Powerful Goddess Portraits

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, Unique and Personalized Gift Ideas Tags: #BodyArt for #Women, #Horse #Tattoo for #Women, Alphonse Mucha #ArtDeco, Chinese New Year of the Horse

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Year of the Horse

29 Jan 2014 2 Comments

The one thing I do not want to be called is First Lady.

It sounds like a saddle horse.

Jackie Kennedy

By Ukrainian artist Dmitriy Samohin (Photo from Rattatoo.com)

As tribute to feminine creativity and courage celebrating the Chinese New Year of the Horse, here are a few Asian inspired tattoos and excerpt from Margot Mifflin’s Bodies of Subversion (another delightful addition to my library thanks to a favorite blog fan):

In a culture where surfaces matter, skin, the largest organ is the scrim on which we project our greatest fantasies and deepest fears about our bodies. For women, skin is a work in progress through which we celebrate–and denigrate–ourselves.

In The Decorated Body, anthropologist Robert Brain calls body modification “an attempt to put on a new skin, a cultural as opposed to a natural skin.” His observation is especially resonant for women, whose ties to nature have historically been used to justify their exclusion from culture. Whether they see tattooing as an embellishment of or an intrusion on the “natural body; whether they build their collections on a bedrock of sexual politics; and whether or not they call themselves feminists, tattooed woman constitute a subculture whose political implications are indisputable. Life female body builders, who contest the idea that a “built” woman isn’t a real woman, or feminist pornographers, who puncture the myth that objectified sex is necessarily exploitative or degrading, they’re rewriting the ground rules for female self-presentation.

In the never-ending project of women’s self-transformation, tattoos are both an end and a beginning, a problem and a solution. Written on the skin–the very membrane that separates the self from the world–they’re diary entries and public announcements, conversation pieces and countercultural tomes, valentines to lovers, memorials to the dead, reminders to the self. They’re scars and symptoms, mistakes and corrections. Collectively, they form a secret history of women grappling with body politics from the Gilded Age to the present–women whose intensely personal yet provocatively public art poses a complicated challenge to the meaning of female beauty.

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share what having tough skin means to you. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Japanese Samurai by Jill Bonny, the first Western woman to be awarded the title Horiyuki by Japanese tattoo master Horiyoshi III

An Alphonse Mucha art deco reproduction by Thea Duskin on a fan that reminds me of the Korean traditional

Geisha by Jo Harrison

Koi by Kari Barba

xoxox

Sharon Birke

201 697 1947

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Glamour Portraits, Motherhood, Unique and Personalized Gift Ideas Tags: 50th and 60th Birthday Portraits, Losing my mother, Mothers and Daughters, NYC Central Park Glamour Portraits

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In The Woods

22 Jan 2014 7 Comments

Now it is up to me to take the first step myself–

to listen to the child in me.

Alice Miller

This Powerful Goddess celebrates her first birthday as mother to herself, recently having lost the woman whose love has been a refuge since giving birth to her. It is a dark and tender time nursing her grief, remembering her mother’s comforting free spirit, so far ahead of her generation in providing a literal haven for women whose life choices defied the simplistic black and white.

She feels bereft in the woods without the familiar guiding hand that had always held hers. The hand that had given her a firm, gentle push through the rough brambles, the muddy patches, through the forks in the road. Now it’s a strain to hear her mother’s voice when she wonders “Where do I go? How do I go on?”

Yet she does.

She ventures forth with small, hesitant steps at first, her spine eventually straightens, finding the strength to keep on. She is her mother’s daughter after all. Her mother’s courage lives within her forever, making sure she continues to keep her sights always true to her own North.

What is a woman’s life after all if not to serve as map and compass for other women to find and understand themselves?

To complete the Alice Miller quote from the top of this page:

…and this meant exposing myself

to all the pain once inflicted on her,

which she had had to bear all alone,

without witnesses, without words,

without hope of ever being understood.

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share who has lent you strength to keep going when you couldn’t.

xoxox

201 697 1947

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

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Stole N Moments

15 Jan 2014 5 Comments

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, Women's Empowerment Tags: black thigh high stockings, Dolce & Gabbana look, flower dress, Fur Stole

A garden to walk in and

immensity to dream in–

what more could a woman ask?

