April's news comes around Beltane
A little late (please don't complain)
It's already May but don't dismay
There are still many things to display
To keep you up with my endeavours
I say better late than never...
... Most pressing news first, as the news in question happens tomorrow! Or in a few hours, or minutes, depending on when you read this. Before we get to that, take a look at this unusual carpet page and how it seems to 'jut out' and overlap a little unnaturally (in my humble opinion). I 'corrected' this in my slightly different reading and interpretation of it and you can see the steps in my Make a Carpet Page e-course: https://vaishaliprazmaricarpetpage.thinkific.com/courses/make-a-carpet-page...
... this e-course is now live and up and running and you are welcome to download it whenever, people already have...
… this is relevant because I printed the entire e-course out for myself as I'll be using it to teach the live classes (which start... in a few hours actually! Which is an extremely late reminder!) If you can't make it this year then there is always next year! It took up an entire ring binder and it was so thick I had to replace the ink cartridges in my printer...
... A quick recap: 1. The standalone Make a Carpet Page e-course, which has been a long time in the making (5 years! on and off, of course) which you can download anytime 2. The live classes which start tomorrow/today/this instant Please visit my website https://www.vaishaliprazmariteaching.com for more info. A quick introduction: My analytical approach to manuscript illumination focusing on the carpet page is in several layers divided into 12 chapters. I'll really hold your hand throughout the whole process and we'll take it very slowly so you understand the methods and methodologies. I'll break everything down into small parts so that you can really absorb them. By the end of the course you'll have your very own carpet page, unique to you with the colours you've chosen.
Alternatively, and if you're a beginner, you are welcome to use my drawings and either trace or redraw them and colour them in your own way. This is for the LIVE online classes in which we work through the Make a Carpet Page e-course together. I will likely run only one Carpet Page cohort per year for the next couple of years only (there are only so many carpet pages one wants to produce among the myriad other splendid things there are to paint!). The e-course is separate and standalone. You do not need to get both: you could do the live classes and I can take you through the process live, step-by-step. Or you could just do the self-paced, self-study e-course alone, which I designed to be like an old fashioned painting manual or textbook.
The live classes will be based on this textbook I created, and there are some aspects that can be a little complex if you're doing it alone as a beginner, and that I can help you with during the live sessions. If you do decide to get both it will likely save you a lot of note-taking and record-keeping time as there is a whole wealth of information and knowledge contained there conveniently, and you can then focus your energies on making your own carpet page. It will also serve as a souvenir of the class and jog your memory for future. Additionally, should you decide to get both, when the e-course is purchased once and downloaded it is yours to keep forever! ...
... the other upcoming Book class also starts tomorrow or today, depending on what time zone you're in. It's a calligraphy workshop in a book: we dive into various alphabets, abjads, abugidas and syllabics, signs and symbols. We discover differences and, more importantly, make connections and try our own hands at recreating the writing systems of the world. We start with today’s international language, English, and move on to different scripts such as Greek and Cyrillic; Armenian and Georgian; Semitic scripts, Hebrew and Arabic (that’s a big one!), including Persian and Urdu; Amharic and Tifinagh; Avestan, Sogdian and Chagatai (of interest to miniature manuscript painters); Indic scripts (another big one!), Devanagari and Gujarati as well as the beautiful curly South Indian languages; Burmese and Thai; Tibetan; Mongolian; Korean Hangul and Japanese Hiragana and Katakana, and finally, Chinese characters and even Cherokee. We’ll treat each letter as sacred and meaningful to someone, and like a secret code that we don’t necessarily understand yet are fascinated by and are keen to transmit in its correct form in order to be legible.
We’ll also dive into the world of inks and use different coloured inks for different scripts as a way to learn about inks too, using readymade inks to begin with and then moving onto making our own. We’ll take in a variety of implements and tools, such as quills (keep the Ether brush handy!), qalams, feathers (from the Fire brush!) and even brushes. I did a lot of calligraphy when I was younger, including some commissions, and have ideas to share. Furthermore, I have spent several years engrossed in the study of various languages so I can comment on interesting links and little discoveries I’ve made in the process (as in, for example, the travels of the aubergine).
