionist ethos, blending reality, memory, and imagination together into unified focus.

Palace of Westminster (photo credit: Mom)

           Monet's Houses of Parliament captures the evanescence of sunlight filtering and reflecting through the fog across the Thames. The colors center around beautiful periwinkle, greyed lavender, and sky blue. For my Monet inspired look, I've chosen a myriad of sky tones to decorate the eyes. NARS 413 BLKR single (reviewed here) is an overcast grey purple, while Illamasqua Sex is the pure white of cumulus clouds. NARS South Beach duo is a beautiful blue duo that channels the azure of clear summer skies.The periwinkle blue of Parliament is arguably the most stunning color in the painting; I don't own a color quite like it, however I've found that blending the blue of NARS Outremer (reviewed here) with the lilac purple of Illamasqua CanCan creates a similar effect! Soft touches of brown, like Bobbi Brown Black Chocolate (reviewed here), can add an undertone of shadowed nimbus to the look.

         Hints of pink in the sky truly capture the ephemeral spirit of weather. For my Monet inspired look, I've chosen to layer two cheery 'sky' pink blushes: NARS Deep Throat (a peach pink) and Illamasqua Nymph (a pure pink). Pale pink eyeshadow, like MAC Yogurt, can be incorporated into an eye look as well, as a base color. I'm always a fan of pairing pale pinks and blues; Aquamarine earrings are a nice extra touch to my Monet-inspired color palette.

          Claude Monet's Houses of Parliament captures a beautiful moment in time and imagination. I'm looking forward to incorporating unique blends of blue and lavender, alongside hints of pink, into my routine. I chose this painting because the soft focus and beautiful colors reminded me of the hopes and aspirations of the New Year. Hopefully 2013 will be full of good things, adventure, and many more Inspired by Art posts! Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!

Love, Dovey.