Illuminated Manuscripts on a stormy night.

I am so in love with this image. I have been in love with Indian and Arabic miniature paintings since I discovered them (25 years ago or more?) and also old Celtic and Celtic-influenced illuminated manuscripts. Its crazy how related they are in technique and form, despite being from totally different parts of the world (And like, they like totally didn't have the internet for file sharing back then!) This one above is from an illuminated Bible made in 845 in Tours, France. Its from a forgotten book about Illuminated Manuscripts that's been kicking around my bookshelves being fabulous without me for too long. Now that I am getting all inspired about pattern-making again, and making my own hand-printed fabrics and clothing, its knocking my socks off again. The image above will be direct inspiration for my next piece, methinks.



Here's another beauty (found on Wikipedia).

I know I am risking this blog becoming just a huge dumping ground for all my ideas, several of which will of course never come to fruition (as for every one thing I make about 68 ideas perish into oblivion) - I gotta just go ahead and list some of the possibilities:

12 gouache miniature paintings, one for every month, using the first letter of each month's name to make miniature paintings using imagery of continents and maps with the detailed patterns and lines inspired from miniature painting;

a series of my Specimens hand-painted as miniature paintings living in a world exploding with pattern;

fabric designs made from hand-drawn patterns transferred to silkscreen or woodblock, inspired by this kind of imagery.

So many more ideas too. The calendar idea is exciting. Not just because one must make a living, and who doesn't like to buy a calendar chock-full of paintings made with human hands, but because I am recently getting really interested in doing 2D artwork in series form, and making utilitarian things that also incorporate ideas and all the wonderful things that are useless as well as useful about making art.