For English: In my opinion Roman and Latin based lettering is the most beautiful and is also easy to read; this is the one I have also mostly studied. We’ll look at medieval and humanistic and since you are likely to be fluent in languages using the Latin script - of course you are free to experiment with other scripts such as Gothic or Copperplate. Since these are book classes, we will also be developing our bookmaking skills and learning new book cover techniques with the leather gradually. This is also a slightly bigger book than previous classes and we will be getting bigger with time too. Class includes a bespoke handmade leather envelope-flap cover to paint and free postage to anywhere in the world. Make your own library of handmade Islamic books!...
... Phew! Now that the urgent information is done, here is an early example of a moveable book (which, by the way, is also the official catch-all term to describe what I formerly used to call 'pop-up books' with great enthusiasm, being a collector and all). Moveable books have existed as long as books have. This one is for teaching geometry. Another early example I recall off the top of my head is Ramon Llull's Ars Combinatoria, which makes sense to be moveable as it involves concentric rings that you can combine to form different patterns of knowledge. I'll be thinking about that for my PhD research into memory too later on as I dive deeper into books, including moveable books (and yes, pop-up books!)...
… here's some work in progress from the TALES classes which I'm thoroughly enjoying. Here are flying scarves and drapery, you'll see some sneaky slippers in the corner and an Elephant Clock in progress. To top it all, a Buraq. Meanwhile, in oils on copper, a shell in progress...
…Below is Mohammad Sami's exhibition at Camden Arts Centre in London; the piece with the green sky is called 1001 Nights. Of course I had to have a look at this. On closer inspection though the lights in the sky are actually bombs. I'm also a sucker for paintings of cinemas and theatres, so here are some of his cinema seats.
For my 1001 Nights research, I naturally think a lot about time and measure. Speaking of measurements, I recently had to think about my own pension as the UK government had some new rule about it so I looked it up. I am entitled to a full state pension as long as I keep working for another 30-odd years. OK, I will. For me it apparently amounts to the grand old sum of £185 per week, by the way, which is under £10,000 per year, which is half what other European countries get but I'll take it because it's better than zero (and: Long live the NHS!) Did you know that in 2020 I started giving NHS workers 15% off all brushes from The Perfect Brush? That still stands and I have never got rid of that. We owe them so much! https://www.theperfectbrush.co.uk/shop
Imagine if pensions were calculated using this handheld Pension Slide Rule below - a slip of the finger and that might end up being £184 per week and, honestly, I would feel somewhat short-changed. Beneath is a cabinet of foreign weights and measures - this must be one of the reasons Britain managed to have an empire on which the sun never set. They were ORGANISED! It's extraordinary and actually a beautiful cabinet. There are all sorts of good reasons why it's generally good to trade with the same measures across the world.
Having said that, my brushes from the Perfect Brush are not standard sizes (though they are consistent within themselves). In Medieval times people used to measure time by the duration of a prayer or psalm (a shortish while), or even the time it took to piss (a very short while) but not for me though - I proudly read on the loo. Imagine, though, organising a whole monastery to ensure that the night watch gave way to the correct prayers being said at the correct times. Clocks were invented because monks fell asleep. This is from the book 'Beyond Measure' by James Vincent, recommended to me by a beautiful student, about whom I thought when I was at the Science Museum gazing in wonder at all these weights and measures. I remember during my childhood in Hong Kong there were official international measures and then local measures, like catties and taels. 'Market' measures and you had to really be a local to understand them. It's like official time vs local time. Look at that beautiful reconstruction of a clockmaker's workshop, or an instrument maker's workshop. I wish our workshop looked like that, it's such a mess!
To cheer me up, I did an intelligence test and passed with flying colours (coloured cubes). It made me feel better about myself immediately. Then I read that the intelligence tests were for preschool children aged 18 months to 6 years...
More brushes and beautiful tools here
... above is my face when I found out the target age range for those tests. Small wins - interestingly I still felt a sense of triumph and accomplishment, perhaps at having finished something - which is an aim of my TALES classes - to finish a small painting, object or element by the end of each class! https://www.vaishaliprazmariteaching.com/book-online to get that feeling again...