A few flowers at her feet and above her the stars.

Victor Hugo

This Powerful Goddess tells me she’s been catching her forehead wrinkled too often lately: short tempered and tired from keeping up with the never ending shoulds of work and home, nagging kids who turn deaf when plugged into their computers, unseen by a husband happy in his cocoon of all work and no play. Her oft repeated stories of discontent have finally bored her–never mind her friends and family. She declared, “Enough of the blues!”

“But wait!” I asked, “What if we let the blues help tell your whole story?” Aren’t our joys made greater by the distance we rise from our depths? The fire inside her refuses to be dulled by the gray of routine and obligation. So there! A passionate pop of orange with a warm furry stole thrown in.

“Do I really look this good?” she wanted to know. Only if you take a moment to remember all the parts of who you are!

It is always humbling to witness the Goddess in a woman come out to play and shine through a life affirming lens. Oh, how she blooms with praise, how she looks infinitely younger as she enjoys herself fully in the moment! I feel so blessed to give a woman a glimpse of the fabulousness she takes for granted in her day to day.

No matter how gray the winter, this gardener of her own soul digs deep and blooms in her own garden of delight.

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share what helps you through your winters of discontent.

xoxox

Sharon Birke

201 697 1947

PowerfulGoddess@me.com

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Woman

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Best Books for Women, Glamour Portraits, International Travel Tags: Kindle Fire HD, Kiss of the Concubine by Judith Arnopp, Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich, Reign of Madness by Lynn Cullen, Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

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Judging Books By Their Cover

08 Jan 2014 2 Comments

Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend.

Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.

Groucho Marx

I lost 20 lbs over the holidays! No, not in body weight–in books that usually weigh down my suitcase like bricks. Big thanks to my sister Santa who dropped a Kindle Fire HD into my stocking right before our family trip! Here are the best of the bunch from the 11 books I read in 11 days, a virtual world tour highlighting the universal thread of joys and pain that binds all women through generations and cultures. And as for that adage “Never judge a book by it’s cover?” I never say never. Enjoy!

The comfort of sisterhood in China through reversals of fortune,

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

To get me in the mood for Carnival next month,

The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich

If Anne Boleyn could have written her story herself,

The Kiss of the Concubine by Judith Arnopp

Because women are often misunderstood and conveniently dismissed as crazy, The Reign of Madness by Lynn Cullen tells the tale of a Spanish (spare) princess who is packed off to marry a self-absorbed duke in cold Austria. Did she once dream of living happily ever after?

This one made me cry a few times as I followed the trail of Italian immigrants from a tiny hilltop town to their American dream and the glitz of NYC. How true it is that an orphan finds many parents, that love for work, friends and family can sustain you through the worst of times, that life is not only about what you make of it, but more so the strength to survive what is taken away from you.

The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani

Click on “Leave a Comment” (top left) to add your book recommendation here.

I wish you the Happiest of New Possibilities in 2014!

xoxox

Sharon Birke

201 697 1947

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

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How To Kiss Proof Lips

18 Dec 2013 4 Comments

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Beauty and Fashion, Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits Tags: Best Red Lipstick, Curvy Boudoir, kiss proof lipstick, The Marilyn Monroe Look

Beauty to me is about being comfortable in your own skin.

That or a kick-ass red lipstick.

Gwyneth Paltrow

This is a good season as any to trade your Little Black Dress for red like this Powerful Goddess wearing her favorite! If you insist on black, add chic confidence to your smile with a shade of scarlet. The better to be ready for the many hugs and kisses you’re giving and getting through the holidays!

See which of these crimsons suit you: Christian Dior’s 999, MAC’s Lady Danger, Obsessive Compulsive’s Stalker, NARS’ Cruella, Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet Luminous Matte No. 38, YSL’s Rouge Pur Couture Mats No. 201. And here’s how to kiss-proof those pouty red lips:

Start by gently exfoliating your lips with a wet cotton ball and applying olive oil (blot out excess) for a smooth, flakeless canvas. Shade lips with a soft pencil that matches the natural color of your mouth or preferred lipstick. Outline the rim or your lips to create a bumper that helps minimize color bleeding. Apply a coat of lipstick from the center of your mouth outward (use a brush, your finger, or apply straight from the tube). Use a cotton ball to dab face powder and seal in color. Reapply a second coat of lipstick plus powder and voila!

