Atmosphere Collage - Anthracite

Continuing the mood board, or atmosphere collage, theme, I was struck by an idea and inspiration to play and clothe in visual images the days, places, and moments that call for… authenticity. Admit it - there are days when you are tired of pretending to be better, more beautiful, more intelligent, more successful, more happy, and you simply want to say what you think and dress in black, or close to it: anthracite.

The mind immediately goes to Ojārs Vācietis's poetry collection of the same name. "I love you in the darkness of anthracite / And in the rain-wept windows of happiness, / And now - not with the first love - / With the last, beyond which there is nothing."

Anthracite is, in fact, a type of coal. It gives off a great deal of heat, yet is hard to ignite. It forms at depths of up to 6 km. It has a deep dark-grey, almost black shade.

In my view, anthracite expresses a person's truthfulness - deep within, and sometimes, looking straight at you - on the outside. A mug of fragrant bitter coffee without sugar on a grey, unbleached linen tablecloth, blackcurrants freshly off the bush, grandmother's knitwear, grandfather's horse stable and within it the faithful black horse, a smooth stone or pebble on the beach - who can tell them apart now - antique silver cutlery inherited through at least four generations, graphite pencils, him, the old tailor's scissors, the first snow from wintry dark-grey skies…