I recently became fascinated with the mystery of the tomb of the Pharaoh's Daughter. The tomb in Israel is a beautifully created monolith made out of a single block of rock...made by Egyptian design and it at one time held a pyramid style roof. One coffin and highly decorated with paint and mosaics. Dated to the eighth century B.C.E., the time of King Hezekiah of Judah. Nothing remains, grave robbers ransacked it all. At one time Byzantine monks lived in this tomb and made changes during 4-6th century C.E. The mystery goes unsolved but the name sticks. It has been known all this time (thousands of years) and still is named the tomb of Pharaoh's Daughter.
I bring this up because I decided to make a mosaic from my cloth sample...a tribute to a daughter, a fragment of something beautiful long lost but not forgotten.
Screen printing has been quite a challenge as I am using unusual approaches. I used a flour-paste technique that I just couldn't get right....too much water, too little water, tape lifted?? I'm not a patient person and each time I waited for 24 hours drying time to figure out my mistakes!! A more successful process was using a common glue as a resist, a grid on the screen. I will use glue resist again but am now aware of the careful hot water scrubbing and clean up?!. I printed, over printed, added silver foil, embroidery and machine stitching. I can say it has a well worn appearance and the grid does give a feeling of a mosaic. whew!!!
"a tribute to a daughter, a fragment of something beautiful long lost but not forgotten" .... How lovely, Mary Ann! You have created a beautiful piece. It was well worth the struggle.
ReplyDeleteRobyn, Thank you for your good words...yes, a real pain in the creating part but I'm glad to see it completed!
DeleteLove this, the design is wonderful
ReplyDeleteBren, Thank you...I like the silver corners.
DeleteI love the design too. A wonderful tribute.
ReplyDeleteBridget, I love the fact that this is thousands of years of mystery...!
DeleteI love this and as I look at it again, I wish you could meet a writer friend of mine who writes on Ancient Egyptian religion with a special interest in the feminine. Alison Roberts - My heart my mother, Golden shrine goddess queen and Hathor rising.
ReplyDeleteAnnie, Isn't life interesting? I appreciate your connection to your admired friend and glad you like this piece!
Deleteoh yes, I think your mosaic is quite successful, and I understand, I am not so patient in the studio but your work turned out well and just the title, the Pharaohs Daughter conjures such intrigue and mystery... wonderful
ReplyDeleteCaterina, "The Tomb of the Pharaoh's Daughter" grabbed my attention and yes, to intrigue and mystery!
DeleteThis is really interesting and again I applaud your determination and curiosity as you employ these different methods in your art.
ReplyDeleteThank you and yes, these methods require determination, curiosity and a big investment in stuff...! The key for me is not to get too disappointed but keep moving the project forward. A quote from Picasso "When my muse comes to visit me she finds me working!"
DeleteArt making gets messy, doesn't it. But it feels so good to jump right in and get one's hands dirty and just try things out; see how close we come to meeting up with the idea we had when we started out so clean and filled with anticipation. Your processes are always intriguing, the thought-forms and the up-to-your-elbows ones alike.
ReplyDeleteYes, dream the dream and then begin...I sure do like getting into trying things out and most times willing to accept the twists and turns and the wonderful unexpected end! I'm loving your photoshop...all the intrigue and clean elbows!
DeleteI love the way you take your art to different levels with different media. This is beautiful and speaks of the past and the artists desire to make marks. Scrolling down through your blog, all of your "marks" are beautiful, from the most simple to the richly detailed.
ReplyDeleteroxanne
Roxanne, Thank you for your great comment...I really appreciate your words. A real spirit lifter for me!
DeleteYour persistence definitely paid off on this piece. I like everything about it: the piece is lovely and the description of your inspiration and methods is intriguing. Congratulations!
ReplyDelete