Ready or not–here I come with my own mistletoe! Ho-ho-ho!

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share your favorite red.

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Bergdorf Holidays on Ice

11 Dec 2013 2 Comments

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in NYC Nightlife Tags: Bergdorf Goodman Holiday Windows, Designer party dresses, NYC What to see and do

Once again, we come to the Holiday Season,

a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in our own way,

by going to the mall of our choice.
Dave Barry

Forget tree lighting at Rockefeller Center. My favorite NYC tradition to welcome the holidays is marveling at the glamorous windows of Bergdorf Goodman. This season, they feature a retrospective of the year’s holidays, all interpreted in “ice.” Guess which holiday for each photo that follows…

Valentine’s Day features a delectable boudoir of roses, lilies, pastries, bon-bons, jewels and a glistening, icicle-laden chandelier. If I were dressed in Giambattista Valli Couture and Oscar de la Renta gown and fur, I’d be smiling coyly like the mannequin, too.

April Fool’s is a glamorous upside-down garden party including an Oscar de la Renta gown that defies gravity.

A peek a boo masquerade in Halloween high Gothic by evening designer Naeem Khan’s custom onyx plumed gown. A Swarovski crystal-flecked spider web drapes across a haunted mansion glazed in black ice–a replica of what was once the largest home in America, the Vanderbilt mansion on 5th Ave and 58th Street.

Arbor Day would have been a sunny day in April dressed in Alexander McQueen Resort, but since it’s winter, this tree’s leaves and flowers are icy crystal.

Note this fellow at her feet who eyes her heels with serious relief, “Whew! Thank Goddess that isn’t me!”

Fourth of July is a parade of patriotism across a full-scale Colonial building facade. The drummer woman is in Rodarte and her dapper soldiers wear Thom Browne New York.

Don’t miss the small window for Groundhog Day with this little colleague and his scaled to size retro camera.

No regrets as we look back on New Year’s Eve!

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share your favorite holiday tradition.

xoxox

201 697 1947

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Boudoir Photography, Family Celebration, Glamour Portraits Tags: Easy Thanksgiving parties, Holiday entertaining or not, Martha Stewart lifestyle, Staub Cast Iron Pumpkin Pot

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A Thanksgiving Dish

27 Nov 2013 3 Comments

The essence of all beautiful art,

all great art,

is gratitude.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Aahh, the happy holidays are here and my heart goes out to all ye who have to cook but don’t want to. The caterer’s order form keeps winking at me each time I walk past the kitchen counter, but no, I shall not succumb to temptation. My kids need every available bait to lure them away from their singular preoccupation–the computer–and if this means overseeing the mess as they make the one dish each is supposed to contribute to the Thanksgiving table, I shall prevail!

I must call Martha and find out how she keeps her apron spotless, her smile calm and fresh after preparing a feast for twenty. From scratch. Where does she find guests who sit politely around the dinner table without anyone ever checking their smartphone, the men never staring at the TV, the kids eating daintily without fighting? More importantly, where does she hide her army of assistants who lead us to believe one smiling woman did it all? How do domestically challenged women cope with this popular myth of the perfect mother? Oy vey!

I am thankful I’ve learned to be gentle with myself. My pumpkin pots look better as props for posing, yes?

I am thankful for the Powerful Goddesses who bless this blog with their infinite wisdom, beauty and inspiration.

I am thankful for the love of family and friends who understand happiness is gratitude for what is–perfection not necessary.

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share what you’re thankful for. A very Happy Gobble Gobble!

xoxox

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201 697 1947

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

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No Miles? Still Travel

20 Nov 2013 3 Comments

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Glamour Portraits, International Travel, Women's Empowerment Tags: Gutsy Women Travel, Wild Women Expeditions, Women careers, Women travel groups

There is something unexplored about woman

that only a woman can explore.

