Monday, May 15, 2017

A new, 'old' manuscript

I almost never, never use people as subject matter. However, I kept seeing a face in the upper corner of this eco-dyed paper and decided I'd best let it happen. Maybe it's a whisper of inspiration.
Tangles (or at least most of them!):
Auras, Beadlines, Betweed, Black Pearlz, Crescent Moon,
Featherfall, Finery, Huggins, Knightsbridge, Pearlz,
Perfs, Prestwood, Printemps, Tipple
The eyes took three attempts before I was happy with them. At one point I very carefully cut the paper with an x-acto knife and peeled off the top layer so I could start fresh in some places.

I liked it, but it didn't quite seem like stand-alone artwork. A lot of my work has an illustrative quality to it, as if there's a story behind it somewhere, but this one particularly felt that way.

There was another whisper of inspiration... it could BE an illustration, one of two pages, the other of which is text. I could use one of the eco-dyed papers that had no appealing leaf prints or patterns. They have an 'old page' look to them. Yes!

The hunt was on for the 'text' part of this project. It had to be short enough, pithy, and somehow spiritual. I found something in a book called "Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Baha". It mentions eyes, about seeing with your own eyes and not accepting everything you're told as all there is to know. Once I was finished I realized that it begins with the letter 'I'. Coincidence?

Here is the two-page spread of my new, 'old' manuscript. There's metal leaf on both the initial letter 'I' and one onion dome. There's gold ink elsewhere, and a small red gem at the top of one onion dome. Some of the white dots are pearl-effect 3D ink, but not the ones on the onion dome.

10 comments:

  1. A truly beautiful piece of art! ❤️

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  2. This is a very moving piece for me. Your work is so lovely & this is way above & beyond anything I have seen yet. The manuscript page is so perfect for your picture. I can't stop looking at this. Thank you for sharing this beauty.

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  3. Ohhhhhhhhhh Margaret!! This is superb. Really superb. The text, the color, the tangling ... and the e y e s ........ Just wow!!!!! You continue to amaze me. :)

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  4. This is so beautiful! I love everything about it. I think the eyes turned really well, super expressive. The colours are so rich, and the designs are wonderful. It is such a pleasure!

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  5. I love the dingbat at the end of the script.
    How is this to be displayed. Framed?

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    1. Thanks Ginny. Yes, I'll frame it, and I think I have suitable mats on hand. The pages will be float mounted (probably on a red, fabric covered mat board), then a cream/beige parchment-look mat around it all.

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  6. Strikingly Beautiful! I just love this.

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