Letter to Richard - Research into ancient books....

I find it ill advised to put on my blog the developmental work I am doing towards the art theatre performance piece that is so heavily supported by the AFA grant....  It will make a show and to publicize the elements that go up to make that show would certainly detract from the interest the show ought to stimulate.

But here is a (long) blog entry(in the form of a letter to my nephew) about the research I did to start me off on a small item needed for the show, a book or ledger that the Arabic Scholar will work on, to document his research and his entomological studies and drawings.

Hi Richard,
Read the paragraphs in italics below if you really are short for time.

I like to provide light reading for you since you have so much time on your hands these days…Not.

I was researching ancient books for a piece of work I am doing this morning whilst waiting for A. to arrive for her pre-school breakfast.(7am).

Isn't it fascinating the way one thing leads on to another when using the web for research.  I couldn’t possibly do all of this in the 2 hours it took me, in a library… of real books… though I love love love touching the written word, I am thankful that the internet exists.

(I found this after about 15 minutes online http://readtheprintedword.org and will add it to my blog if I am able, see right).

From the search term - "Ancient books" I was taken to 

http://fuckyeahbookarts.tumblr.com

Yes I did actually click on that web address - my children would be justly proud of me if they knew… and was much rewarded… with a lol moment at  around 7:30am
https://vimeo.com/120696291
and entertainment via animation of white rabbit inAlice in wonderland.

https://vimeo.com/117268116

But I can’t possibly put all the links and fun I had during that 2 hour session down on this blog entry...
But I saw modern 100s of really old books that look as we might imagine them, then lead codices with sculptural surfaces from Jordan, ie., metal pages held with metal rings to form books; 200 - 400 year old Angam, ancient pages bound with wooden covers from the east,  there are stunningly interesting modern versions of ancient books - produced with far more finesse  than your average 'altered book' enthusiast can do; then I found the spectacular  Codex Rotundus and I thought wow I am getting somewhere here... this is off the wall and the way to go....
and then BINGO... 
Miniature Koran - as were attached to standards in Ottoman battles 1500

http://www.indiana.edu/~iuam/online_modules/islamic_book_arts/explore/miniature_qur'an/index.html

Now the illustrations you will see in this link, has images of the tiny pages of the Koran, which are bound and held in an octagonal box which was held in an outer metal case.  one side has the seal of Solomon... a nice surprise that was and I will be incorporating these ideas into the book that i make....

I have to continue with the quiver and skeleton and temple cloth... ha, no more details for you on these.... then and only then will I allow myself the luxury of working on the book... and I can't wait and maybe it will lead to some interesting spin off art... How exciting....

When I was introduced to the Codex Rotundus I felt the same feeling I had when I first saw Barcelona... do these things really exist, and why didn't I know of them before?  There is most definitely something wrong with the way art is taught in school.

Artist Talk - Andrea Graham in Calgary

Click the image to enlarge...

Wrapping

I should be preparing the house for a showing...but here is a small project my daughter created unbidden after a walk by The Elbow....

Wrapped Prairie Grasses

Artist A Millson 2015

Sounds impossible doesn't it, a Walk by the elbow.  But probably not as impossible as The Elbow Dental Centre....  But I digress.

I love the earthiness and minimalism of this girl's work, something that I am trying to instil into my own work on primitive man and his use of Species 394Wz.

Busy with work on EMP and selling winter tyres! - in May in Calgary, not a chance!!!

I'm researching medieval arrow heads, Stitching dead species on water soluble and hareem cotton = muslin (UK), making a quiver and preparing for high school grad., Canadian style.

I wish I could say this was mine, love the colour and the symbol....but it isn't.

Aliya thought that SEW  24 -7 would have been better.  I don't know why she said that.