Georgia O’Keefe

“Where are you going with that?” critics ask, eager to snuff out a woman’s enthusiasms in her journey of self-discovery. As if anyone can see where every road leads at all times? Thanks to her thirst for adventure and possibility, a woman eventually finds the courage to follow her disparate joys and passions, shrugging off naysayers along the way who can’t make sense of her choices. This Powerful Goddess has been true inspiration in persisting to lay down tracks for a variety of learning experiences until they finally came together like puzzle pieces.

And what about the rest of us? What can we do until we get our own eureka moment? How about keeping one foot moving in front of the other, pursuing what thrills us even when it does not make sense to anyone? Excitement generated by our desire to learn, experience and create feeds our souls, pulls us forward to new revelations and insights. Even when we are not particularly good at what we choose, doing what makes us happy has intrinsic value in feeding our health with a sense of purpose and wild doses of inspiration, the fuel that sees us through the bumps of life. For what price won’t you pay to discover what gives you personal fulfillment?

Heeding our instincts for variety and change are as vital as eating or sleeping. It could begin with making new friends by learning new skills and hobbies, exploring a new city or vacation destination, camping in the backyard at first, peering through a microscope, trying an exotic cuisine, taking a new route to/from work or school.

To heed your nomadic instincts literally, you can begin by making peace with the unknown or the “irresponsibility” of leaving the husband and kids to fend for themselves. There are women travel groups that assuage the fear of solo travel, providing a ready made bunch of friends who share your predilection for adventure, shopping and taking the time to smell the roses:

The Women’s Travel Group

http://www.women-traveling.com

Amazing Outdoor Adventures for All Women

In our life journey after all, every road leads us back home to ourselves. Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to tell us what new path you’re excited to explore.

201 697 1947

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Best Books for Women, Glamour Portraits, Women's Empowerment Tags: How to help Haiyan survivors, Pema Chodron When Things Fall Apart, Typhoon Haiyan disaster in Philippines

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When Things Fall Apart

12 Nov 2013 6 Comments

There are two tragedies in life.

One is to lose your heart’s desire. The other is to gain it.

George Bernard Shaw

Photo by Philippe Lopez, Getty-AFP, Nov. 11, 2013

Many thanks to the survivors and heroes of the families in the wake of typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Because no one is exempt from personal disasters in our lifetime, Pema Chodron shares her insights on dealing with tragedy in When Things Fall Apart. Far from a quick fix, life-is-a-bowl-of-cherries self-help manual, this book is an experience laced with sadness, relief, and a kind of temperate joy. What to do when the rug, the roof, and the walls are all swept off you at once?

How do you embrace fear, sorrow, groundlessness? Why sit through pain, confusion, disorder? How do we keep one foot moving in front of the other until we get to a place where the pain does not seem so big or so deep, where we can see beyond to its good purpose? Tough times keep us fully present to who and what is in front of us, sharing loving kindness, generosity and compassion, a mandatory break from our compulsion to zone out in front of the TV/computer, the constant busy-ness of getting and spending. Dark times sift through the fluff and clarify what and who matter in the joy of living.

Things falling apart requires us to change, take action that we would otherwise delay or not consider an option. The familiar is no longer there and it is only by surrendering our resistance to change despite the fear that we allow an opening to solutions and a new way. We suffer more when we cling to what we know and insist on, giving us the illusion of control in a world where impermanence is the inevitable human experience.

We owe much to survivors and heroes. They remind us that the human spirit is invincible, that difficulty is eased by helping hands–our own and that of others. As Pema puts it, “To stay with that shakiness — to stay wth a broken heart, with a rumbling stomach, with the feeling of hopelessness and wanting to get revenge– that is the path of true awakening. Sticking with that uncertainty, getting the knack of relaxing in the midst of chaos, learning not to panic– that is the spiritual path.”

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share what you once considered a personal tragedy that has turned out to be a great blessing in your life.

How can I help Haiyan survivors?

To donate to Philippine-based organizations who know the local needs and how best to respond, contact the Community and Family Services International and the Philippine Red Cross as recommended by Jessica Alexander, the author of Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid. She is an adjunct professor at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health and NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service. This is the link to her article:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2013/11/how_to_help_typhoon_haiyan_survivors_in_the_philippines_the_only_donation.html

Photo by Ted Aljibe, Getty-AFP , Nov. 11, 2013

Photo by Francis R. Malasig, EPA, Nov. 9, 2013

Photo from BBC UK

Photo from CNN

xoxox

Inside The Harem

06 Nov 2013 3 Comments

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, International Travel Tags: Harem women, Odalisque paintings, The Seraglio in Istanbul

If the sun had not been female,

even she would never have been allowed

to enter the harem.