Book the TALES
... As it swings into spring we enjoyed more home school activities and we could be more creative. We put up kraft paper under the dining table to make a cave and the kids did cave painting using charcoal, chalk and a real oil pastel I bought them to try to stop being prejudiced against oil pastels. Unfortunately, I still find them gloopy, messy and annoying. But kids love them! Then we zoomed forward in time - although I suppose the human body is still the same - we pinned different organs in vaguely the right place on an old vintage mannequin I was about to throw away and didn't realise my husband actually wanted to keep(!). I got the kids to put a small version of each organ in their canopic jars I printed out (the rest of them they, er, chucked in the fireplace so in a way they got cremated - not very Egyptian but we're also 'theatrical' let's say!) and he came home to find his mannequin wrapped up in a toilet roll like this, below. I wanted the kids to get it out of their system once and for all so I gave them one toilet roll each and let them wrap their mummy. It actually didn't create much wastage as I'm still using that ex-mummy toilet roll today in the studio...
... the studio is also where I usually host the monthly miniature meetings. The Zoom link is via the Forum https://www.miniaturepaintingforum.com or here's the direct link:
Monthly Miniature Meeting 23.5.23, 6-7pm London time - all welcome MAY MEETING Vaishali Prazmari is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Vaishali Prazmari's Monthly Miniature Meeting 23.5.23 6-7pm London time Time: May 23, 2023 18:00 London Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82215825254?pwd=c3V2eFByRnJGT1RUd3pxdGVZSVdEdz09 Meeting ID: 822 1582 5254 Passcode: 184555 Join by Skype for Business https://us02web.zoom.us/skype/82215825254
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... The end of the mannequin wrapped like a present. Long ribbons (of silk, rather than toilet roll) were also a theme at the Royal Opera House's Turandot. It was fantastic - I go for the set design and atmosphere as much as for the story and music - I do love Turandot - Turan-dokht, the daughter of Turan, and also part of the Haft Paykar series of stories which I covered last year in my 7 Domes in 7 Days classes. The prince was no Pavarotti and it's hard to get that rich Vincero! but I enjoyed it nevertheless. You can always tell by my theatre shots that I am getting the cheapo £13 tickets...
...The kids also enjoyed their time at the Wonderlab in the Science Museum. Museums today are so immersively wonderful that you could learn almost everything you need to know from visiting them consistently alone, I reckon. Couple that with some activities on the side and some solid Usborne and DK books and the primary years are sorted. I think. Any inputs on primary education welcome!...
..The little one pushing a little trolley helping me out in the local shop. He loves to help. I love to have him help - win-win! It's also really cute that they have toddler trolleys...
Page control: Download free Geometry of the Page resources here
...A thought to ponder at the end: what are your opinions on standardised testing especially for young children? Since I will train my kids to see tests as a diagnostic tool to see where our gaps are just so we can fill them, and not as a be-all and end-all measurement of their self-worth, I don't really have an opinion.
I did SATs and the 11+ but don't really remember them. I only remember that I have a good memory and that helped me pass, basically. A good memory is not a sign of intelligence, but it's good to have a good memory. Memory can be trained (subject of my PhD too!) and plays a vital role in image-making or imagination and creativity. I DO remember very strange logic/verbal and non-verbal reasoning tests which have had absolutely no relevance to my adult life and were really strange. They really did feel like 'tests'. For the record, I didn't use algebra past age 16 and still haven't. I also hated having to 'prove' my knowledge. Eg. if Mr Smith went to the post office to post a letter and then a teacher asked me, 'Why did Mr Smith go to the post office?' it took a lot of effort for younger me to understand that this was not the teacher wasting time, but trying, actually, to efficiently gauge comprehension. Why are you asking me that now? You were THERE when you read it to me! I was also luckily too young to use sarcasm.
I really ADORE teachers, by the way, I always had good or great ones. I guess tests are a way to check that you know that I know something, and you know I know it but we also need to quickly prove it to Person X or Scholarship Y that I know it without having to wade through tons of projects. Getting through secondary school - I just decided to suspend my disbelief and toe the party line and succeeded. I did have a nagging feeling throughout that there must be more, there must be more, there must be more. I also had the feeling that the teachers sometimes felt that way too. Is there a better way? Intelligently yours, because I passed a preschool test with flying colours and feel I am eminently qualified to say that,
Vaishali Prazmari