New York

AJ, age 5, in front of a display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Holes in the studio

Yarn, Wool, Ceramic

Ceramic, yarn and wool.  Each approx. 5" diameter.  Reflecting on these pieces I see that they are the three dimensional equivilants of the forms I often draw.

Waxed Muslin, Thread, Cotton

Waxed cotton muslin, hand ginned cotton, sewing with pink thread. Measures 14" x 17".

Drawing

Weather.  Tea stained paper, charcoal, ink, gold leaf, pencil.  These measure 6" x 8".

Detail of a drawing.

Obsessive drawing...still working.  14" x 11", mechanical pencil on paper.

Drawing

Amulets

"Amulets have been used by people of many cultures as a means of warding off evil. The custom of wearing pieces of paper, parchment or metal inscribed with charms or formulas to protect the wearer is a very ancient one.  The Museum owns a number of amulets, magical charms from Jewish communities of a century or so ago, mostly from the Near East. Although Jewish communities have not generally been associated with these magical charms, they were a custom in the recent past. The rabbis rather reluctantly allowed the making of these amulets as long as the words on them and the characters named were only those named in the Bible or of authentic religious texts or actual Biblical quotes — then they felt it was permissible. The amulet pictured is from Morocco."  Source is The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art.  Link here. 

Ghau

Image source from nepal crafts blog -  link here.

A Gau (also spelled Ghau or Gao) is a Tibetan Buddhist amulet container or prayer box, usually made of metal and worn as jewelry. As a small container used to hold and carry powerful amuletic objects, the Gau is culturally equivalent to Latin American package amulets, African-Americanconjure bags or mojo hands, South American charm vials, and American wish boxes.  Source link here. 

Various methods on how to dye wool

 From ehow.com.  Link here.

Herbals

Codex Sloane 4016 is a 15th century Italian parchment manuscript belonging to a class of books known as herbals. These medicinal treatises recorded knowledge accumulated in the oral tradition about plants believed to possess therapeutic properties.  Source is Bibliodyssey.  Link here.

Seek and Display

I find the process, and need, that we have to search for tangible objects that existed before us most interesting. Through the tangible we gain an awareness, and understanding, of beliefs systems that supported commerce, politics and personal values. Once found, then we display. Displays are not haphazard. Contrived displays are based off of formal qualities of line, shape, texture and color.

S. Bettoney 
Roman Antiquities found by Mr. J. Robinson and others in 1880 
1880 (or later) 
  
Carte de visite 
Paul Frecker 
 
LL/12026 
  
A printed paper label neatly glued to the back of one of the cartes informs the reader that these are:

ROMAN ANTIQUITIES
FOUND BY
MR. J. ROBINSON AND OTHERS IN 1880

Photograph of a broken Cinerary Urn found embedded in calcined human bones and charcoal whilst digging for Roman Remains in the fourth field north of the Roman Station, Maryport, on the 26th April, 1880.

The pieces of the Urn - thirty-two in number- have been skilfully affixed by MR. WILLIAM BERRY GRAHAM, who has thus restored the Urn to the original form which the Potter gave it some 1,500 years ago."

Photographed by S. Bettoney of Crosby Street, Maryport [Cumbria].

Source link here. 

Steve Irvine, Artist

Copper Camera.  I found it here on Luminous Lint.

Amulets

The Amulets of Seramon

By Grant Ellis

Seramon, ancient priest of Thebes, has lain in state in a French museum since 1851. He died 3000 years ago, a royal scribe and a middle-class Egyptian of importance who wore an impressive necklace of amulets as protection against real and imagined dangers. His embalmers, according to their custom, wrapped additional protective amulets in linen and placed them on and in his abdominal and thoracic cavities after they removed his organs. None of these artifacts has ever seen the light of day. Seramon’s mummy remains intact and undisturbed.