Dursun Bey

Grand Odalisque by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

on the cover of The Harem: The World Behind the Veil by Alev Lytle Croutier

“For your blog… Happy Saturday!” wrote a beloved blog fan who shares my enthusiasm for reading, travel, art and the language of gifts. When a thoughtful note comes with a surprise like this book of gorgeous illustrations, how can any day be less than happy?!

It transported me to my week in Istanbul, breathing in the musk of the Turkish Straits on a rooftop with a 360 degree view, speculating on the lives of the local women in traditional dress below. I toured the Topkapi Palace’s Grand Seraglio and imagined those cloistered in the Sultan’s harem from 1500s to 1900s. Walking through the empty boudoirs, marble baths, and latticed hallways, I wondered–despite my love of fancy costume and interior decor–how did it feel to live in a cocoon of physical and spiritual isolation? What secrets, what drama, what boredom had these stairways and alleys witnessed?

Renditions of European women in various states of elaborate undress was a major theme in Western art and may not have anything to do with the reality of the sultan’s harem, but why forbid imagination and creativity? I adore women relaxed in the sensuality of their bodies, some with a frank stare, others heedlessly enjoying an unselfconscious moment. And, oh, the beauty of intricate mosaics, rich silks and velvets, and the pleasing curves of skin like ivory!

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to tell us what you wish were not forbidden.

Odalisque With a Slave by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

The Bath by Jean-Leon Gerome

The White Slave by Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte de Nouy

The Daughters of a Sheik by Conrad Kiesel

Leila by Sir Frank Dicksee

xoxox

201 697 1947

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Best Books for Women, Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits Tags: Gail Evans Play Like a Man Win Like a Woman, Halloween Butterfly Mask, Huffington Post Women Success

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The Impostor

31 Oct 2013 2 Comments

Guilt:

the gift that keeps on giving.

Erma Bombeck

Boo–Happy Halloween to you! In the Women’s section of Huffington Post, an article about men, women and success claims that the Millenial woman is the first generation to describe herself ambitious. Yet, does self-doubt plague men as it does women in their striving for success? A few tricks and treats from Gail Evans’ Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman:

The impostor syndrome causes us to lie in constant fear that we will be discovered, that our inadequacies will be exposed, and that we will be humiliated, demoted, dismissed. Women who suffer from the impostor syndrome frequently expend as much energy trying to figure out how to survive their presumed unmasking as they expend doing the actual job.

The truth is, we are all impostors. Each and every one of us, men and women alike. None of us has a grasp on all the facts. Think about it. Does any one of us truly know everything there is to know about raising kids? No. But that doesn’t stop us from doing it, or from doing it very well.

There isn’t one of us who can honestly say that (s)he knows everything there is to know about the job, or who can’t be caught off guard, or who couldn’t be replaced one day by someone more talented. And believe me, the same is true of all of your bosses.

Men fake it whenever and wherever they have to. They wear their game face and go from one place to the next, gathering as much information as they can. Even when the odds are against them, they still try to look as if they’re going to win. The closer they move to the top in business, the more they rely on improvisation, self-confidence, and the generalized ability to draw on past experience rather than book knowledge.

When you are doing something new, there is no safety net. That is nerve wracking. That is also how creative ideas are advanced. You can admit, “I’m in new territory, but I wouldn’t be here if I weren’t competent. Instead of focusing on what I don’t know, I’ll focus on what I know and learn the rest as I go along.” Confidence is half of the game.

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share how a mask frees you (or not.)

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Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

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The Fountain of Age

23 Oct 2013 5 Comments

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Best Books for Women, Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits Tags: Betty Friedman Fountain of Age, Marilyn Monroe Look, NYC Central Park Glamour

Age is an issue of mind over matter.

If you don’t mind, it does’t matter.

