New word

I discovered a new word, parturition. It means the process of giving birth.

The reason I found this word interesting is because I see myself in the business of parturition. You see, I am a picture framing and therefore I am always in the process of giving birth to things, like objects you can hang on the wall. Also, one of my interests is connecting things. This word conjured in me a number of associations.

As it happens I discovered this word while framing an old print, dated 1829. The print is entitled "The enraptured Poet: The parturition of a thought". It certainly captures an enraptured poet in the process of giving thought. In the way he is characterized and animated you can really see he is in the process of giving birth to something. Because of the way his head is cocked, looking skywards, and because of the expression on his face, you can see the wheels turning in his head, developing a thought. One meaning of parturition is travail but there certainly is no expression of travail or anguish on the poet's face; more like the look of eureka.

The story behind the print is also interesting. It was one of many prints brought in for framing by a customer/friend that depict the endeavours of writing and reading. My friend is a lover of books and a professor, a professor of The History of Ideas and writes about the Holocaust.

One day he and I were talking about my recent trip to London. I mention an interesting museum we discovered and wondered whether he knew of it. It is the John Soane Museum directly facing Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. It's a classic-romanticist type of museum. Amazingly it was his favorite museum in London, if not the whole world. In fact, he said he once imagined himself as the curator of that museum. What was equally interesting is that he is building a house that will reflect as much as possible this museum, a house that will recreate the atmosphere of its collection of books, sculptures and paintings. He intends to hang the prints he just brought for framing in his new house.

John Soane started building his house in 1796 and expanded it several time, until his death 1837, to house his growing collection of architectural draws and artifacts. Soane was something of a magpie. The museum also houses many paints and prints, along with tons of books. The museum has a great collection of Hogarth's. I can see the devotion my professor friend has for this museum in the fact that his present apartment resembles it also. His walls are also covered from top to bottom with pictures and bookshelves. I think another reason for my friend's sensitivity towards this museum is also due to his love of architecture. So you can imagine the appeal this museum holds for him.

Being as old as it is the Soane's Museum and its collection has somewhat a tatty look about it. However, it is an elegant tatty look that comes with age, which is so indicative of England past, of worn carpets, scratched furniture and frames that have seen better days. Nevertheless, there is natural warmth about the place. And this gave me an idea for the framing of my friend's prints that would reflect this atmosphere he wanted to recreate. I thought they should be framed in tatty, used frames. He wholeheartedly agreed. I've always wanted to create this sensation, which lacks a pretension and conformity. And here I had the chance, and the chance to use up some discarded but still respectable frames.

By tatty I don't mean cheap, dirty or junky looking as the word is generally interpreted and applied. What I'm referring to is a worn out, tired look, yet still elegant. It's a refined, aesthetically pleasing tattiness. This look would justly reflect the worn out, sophisticated look of both the old prints I was framing and the museum atmosphere I was replicating. This framing look certainly matched the enraptured poet print I framed. However, the print also portrays that less attractive tattiness I mentioned, which is reflected in the room the poet is ensconced in, which is junky, cluttered and dirty looking. The engraving of the poet shows him to be very eccentric and totally unconcerned and unaware of the untidy and dirty room that surrounds him. Why, he is pictured to be totally lost in his rapture and parturition.