Lina Cavalieri "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World"

Lina Cavalieri, the subject of these two art pieces, was a cabaret singer, opera singer and silent film star at the turn of the century (1874-1944). She was born an orphan in Rome, ran away from the orphanage and started her career shortly after (after first taking a collection at a cafe). Known for her dramatic skills, her charm, generosity and especially her beauty, she was known as "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World".

Like the "coincidences" I noticed when I posted the Cleo ATC, I am struck by how many Italian themes that seem to be appearing in my life lately. Lina was from Rome. My family and I attended a party at a friend of ours last week, Monia (and her husband Daniel and children Matthew and Jasmine) who is Italian and her party was attended mostly by Italians. (We had a blast!! Everyone was so laid back, yet also fun and energetic.) When we turned on House Hunters International yesterday, an Irish couple was looking for a home in Italy. Lately I haven't been willing to watch HHI because they seem to all be American couples looking for vacation homes on islands. :P But, I decided to check it out yesterday and was treated to beautiful scenery. And today, I look up Lina and find she is also Italian. OK, so not as many coincidences and maybe not as strong a connection as when I posted the Cleo ATC, but still striking to me. Maybe it's also because we have been talking more about getting the Rosetta Stone to learn Italian so we can teach Angelo. So, if you haven't made the connection, my married name is Italian, and that's why I chose an Italian name for my son. My husband's grandfather was Italian. How many times can I say Italian?

These images are from the Art Chix's "La Belle Epoque" collage sheet. Both pieces are on a substrate of card stock sprayed with multiple mica sprays with cheese cloth over top. That cheese cloth also embellishes the top piece. I also added decorative papers (some inked), stamps and dimensional stickers and sprayed the lace on the bottom piece with gold mica spray.