Mark Twain

From Betty Friedan’s classic “The Fountain of Age”:

The insistence on seeing themselves as young, the denial of age, is the crux of psychological troubles in older men and women. The changes that age brings are so basic and so numerous that sometimes old defenses and solutions no longer silence the new kinds of anxieties that come with them.

However, even in tasks that demand the muscular strength easier to come by in youth, qualities that may emerge with age–wisdom born of experience, freedom from youthful competitive compassion, cooperation, empathy–can more than compensate for whatever losses that come with age. The real liberation of age is the amazing lightness and solidity of no longer feeling the need to prove oneself to be the best, to outdo the others, to compete–and of being able to fail.

Powerful Goddess Gina Bonati shares, “I am so pleased with what my body is doing in your pictures. It is a good, lithe, and strong dancer’s body I thought i had lost! I am discovering dance again and identify with what I see–the truth that I see and the truth that I sometimes do not see. Sometimes it is buried, sometimes invisible, sometimes it has seemingly died. But as these photographs show me, not yet, and maybe, just maybe, not ever.”

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to tell us how you’ve gotten better with age.

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TEDx at the Met

15 Oct 2013 2 Comments

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Glamour Portraits, NYC Events, Women's Empowerment Tags: Negin Farsad, NYC Metropolitan Museum, TED

I am my own experiment.

I am my own work of art.

Madonna

I’m a nerd who loves a good laugh. I keep post-its and color markers handy as I inch my way through mostly non-fiction books while my teens deride my library, rolling their eyes with “Oh, Mom!” When it comes to videos, I love TED’s archive of overachievers who share what they know with a sprinkling of humor to cushion a serious message. This Saturday, October 19, 2013, I’ll be watching the live stream of TEDx at the Metropolitan Museum, the first art museum to get a TED license.

Because laughter and creative expression are among my big loves, I’ll be looking out for these divinely inspiring speakers:

Photo from ColorLines.com

Negin Farsad, named one of the 50 Funniest Women by the Hufﬁngton Post and a 2013 TED Fellow, has been a comedienne and producer for over ten years. Her off-Broadway run of The Dirty Immigrant Collective led to her nomination at the Emerging Comics of New York Awards. She wrote and performed the solo show, Bootleg Islam, and the short film Hot Bread Kitchen which won the Lifetime Women Filmmaker Award.

A video by Farsad was one of a series commissioned by Queen Rania of Jordan to combat Middle Eastern stereotypes–this series later won the ﬁrst-ever YouTube Visionary Award. Her latest ﬁlm, The Muslims are Coming!, opened in September.

Lorna Simpson is known for her large-scale photograph-and-text works that confront and challenge conventional views of gender, identity, culture, history, and memory. Her most recent project is an archive of photographs from the 1950s that she has been creating replicas, posing herself to mimic the originals.

Maira Kalman is an author and illustrator for adults and children. Her work tells of her travels and personal observations. She contributes to publications like the New Yorker and The New York Times. Kalman’s children’s books include Next Stop, Grand Central; What Pete Ate; and Looking at Lincoln. She has also created an illustrated edition of Strunk and White’s Elements of Style and Michael Pollan’s Food Rules.

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to add your favorites from the featured speakers of TEDxMet: Icons.

xoxox

Sharon Birke

201 697 1947

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

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Almost Famous Like Pippin

10 Oct 2013 3 Comments

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, NYC Nightlife Tags: Best Broadway Shows, birthday gift idea, NYC What to see and do, Pippin on Broadway

Don’t confuse fame with success.

Madonna is one, Helen Keller is the other.

Erma Bombeck

“I’d love to watch Pippin!” my husband said and I pretend not to hear–quietly thrilled to get a birthday gift idea straight from the horse’s mouth. His parents used to take him to watch all the original Broadway productions in his teens. It was like coming full circle dragging our own teens–wondering “Who/What is Pippin?”–to watch this revival of a young man’s search for fulfillment and happiness. For who wants to be famous? Apparently every human with the urge to eat and procreate.

My favorite characters in the show include the grandmother who drops her old crone cape for a trapeze act with a muscle man, the stepmother who artfully insists that even a queen is just another housewife and mother “Just like all you housewives and mothers out there!”, and the not so young widow who lets herself be bullied by the narrator, aware she’s getting old and can easily lose the part.