In January 2007, an ambulance carried Seramon from the Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology through the streets of Besançon to the University Hospital, where Dr. Samuel Mérigeaud was waiting in the Radiology Department. Seramon’s amulets had become the subject of Mérigeaud’s doctoral thesis in radiology. He needed detailed, realistic 3D images derived from CT scan data. This is a specialty of I.M.A SOLUTIONS, a French team of physicians and imaging experts who combine medical imaging expertise with a passion for Egyptology. Benjamin Moreno, a I.M.A SOLUTIONS co-founder, tells us about this collaboration and how the remarkable images of Seramon’s amulets were created.

Continue reading at apple.com/science.  Link here.

Featured Artist at Plum Gallery, St. Augustine, 2011

Laura Mongiovi, associate professor of art at Flagler College, will present a meet and greet art lecture at the Plum Gallery in St. Augustine on Sept. 14, 2011.

Plum Gallery founder, Karen Sheridan, is excited to host this informational talk by an artist she respects.

“Laura’s work is in response to the motivation behind a culture’s need to construct space and objects,” said Sheridan. “The mental, physical and sensual desire to produce space and objects influence her work.”

“I am interested in raising questions, piquing curiosity and revealing stories about sensual perception,” said Mongiovi. “The repetition of stitching and tasks such as cutting, piercing, tying and staining are significant because the resulting visual qualities elicit sensual memories.  The memories I am exploring range from desire and comfort to exposure and fear.”

The lecture, which will be held from 7-8 p.m. at the Plum Gallery at 9 Aviles St., will also feature light refreshments featuring Bonnie Jones’ Tasty Treats and St. Augustine’s own Mile Marker Brewery’s latest release will be served. - source is Flagler College News, link here.

Just hit the jackpot for inspiration.  Thank you Bibliodyssey.

Flagler College Gargoyle

Artist profile: Laura Mongiovi

By Kristin Kownacky | gargoyle@flagler.edu

The office was covered in an array of drawings, paintings and sketches. Her desk was a little messy, but in an artistic way. Artist Laura Mongiovi, art professor at Flagler College, fiddled with some papers as she considered what it was that had led her to become an artist.

“It was something I always knew I wanted to do. It was curiosity about experiences, freedom with imagination and how things come about. Curiosity links directly to what I do today,” she said.

Mongiovi, originally from Tarpons Spring, Fla, relocated to University of Colorado Boulder for graduate school. After she made her way back to the sunny coast of Florida, she settled at Flagler College to balance both her teaching career and her artistic one.

“The program here is extremely strong. There’s dedicated faculty exercising their talents. This is the environment students should have; being around people who practice what they preach,” she said.

That is just what Mongiovi has been doing.

She recently presented at the Plum Contemporary Art Gallery on Aviles St. in downtown St. Augustine.

Described as a breath of fresh intellect by gallery founder Karen Sheridan, Mongiovi show-cased her exhibit and hosted a meet and greet.

Through her art Mongiovi seeks to explore personal experiences, reactions, escapism and origins.

“I research why we make decisions about certain experiences, sensual experiences, both individually and culturally. Take the color purple, the color of exploring the world. Purple dye came from fish and it was the color of royalty, who had the money to send explorers. I look at history and origins,” she said.

As with most artists, Mongiovi’s motivations stemmed from her inspirations and influences. She had great, supportive professors, who taught her a base of knowledge but allowed her the freedom to explore.

“I valued that experience, and so I continue that experience. As a student we rely on teachers to recognize our abilities and guide us. A committed teacher and a committed student makes for a great partnership,” she said.

Once that partnership is founded, it is then Mongiovi’s charge to instill an essential message within her student’s minds. She says the most important thing an artist can have is perseverance.

“The message I try to get across to students is keep making and keep producing. Practice art making all the time. Art is visually communicating, it is visual language. Practice anything else you want,” she said.

Following her own message, Mongiovi commits herself to her own artistic future. She dreams of more space to do more installations. She hopes to obtain a large space to create an environment where she can visually communicate her ideas.

Most students come to Flagler following their dreams, and so it is fulfilling to recognize that many of the professors who guide them through their college careers, are indeed journeying down the same path students one day hope to trek.

Experience may be the best teacher, and so when Flagler’s professors are practicing in the fields they preach they are faced everyday with new experiences.

As professors grow this way, students are able to acknowledge that they are learning from personal insight that their dreams are possible.

Source link here.