Monday, April 26, 2010

Today's work

Oxalis Triangularis: Love Plant, Purple Shamrock


I love this plant. It has been on our window sill for a long time. It just bloomed, so I made the third collage in the Ode to Mrs. Delany series. This is just a part of it. It's not cropped this closely. I need room to put the name on the piece.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Third Illumination

I h ave begun a third illumination. The second one is about birds. Here it is.


I am not sure what the narrative will be for the third. The text for the first and second come from Genesis - King James version. I have begun with the borders for the third. Below you can see one days work. I essentially put in the structure of the patterns. It is a good thing I am not an architect, because despite planning and measuring things still did not come out even. If I were an architect, there would be a lot of wonky buildings around.

This last image is the sheet that I cut out the pattern for the ovals. These leftover pieces are surely going to be used in another piece. I love them.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Otto Dix at the Neue Gallerie

On Monday, I went to the Neue Gallerie to see the Otto Dix exhibition. It is well worth seeing. There is a set of prints on the horrors of war that rival Goya. And, the painting in watercolor and guaoche were new to me. I will surely go back. It is up until August 30th.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Ode to Mrs. Delany #2

I picked some weeds on the way to the studio from a gallery closing reception. They had clusters of small white flowers. I have identified them as Shepherds Purse: Capsella Bursa-pastoris - from a website. These are details. I cut off the black space around the flowers. They are really small flowers. I tried to make them life size.




Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Ode to Mrs. Delany

I finished this first ode to Mrs. Delany flower. It is a violet. The common blue violet. It is considered a weed. But, it is a beautiful little flower. I got this specimen from my friend Joy's backyard. It was a lot of fun to make - felt like magic.

Monday, April 12, 2010

lucky find and daily work

Look at the book I found in the laundry room yesterday! Can you believe it? I couldn't.


I have been thinking of doing some work in homage to Mrs. Delany. My friend Joy, gave me some violets today. Here they are in a little milk pitcher and a leaf collage that I began ala Mrs. Delany.



Also, I worked on a new illumination. Little Betty Jane is facing a big eagle. This is the beginning of the inset.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Illumination



I think this is pretty much complete. You can see Little Betty Jane is battling a serpent which is under her bed. She has a lance. This is not a very good image. I just scanned it. (I have since uploaded a better image. )

I added a passage from the King James Bible's version from Genesis. This passage is talking about the snake that approaches and eventually tricks Eve into eating the forbidden fruit.

There are currently two separate exhibitions with Books of Hours taken apart - for restoration. Each page is on view. At the Morgan Library they have Catherine of Cleve's Book of Hours and at the Met, they have Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry.

These are both wonderful shows and well worth an afternoon or two of looking. I would recommend bringing a magnifying glass if you can. They have them for use at the Met, but they are often all taken.