Ah, the yearnings of youth… the hankering for excitement and success that always remains a distant mirage! As we grow older yet continue to feel the occasional pangs of such longing, what do we tell those who miss the point of a grand finale stripped off fancy glitter and spectacular fireworks?

And what’s great about being less than famous?

1. You can be yourself–or explore your many selves–without worry if your choices fit the persona you’re supposed to be selling.

2. You’re not a commodity that’s hostage to arbitrary social rules and trends.

3. Your friends still like you even if you don’t tweet, post, comment, share, like,… at all.

Click on “Leave a comment” (above left) to add you take.

xoxox

201 697 1947

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

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The Flirt and The Fan

03 Oct 2013 2 Comments

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Best Books for Women, Best Movies for Women, Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits Tags: Best Movies for Women, Oscar Wilde books, Secret Language of the Fan

There are times not to flirt.

When you’re sick. When you’re with children.

When you’re on the witness stand.
Joyce Jillson

Is the art of flirting only for the young and single? What if you’ve been married too long and it’s too late to consult the Victorian guidelines for finding the perfect mate, e.g., “avoid a person with the same eye color as yourself, marry someone who is your opposite in physical and mental characteristics, choose a man with straight or thicker hair if your hair was curly or thin”?

A worldly older woman explains to a young husband the secret language of the fan in the 2004 movie “A Good Woman” (based on the 1892 play Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde.) How fun is it to communicate with your darling even when you’re at opposite corners of a party room? Handy, too, when you don’t want the kids to understand what’s being said across the dinner table.

A closed fan touched to the right eye: “When may I see you?”
Letting the fan rest on the right cheek: “Yes.”
Letting the fan rest on the left cheek:  “No.”
Fan held over left ear: “I wish to get rid of you.”
Covering the left ear with an open fan: “Do not betray our secret.”
Fan opened wide: “Wait for me.”
Touching the finger to the tip of the fan:  “I wish to speak with you.”
Half-opened fan pressed to the lips: “You may kiss me.”
Putting the fan handle to the lips: “Kiss me.”
Resting the fan on her lips: “I don’t trust you.”
Opening and closing the fan rapidly: “You are cruel”
Quickly and impetuously closing the fan: “I’m jealous.”
Drawing the fan through the hand: “I hate you!”
Hands clasped together holding an open fan: “Forgive me.”
Hiding the eyes behind an open fan:  “I love you.”
Hitting the palm of your hand: “Love me.”
Hitting any object: “I’m impatient.”
Dropping the fan: “I belong to you.”
Twirling the fan in the left hand: “We are being watched.”
Passing the fan from hand to hand: “I see that you are looking at another woman.”

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share a language you speak only with your man.

xoxox

your man.

xoxox

201 697 1947

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

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xoxox

On The Beach

18 Sep 2013 2 Comments

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Health and Wellness, Luxury Hotels, Travel and Leisure Tags: Beaches of the Philippines, Best Beach Vacation, Best Beaches of the World, Boracay Island

The ant is knowing and wise,

but he doesn’t know enough to take a vacation.

Clarence Day

If you have more than 7,000 islands, you run a pretty good chance of making the list of the world’s best beaches. Boracay Island in the Philippines is renowned for its powdery white sand and clear blue waters. Though its main stretch now feels more like Miami’s South Beach with rundown buildings sandwiched among the new, this island and many others in the archipelago have beaches that remain untamed. My vote for best beach always goes to the one with soft sand, calm waters, tree lined shade and service with a smile nearby. After almost a decade away, even I am impressed by Filipino hospitality.

To me, paradise means basking in loving kindness and cheerful helping hands, a dinner table that stretches as far as the horizon full of friends/family, and large platters of my favorite seafood! Neither luxury nor squalor, relentless heat nor humidity gets in the way of everyone sharing an easy laugh and a lilting accent. Among the variety of cultures I’ve observed in my travels, wealth always brings many comforts that are easy to love. The indomitable Filipino spirit and charm are powerful reminders that happiness exists with or without it.

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share your definition of paradise.

To get to this beach, you must…

Cross a deep ocean or two,

Brave flipflop traffic,

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And risk being charmed by the locals.

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What is a beach without palapas and coconuts?

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My kind of charcoal grill has style

Tinikling is the traditional Philippine dance between 2 bamboo poles

that relentlessly snap at your heels

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My favorite breakfast, snack, drink, shade, souvenir, etc…

Catch of the day

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A little shell of a crab poked my toe–

making sure this night owl wasn’t just sleepwalking on the beach at sunrise

Not all crabs are created (or cooked) equal

Many happy returns!

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201 697 1947

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The Mermaid

09 Sep 2013 4 Comments

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Boudoir Photography, Fantasy, Glamour Portraits Tags: Mermaid Goddess Glamour, Myths and Fairytales, The Little Mermaid Fantasy

I must be a mermaid.

I have no fear of depths and

a great fear of shallow living.

Anais Nin

As we schemed on concepts for her portraits, Powerful Goddess Cora Poage said, “My husband loves to play on the beach.” Visions of her fair skin on blue captured my imagination, her body graceful as she “swims” while I keep my camera dry. For what man can resist a mermaid who beckons like this?!

I asked if she could stay out of the sun until her portrait session–quite a challenge through the summer, no? Marvel of marvels, she did!

Cora walked onto the set I created with the biggest smile, thrilled to find her favorite shade of blue as the fabric of our pretend ocean. Having heard she loves her chest and shoulders, I draped the fabric on her to reveal these favorite features while accentuating her delicious curves. Giant conch shells must double as nautical telephones where cellular service can’t reach. And when she confessed that “The Little Mermaid” was her favorite story as a young girl, I had to hand her a mirror and give her hair that Disney swirl, too.

Gee, Mom, your “Little Mermaid” is all woman now!

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share your siren’s call.

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201 697 1947

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Goodbye, Summer!

02 Sep 2013 1 Comment

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Best Books for Women, Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits Tags: Bikini Season, I Feel Bad About My Neck book, Nora Ephron Humor

In the depth of winter,

I learned that there was in me

an invincible summer.

Albert Camus

Another summer ends and those of us who have been holding in our tummies throughout bikini season can finally exhale with relief–not only because the kids will be back in school soon! 😉

The late humorist Nora Ephron griped about aging in I Feel Bad About My Neck:

There are all sorts of books written for older women. They are uniformly upbeat and full of bromides and homilies about how pleasant life can be once one is free from all the nagging obligations of children, monthly periods, and in some cases, full-time jobs. I find these books utterly useless, just as I found all the books I once read about menopause utterly useless. Why do people write books that say it’s better to be older than to be younger? It’s not better. Plus, you can’t wear a bikini. Oh, how I regret not having worn a bikini for the entire year I was twenty-six. If anyone young is reading this, go, right this minute, put on a bikini, and don’t take it off until you’re thirty-four.

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share what you may regret (twenty years from now) not appreciating today.

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201 697 1947

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

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Kinky Boots

19 Aug 2013 2 Comments

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, NYC Nightlife Tags: Boradway Kinky Boots, Corset Boots, Joseph Campbell shoes

It’s a good thing I was born a girl,

otherwise I’d be a drag queen.

Dolly Parton

What’s not to love about a Broadway show saved by the glamour of drag? Especially since drag queens live and breathe the power of fighting for one’s passion, overcoming prejudice and transcending stereotypes.

Based on a little seen movie from 2005, with music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper, Kinky Boots is about a bloke named Charlie who inherits his father’s outdated shoe factory. He finds inspiration in Lola, a drag queen, who loves to dress up but could never find heels to hold her manly weight. Their collaboration to develop fetishwear that captures this market niche saves his factory from the depths of red–in finances and frumpy style.

Harvey Feirstein who writes the book version says his interest in Kinky Boots is the question “What is a man?” Swishy Lola and seriously straight Charlie may be the unlikeliest of friends, yet life dealt them similar cards, parental expectations inflicting shared wounds. Is it any less difficult to forgive others as ourselves? Feirstein recommends drag as the best mask for all: “When I take it off, nobody knows who I am. When I put it on, I can be anyone I want.”

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share how you stand up for what you believe in.

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201 697 1947

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother